Winchester Eagles Volleyball Club

Today, the Winchester Eagles Ladies Team competed at SEVA in the regional finals against the top teams from five counties.
It was a long day of tough games in a crowded, hot and noisy hall with no chance to warm up but this year the Ladies came better prepared and took advantage of every second and every corner to try and be game ready at the sound of the hooter.
Although they didn’t make it to the semifinals, they performed extremely well and were able to put up a good fight in all games against really strong sides.
They had moments of brilliance, some monster blocks, powerful hits, strong serves with many aces and they worked their socks off in defence, fighting hard to keep the ball alive. The passing unit was challenged at times, with floating serves putting our Ladies under pressure but they had very good strategies to quickly get back into the red zone.
They managed to beat Epsom , nearly took a set from Oxford (the pool winners) and kept both Dartford and Worthing on their toes.
It was great to see how much the team has grown in just one season. They are now able to compete at the highest levels, they are really working well as a team and supporting each other and definitely belong with the top teams in the region. We are very very proud of all of them and have high hopes for next season. Well played everyone!

For the second year running, the Eagles Ladies did very well in the HVA Grand Prix and managed to go through to the South East Volleyball Association finals, which will take place on 14th May.
They will be representing Hampshire together with Guernsey Ladies. A total of ten teams from five counties will be competing for the title of regional champions.
In the last HVA Grand Prix of the season, the Ladies had two very tough games. The first one was against SVC, which fielded lots of NVL players. The Eagles started very confidently, quickly securing the first set. In the second set, they were in the lead most of the time and it was just because of some trouble in the passing unit combined with a couple of unlucky scrappy balls that SVC managed to steal the set.
The decider was going to be the tie-break and the Ladies had started very well. When it looked like it was all over for SVC, with the Eagles a few points ahead and their strongest server to serve for the match point, it all started to go downhill for the ladies. SVC managed to side out and climbed back up point by point thanks to a very powerful server. The ladies crumbled under the pressure and started to make some unforced errors. It was a shame that SVC managed to win the game, as the Eagles were clearly the stronger side and had been dominating the whole game.
The last match was against Hits and Giggles, which was top of the league and undefeated. The Eagles gave it their all and put up a very good fight. Having introduced a libero meant the Ladies’ passing unit had become much stronger but unfortunately that wasn’t enough to beat the opposition. Despite the Eagles best efforts, Hits and Giggles won both sets.
Luckily for the ladies, the results of the other games worked in their favour and they managed to go through anyways.
A huge thank you to our coach David for his invaluable support throughout the day.

Another fantastic day of volleyball for the Winchester Eagles today at the HVA Mixed Grand Prix.
The Eagles took part with two teams: Golden Eagles and Black Eagles.
Some amazing volleyball actions from both teams in a series of seven timed competitive games against teams from all over Hampshire.
The Golden Eagles only lost one game by a handful of points against the tournaments winners – BVC.
The Black Eagles performed very well too and put up a good fight in the Eagles derby that was going to be the decider for the silver medal.
In the end, both teams finished on the podium, taking home second and third place. Well played everyone!

Last night, the Winchester Eagles Ladies Team took home the SADVA trophy after yet another two convincing victories, winning the SADVA League for the second year in a row without losing a single game.

Their first match was against Roke Ladies, who are second in the league. Thanks to their aggressive serves, the Eagles were soon in the lead with a wide point gap. The Roke team could do nothing against the Ladies’ powerful attacks and strong serves and the Eagles defence was very rarely challenged. The Ladies stayed in the “red zone”from start to finish and secured the game with a quick 2-0.

The second game against New Forest was very short, with the Eagles dominating from start to finish. The Eagles tried to take the power off their serves to get some rallies going but the New Forest team was really struggling to get the ball over and it was soon 2-0 to the Eagles.

What an amazing season for the Ladies with an uninterrupted string of victories in the local league! We are now looking forward to the last fixture of the county HVA Grand Prix to see if we can repeat last season’s great performance and get through to the regionals at SEVA.

Unfortunately, our coach David couldn’t be there but he would have been proud to see how our hard work at training paid off.

Huge thanks to our loyal super fan Carlos, who was there as always cheering for the team, together with Paul and our little mascot and even fans from the US! Our fan club is obviously growing…

After the games, the Ladies headed to the pub to celebrate what has undoubtedly been another very successful season. Well done everyone!

Last night, the Winchester Eagles Ladies Team took home another two victories, securing their place at the top of the SADVA League.
The Eagles had a shaky start in their first set against Roke Ladies. A few passing mistakes followed by some unforced errors meant the Eagles were soon quite a few points behind. However, after a restorative time out wisely called by coach David and a couple of tactical changes, the Ladies regained their composure and started to close the point gap. Unfortunately, it was too late to secure the first set, which went to Roke by a couple of points.
Still, the Eagles had built great momentum, which they carried into the second set, which saw them use aggressive serves and strong attacks from the very first point. With the Eagles “in the red zone” from start to finish, Roke had no chances and the set was soon over with a wide point gap. What a comeback!!!
It was one set all and the tie-break was going to be the decider but the Eagles were running out of time: according to SADVA rules, the tie-break counts only if one of the teams reaches at least five points. Roke was clearly aiming for a draw and were slow to get back on court but the Eagles still managed to get over the five points mark quickly enough through strong serves and powerful hits that cut each rally very short. The Ladies went on to secure the game with a very well-deserved 2-1 score.
The second game against SVC was very quick, with the Eagles dominating from start to finish. SVC simply could not cope with our Ladies powerful and well-placed serves and the game was soon over with the Eagles securing a 2-0 victory. Great job everyone!
With only two more games to play and the team still undefeated, the Eagles Ladies are in a great position to win the SADVA League.
We are hoping to see lots of Eagles supporters join our loyal super fan Carlos to cheer for the Ladies on 31st March. See you all at Woodlands (and at the pub afterwards)!