Leicestershire League
Monday 9th March 2020 Loughborough Students 2 Leicester Athena 1 (25-19, 25-22, 25-18) Decked out in the super new kit from Sportsway Management, Athena’s local league team took on Loughborough Students on Monday night and showed how far they have improved this season. Athena started with Charlie and Rachael setting, Alex and Anna middle hitters and Ioana and Maria as outside hitters. Athena started nervously and the first set was a story of little mistakes and errors. The first pass was wayward and there were a few serve errors, but when the ball was in play, Athena’s movement and precision was very impressive. Anna, in particular, caught the eye with excellent serving and strong passing and Ioana’s covering was excellent. Sadly, there weren’t enough fluent periods and the Students won the first set 25-19. The second set was completely different with Athena playing with confidence. Alex was dominating play in front and back court, Maria was hitting well and the whole team clicked. Their movement and cohesion showed how hard they have been working in training. Athena were well ahead in the set when they had a little wobble. After losing so many sets and matches, it was to be expected for them to get a little excited as the finish line appeared, but they calmed themselves down and won the set 25-22. The final set began in much the same vein, but with the scores at 9-9, one of the Students started serving and her hard, low, accurate serves caused problems for Athena. She took the set to 17-9 when she was substituted by the Student’s coach, but the damage was done. Athena traded points with Loughborough as Rachael showed how much she is developing in her first year and Charlie was there urging players on. However, Loughborough saw out the match by winning the final set 25-18. Coach Paul was delighted with the overall performance. It was a clear demonstration of the effort in training and they are developing into a good team that plays well-structured volleyball. Junior players, Evie and Barbora got some valuable court time as did Sab, who was returning after a stiff shoulder.
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East Midlands Volleyball League Sunday 8th March 2020 Leicester Athena 2 Lincoln Cannons 3 (25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 18-25, 12-15) Leicester Athena’s regional league team blew a commanding 2 sets lead to lose to a well-organised Lincoln Cannons side on Sunday. Playing in their fabulous new black and red kit from Sportsway Management, Athena started with Eli setting, Ioana opposite, Sam and Tereza middle, Edyta and Allie as outside hitters. With Joy injured, they played without a libero for the first time this season. Athena cruise into the lead Athena started well, they showed great defensive organisation to overcome a stubborn Cannons side who, themselves, repelled some great attacking plays from Edyta and Tereza. Allie was hitting really well, connecting with some fabulous wide sets to hit down the line. The first set was a little scrappy with passes going awry, but Athena worked their way through it to take control. Coach Paul had the luxury to blood debutant Emily who, despite only playing for a couple of months is showing a wonderful ability to learn. They won the first set 25-20 and looked even more fluent to win the second set to 21. The wheels begin to fall off Athena started the third with Julia replacing Edyta as an outside hitter. They continued to plug away as Lincoln Cannons upped their game and made some more dangerous attacks. Athena’s focus was beginning to wane as the set continues. Things looked very finely poised when a moment of misfortune seemed to change the momentum of the match. Tereza fell in back court and twisted her ankle. Emily was brought on again, but this time into the more complex middle hitters position and Edyta was brought back on for Julia. However, the disruption affected the concentration and Cannons won a very tight set by 2 points. Lincoln grab the initiative With their tails up, Cannons began to punish Athena errors with Athena looking tired and disorganised. Tereza was back on but her ankle was hindering her. Sam, though, was beginning to hit very well and won some crucial points, but Cannons greater consistency helped them pull ahead to level the match with a 25-18 set win. For the final set, Julia replaced Ioana as outside and Emily came on again for Allie but Cannons were not to be denied. They quickly forged a strong 7-3 lead and, although Athena rallied, they sealed the match. Well done to Lincoln who played really well and created a fabulously entertaining macth with long rallies and lots of skill and endeavour. There were some high points:
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