Quarterfinals Match One

We knew going in to this series that it was going to be a battle all the way through, and if the first match is any indication this is going to be an epic war. I figured Linköping picked us to play based on the extremely lackluster performance that we put forth at their place in January. But they must have forgotten that we swept them when we played in Tierp.

We started a little slow in the first set and battled back in the middle of it with some great defense and good high swings, but they steadily held the lead and won the set 25-20. The score doesn't really show how close it was and we could see what was going to make them uncomfortable and now we had an idea of what it would take to win the match. Set two was a close battle until we took a 16-15 lead to the second technical timeout. From there we broke away and ended up winning 25-19. During that run, their coach seemed to panic and made a bunch of changes, including switching setters and taking out their best (and honestly, only) hitters. Things were looking up for Tierp Volley going into the third.

The third set was almost a carbon copy of the first, however. We trailed by 2-3 points most of the way and let up at the end, losing 25-21. I came up to serve first in the fourth and finally put a couple good float serves in. Including one of my three aces. My run put us up 3-0 to start the set and after falling behind a little, we eventually took a 16-13 lead that led to a hard-fought 25-22 set four win. We felt pretty good taking our favored opponents to a fifth set in the first match at their place, but a match win would be a huge step towards taking them out for good, seeing as how we have to win at least one match at their place to move on.

In the fifth set it wasn't to be though. We fell down early 3-0 on a couple mental errors, but eventually battled back to receive at 12-11. Then the refs took over the match. They had been pretty good the whole match but their missed call at 12-11 is really what decided the game. We got a good pass and Peter set Andy a nice ball, who clearly hit the ball high off of their outside hitters hands, the ball obviously changed directions and spin. Every single person in the gym saw what happened except for the two completely oblivious men whose job it is to pay attention. A 12-12 tie with one of our best servers coming up is a completely different game then a 13-11 score. I know people sound like idiots when they complain about refereeing but I can't tell you how frustrating it is to practice for six months and then play your ass off for almost two hours and have the match decided by incompetence on the part of the people that should have no part in deciding the outcome. So after a 15-11 loss in the fifth set it is back to Tierp for match two on Thursday night.

If we play anywhere near as well as we did on Sunday on Thursday we should have no problem taking the match and going back to Linköping on Sunday to steal one this time. Here's hoping the match is decided by the guys in the jerseys and not the stripes. Talk to you soon!