Monday, April 21, 2008
Final #2 v Marienlyst
First of all, hats off to Marienlyst for a well played final. I think over the course of the two matches they played some great volleyball, and they deserved to win.
We came out and from the first point played with a lot of energy and excitement, something that we've done all season when our backs are against the wall. I'm not sure if Marienlyst was nervous or caught off guard in the beginning, but they made a lot of mistakes and we took the first set pretty easily, 25-21.
We had a lot of momentum for the second set, and a lead of a couple points through most of it, but we just couldn't close the door on Marienlyst, and they were able to take advantage. It was some pretty exciting sideout volleyball at the end of the set with Marienlyst edging us out 30-28.
The loss in the second set took a lot of momentum out of our sails and fired up both Marienlyst and their crowd. The third and fourth sets belonged to them, and specifically, Shaun Powell. We had no answer for him as he continued to win nearly every ball in sideout and transition.
The team was pretty disappointed with the result, but in the end we have to be satisfied with how we did. We had some ups and downs but ultimately we peaked at the right time and were able to do some really good things as a group. I think I'll write a bit more later about the season as a whole and toss out some general thoughts about my time here.
I still haven't made any decision about returning to Aalborg for next season. I want to take some time to think it through, but I promise I'll let you loyal readers know when I do make a decision...
We came out and from the first point played with a lot of energy and excitement, something that we've done all season when our backs are against the wall. I'm not sure if Marienlyst was nervous or caught off guard in the beginning, but they made a lot of mistakes and we took the first set pretty easily, 25-21.
We had a lot of momentum for the second set, and a lead of a couple points through most of it, but we just couldn't close the door on Marienlyst, and they were able to take advantage. It was some pretty exciting sideout volleyball at the end of the set with Marienlyst edging us out 30-28.
The loss in the second set took a lot of momentum out of our sails and fired up both Marienlyst and their crowd. The third and fourth sets belonged to them, and specifically, Shaun Powell. We had no answer for him as he continued to win nearly every ball in sideout and transition.
The team was pretty disappointed with the result, but in the end we have to be satisfied with how we did. We had some ups and downs but ultimately we peaked at the right time and were able to do some really good things as a group. I think I'll write a bit more later about the season as a whole and toss out some general thoughts about my time here.
I still haven't made any decision about returning to Aalborg for next season. I want to take some time to think it through, but I promise I'll let you loyal readers know when I do make a decision...
Monday, April 14, 2008
Final #1 v Marienlyst
For the fifth time this season we faced Marienlyst, though this time under vastly different circumstances than the previous league and pokal matchups. The Marienlyst team that showed up at the Stadionhal Sunday was a very different team than the one who visited three weeks earlier, and they played a solid all around game to take the match in three sets (21-25, 20-25, 23-25). Thanks again to the 500+ people who attended the match, I know all the players really enjoyed playing in front of the great home crowd.
Like the previous three matches against Middelfart, we had trouble with our serve, though this time it wasn't due to misses. We didn't put enough pressure on Marienlyst, and they passed well enough out of reception to have three options on offense nearly every time. That limited our ability to block well and took away one of our biggest advantages in the matchup. So even though we sided out pretty well ourselves, not being able to get many points off our own serve ultimately cost us.
We conceded some points early in the first which put us in a hole for the remainder of that set, and ran into a rough patch in the middle of the second which led to a comfortable win for Marienlyst there. In the third, however, we had a two point lead for most of the set, including a 21-18 advantage near the end. We had some difficulties in reception, however, and Marienlyst were able to tie it up and eventually take the set after getting a couple points off counterattacks.
I think that the remainder of the series will come down to serving and blocking: the team that pressures the opposition with their serve and gets some blocks will end up taking the sets. Marienlyst got them Sunday, but we're ready to fight and there's no reason those points can't go our way in the second leg on Thursday.
Check out the videos:
TV2 at the game
Short Clip
Like the previous three matches against Middelfart, we had trouble with our serve, though this time it wasn't due to misses. We didn't put enough pressure on Marienlyst, and they passed well enough out of reception to have three options on offense nearly every time. That limited our ability to block well and took away one of our biggest advantages in the matchup. So even though we sided out pretty well ourselves, not being able to get many points off our own serve ultimately cost us.
We conceded some points early in the first which put us in a hole for the remainder of that set, and ran into a rough patch in the middle of the second which led to a comfortable win for Marienlyst there. In the third, however, we had a two point lead for most of the set, including a 21-18 advantage near the end. We had some difficulties in reception, however, and Marienlyst were able to tie it up and eventually take the set after getting a couple points off counterattacks.
I think that the remainder of the series will come down to serving and blocking: the team that pressures the opposition with their serve and gets some blocks will end up taking the sets. Marienlyst got them Sunday, but we're ready to fight and there's no reason those points can't go our way in the second leg on Thursday.
Check out the videos:
TV2 at the game
Short Clip
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Semifinal #3 v Middelfart
We're going to the finals! Middelfart 2-3 HIK (23-25, 14-25, 25-22, 25-15, 13-15)
Saturday night's game was a great match, and had quite a few memorable moments. After going up 2-0 in sets, I think we took Middelfart for granted a bit, but they showed they had the ability to come back from deficits also. The first set started off well for us and was close the entire way. We got some good blocks that gave us some critical points on our own serve, which ended up winning the set for us. The second and fourth sets were both similar; midway through each there were a few good plays and some mistakes that made the set all but won early on.
The third set appeared to be of the same mould, but we chipped away at Middelfart's lead slowly, earning a point or two each time we sided out. We tied up the game around 21, but Middelfart managed to earn a few counterattacks to take the set. If we had lost that set badly and the fourth as well, who knows what our mental state would have been, so even though we didn't end up winning the third, the comeback was still very important for us. I think despite our getting hammered in the fourth we managed to bounce back in the critical fifth set because of our play in the third.
There were some great plays from everyone, including our "four leaf clover" of blockers Fleming, Jesper, Joakim, and Kesse (who is now Norwegian apparently). Some other things of note from the game:
•The most memorable person from the night may have been the scorekeeping secretary, who was absolutely wasted. You could smell the booze when you walked past the table, and he was wisely "substituted" after he couldn't work both the flip scoreboard and the electronic one simultaneously.
•The most memorable play of the night (which wasn't the last point, which ended with a missed serve) was probably a ball Niels hit from the outside that nailed the libero in the face. He laid on the ground for a couple minutes but luckily was okay and able to continue.
•The crowd at Lillebæltshallen was pretty hostile. It was most obvious when they were yelling at the ref (which isn't anything new), but apparently they were getting impatient with their own players as well, which is a little surprising to me.
•Our own crowd of traveling fans was great again. They were loud and made the atmosphere a great one to play in. I'm looking forward to seeing even more for the championship games.
•We beat Middelfart at home two times in five days after they hadn't dropped a home match in six months.
The best news coming out of the semifinals is the feeling on the team that we still have a couple areas where we can improve, which will give us focus for the last week of practice. We're happy with what we've done, but we're not satisfied, an important distinction that affects our attitude towards the finals.
And even though we scored a victory in the last meeting with Marienlyst we are not taking anything for granted. On paper Marienlyst has to be the favorite, but as they say, games aren't won on paper. Marienlyst is (and has been) the consensus pick to win it all, and Aalborg is the team that came from nowhere (sitting 5th in the table at the end of January) to make it to the finals. I think we've managed to provide some of the biggest surprises of the season in the Elitedivision, and certainly now is not the time to stop.
Saturday night's game was a great match, and had quite a few memorable moments. After going up 2-0 in sets, I think we took Middelfart for granted a bit, but they showed they had the ability to come back from deficits also. The first set started off well for us and was close the entire way. We got some good blocks that gave us some critical points on our own serve, which ended up winning the set for us. The second and fourth sets were both similar; midway through each there were a few good plays and some mistakes that made the set all but won early on.
The third set appeared to be of the same mould, but we chipped away at Middelfart's lead slowly, earning a point or two each time we sided out. We tied up the game around 21, but Middelfart managed to earn a few counterattacks to take the set. If we had lost that set badly and the fourth as well, who knows what our mental state would have been, so even though we didn't end up winning the third, the comeback was still very important for us. I think despite our getting hammered in the fourth we managed to bounce back in the critical fifth set because of our play in the third.
There were some great plays from everyone, including our "four leaf clover" of blockers Fleming, Jesper, Joakim, and Kesse (who is now Norwegian apparently). Some other things of note from the game:
•The most memorable person from the night may have been the scorekeeping secretary, who was absolutely wasted. You could smell the booze when you walked past the table, and he was wisely "substituted" after he couldn't work both the flip scoreboard and the electronic one simultaneously.
•The most memorable play of the night (which wasn't the last point, which ended with a missed serve) was probably a ball Niels hit from the outside that nailed the libero in the face. He laid on the ground for a couple minutes but luckily was okay and able to continue.
•The crowd at Lillebæltshallen was pretty hostile. It was most obvious when they were yelling at the ref (which isn't anything new), but apparently they were getting impatient with their own players as well, which is a little surprising to me.
•Our own crowd of traveling fans was great again. They were loud and made the atmosphere a great one to play in. I'm looking forward to seeing even more for the championship games.
•We beat Middelfart at home two times in five days after they hadn't dropped a home match in six months.
The best news coming out of the semifinals is the feeling on the team that we still have a couple areas where we can improve, which will give us focus for the last week of practice. We're happy with what we've done, but we're not satisfied, an important distinction that affects our attitude towards the finals.
And even though we scored a victory in the last meeting with Marienlyst we are not taking anything for granted. On paper Marienlyst has to be the favorite, but as they say, games aren't won on paper. Marienlyst is (and has been) the consensus pick to win it all, and Aalborg is the team that came from nowhere (sitting 5th in the table at the end of January) to make it to the finals. I think we've managed to provide some of the biggest surprises of the season in the Elitedivision, and certainly now is not the time to stop.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Semifinal #2 v Middelfart
We went down to Middelfart for the second leg of the series with a pretty positive attitude after the loss Saturday. Our traveling fans made it a good atmosphere in Lillebæltshallen and managed to drown out the Middelfart cheers at certain points as well, which I know all the players appreciated.
The first set didn't go particularly well for us as we missed a lot of serves and didn't side out very well. Middelfart had a pretty big lead for most of the set, and when they got to around 20 Morten and I were switched, and he did a good job of getting some rhythm into the sideout attacks, but it just wasn't enough. They ended up taking the set easily, 17-25.
The second, third, and fourth sets were all really close affairs. Morten started each set and Jens and I came in as part of double switches in the late points to get some extra attacking and blocking. As a whole our serving settled down a bit (though still not up to our usual standard) and when it did we were able to earn some counterattacks. We came up with some timely blocks and sided out on the first ball pretty well also. We took the second set 26-24 and lost a close third set 23-25, but with out backs against the wall won a big victory in the fourth, 25-20.
The deciding set was close the entire way, and when we sided out at 6-6 Tue came in for Jesper to serve. He served about five balls in a row to give us a ton of momentum and a good lead for the final push. The rest of the way we sided out on the first serve every time with the exception of one ball, and Jens won a really important sideout ball to give us match point. Middelfart sided out though and on the next reception I set Niels on the outside who put the match away for us.
Despite giving Middelfart an entire set's worth of points on missed serves alone, we definitely upped our level of play from the previous match. As a whole though our team agrees there is still another gear that we can kick it in to, so it will just be a matter of finding that on Saturday night, in what should be an exciting finish to the series.
The first set didn't go particularly well for us as we missed a lot of serves and didn't side out very well. Middelfart had a pretty big lead for most of the set, and when they got to around 20 Morten and I were switched, and he did a good job of getting some rhythm into the sideout attacks, but it just wasn't enough. They ended up taking the set easily, 17-25.
The second, third, and fourth sets were all really close affairs. Morten started each set and Jens and I came in as part of double switches in the late points to get some extra attacking and blocking. As a whole our serving settled down a bit (though still not up to our usual standard) and when it did we were able to earn some counterattacks. We came up with some timely blocks and sided out on the first ball pretty well also. We took the second set 26-24 and lost a close third set 23-25, but with out backs against the wall won a big victory in the fourth, 25-20.
The deciding set was close the entire way, and when we sided out at 6-6 Tue came in for Jesper to serve. He served about five balls in a row to give us a ton of momentum and a good lead for the final push. The rest of the way we sided out on the first serve every time with the exception of one ball, and Jens won a really important sideout ball to give us match point. Middelfart sided out though and on the next reception I set Niels on the outside who put the match away for us.
Despite giving Middelfart an entire set's worth of points on missed serves alone, we definitely upped our level of play from the previous match. As a whole though our team agrees there is still another gear that we can kick it in to, so it will just be a matter of finding that on Saturday night, in what should be an exciting finish to the series.
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