News and Announcements

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Today our juniors took part in the Hampshire Volleyball Association (HVA) Under 14s and Under 12s Grand Prix. The Eagles fielded three teams: the White Eagles (U14 Mixed), the Black Eagles (U14 Girls) and the Golden Eagles (U14 Boys). The Winchester teams competed against junior teams from other Hampshire Volleyball Clubs – New Forest, South Hants and Farnborough.
The Golden Eagles played eight games in a division of five teams, with every team playing each other twice. The boys performed very well, with some brilliant attack actions, some good fights in defence and excellent serving even when under pressure. Team spirit was great and they finished third.
The Black and the White Eagles played in a division of six teams where every team played each other once and then moved to the play offs phase to get on the podium.
Both Eagles teams performed incredibly well in the first phase, beating all the other teams and dominating most games so that the final for silver and gold was an all Eagles derby.
The final was a very close match and there were amazing rallies with superb attacks, great defence and wonderful team spirit. In the end, the Black Eagles won the game 25-21 and took home the gold. Well done girls, you did it!!!
The coaches were very proud to see how much our young athletes have improved in such a short time both in their volleyball fundamentals and in their game tactics. Well played everyone.
Congratulations to Anthony for winning player of the day for team spirit and well done to Sofia and Filip for their debut at HVA.
A huge thank you to all the parents and coaches who came to Cams Hill School to support the junior teams.
This was the last Junior HVA tournament of the season but our players will keep on training hard getting ready for next season. Great job everyone!

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What an epic adventure for the Winchester Eagles Ladies at HVA today. After a half-an-hour wait outside a locked gate, the Grand Prix finally got the go-ahead and the Ladies got ready for their first game of the morning against Hits and Giggles.
Faced with a strong opposition, the Ladies tried a tactical change to have their strongest servers serve first. Unfortunately, the move backfired. With virtually everyone out of position, the Ladies were not able to come out of “the blue zone” and lost the first set. They put up a good fight in the second set and there were moments of great volleyball but a bit too many errors on the Winchester side meant Hits and Giggles won the game 2-0.
As the Ladies saw their chances of going through to SEVA shrink, they decided to fight back. The delay in getting into the hall in the morning meant coach Robin could not stay for the second game due to prior engagements. The team, however, managed to pull themselves together and have a fresh start. Back to their original rotation, they played extremely well and showed great aggression, securing the first set with a good lead. In the second set, Guernsey Ladies managed to cause some trouble with strong serves and the Winchester Ladies got behind. They were having a good comeback but too late to secure the set so the match went to tie-break. The Ladies won it and went ahead to win the game 2-1.
The last game was against the University of Southampton Team. After a pause for reffing, the Winchester Ladies were starting to feel tired, since they had been playing so many games over the weekend. Yet, in the first set, they did not give the University Team a chance. Strong serves and attacks kept the opposition at a steady distance and the Eagles soon secured the set. The second set was harder, with some strong serves from the University team causing trouble with the Winchester pass. There were some really good rallies and the Ladies fought hard but unfortunately lost the second set. Once again, the tie-break was going to be the decider. The Ladies fought hard and used all their last bits of energy to give 100%, putting in an outstanding performance and totally deserving their 2-1 victory.
Well played everyone and once again thanks to our devoted supporter Carlos for cheering for us throughout the day.

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Last night, the Winchester Eagles Ladies played two more games in the SADVA league.
Both Salisbury Ladies and New Forest Ladies fielded teams with very young and inexperienced players and the Eagles won both games 2-0 very easily, not needing to do much more than serving and with the opposition never reaching double figures.
The Eagles were very correct, taking off the power in the serves and in the attacks, aiming only in the gaps between players and mostly using tips and roll shots.
It was a great opportunity to train smart serve and attack variation and the Ladies took advantage of the steady big lead to try players in different positions in preparation for the very busy weekend ahead.
As the matches were quickly over, the Eagles headed early to the pub for the customary celebratory drinks., having secured their position at the top of the SADVA League.
A huge thank you to our loyal fan Carlos for his staunch support of the team.
Today the ladies are playing in a triangular tournament organised by Jersey Ladies and tomorrow they’ll play at HVA. Well done ladies and good luck! Stretching will be of the essence in this volleyball-filled weekend.

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Last night, the Golden Eagles took home another two 2-0 victories, securing their place at the top of the SADVA League.
The first match was against SVC first team. After a great start, the Eagles relaxed a bit too much, the intensity dropped and the Southampton team was sneakily closing the point gap. A time out allowed the Eagles to regain focus and put a stop to the opposition’s attempted come back, with the Eagles closing the set 21-18.
In the second set, the Eagles dominated the game from start to finish and SVC could do nothing against the Winchester team’s relentless attacks and strong serves. The set finished 21-12 to the Eagles. Olli was unstoppable at the net and won many aces with his serve, bringing home a very well-deserved MVP.
The second game was against the Gosport Jedi. The Eagles stayed in what Dave calls “the red zone” from start to finish. Passing was accurate and defence excellent (including block cover coaches will be pleased to hear). This left setter Angie spoilt for choice and the Eagles were able to build attacks using the whole length of the net, killing every single ball. Gareth, David, Paul and Claire were very effective from the wings and from backcourt too. Olli and Liz blasted the opposition away with their fast middle hits. On top of their aggressive attacks, the Eagles knocked the opposition over with powerful serves. The score was 21-12 in the first set and 12-8 in the second. What a stunning performance for the Golden Eagles, who were missing some of their players this week but still managed to win all their games. Well done everyone!

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The Winchester Eagles Ladies Team had an amazing day at HVA today, bringing home three 2-0 victories, bringing them one step closer to SEVA.
The first game, against Guernsey Ladies, was the toughest. Guernsey is a team that had done very well at HVA last season and the Eagles were very keen to beat them. Our Ladies started very strong, with a series of killer serves from Liz that took them to 8-0. The Guernsey side was never able to recover from that. The Eagles kept the pressure on with more strong serves from all players and hard hits from the middle and the wings and the set was soon over.
The second set saw the Eagles dominating again and allowed coach Robin to bring in more players, to make use of a 12-strong squad. Our setter Fab worked very hard to keep all the hitters busy and the Eagles won the game 2-0.
After reffing a very tight game – SVC vs Guernsey Ladies, the Eagles knew that their next game versus SVC was going to be challenging too, as SVC was fielding quite a number of their NVL players.
At times, the Eagles found themselves under pressure against hard serves, but they responded well coming together as a team with a strong passing unit. They counter attacked with equally aggressive serves and relentless hits from both front and backcourt. There were some very good rallies with great play on both sides, but the Eagles came on top thanks to their superior skills and determination.
The last game against South Hants was an easier one, which gave Robin the chance to try players in different positions and make a lot of substitutions. Our youngest players proved very resilient when put under pressure and the Eagles brought home another 2-0 victory.
An awesome day of volleyball for the Eagles. Well played everyone. A huge THANK YOU to our coach Robin who, once again, did a brilliant job.