Winchester Eagles Volleyball Club

It was an intense volleyball weekend for the Eagles Mixed Teams. On Friday, both Mixed Teams competed in the SADVA League, playing each other in an all-Eagle derby as well as facing the SVC Mixed team. The veteran Eagles team secured both games with 2-0 victories, whilst the younger Eagles put up a good fight in the derby and lost to SVC.
On Sunday, both teams played in the last Mixed HVA Grand Prix of the 2021-22 season. With a total of eight teams competing, the Eagles sides had to play a total of seven timed games each. Both teams did extremely well, one securing fourth place and the other team taking home the gold (and a yummy box of celebrations – a much needed energy booster after so much volleyball).
The club is very proud of all its players, who have shown great volleyball skills, total commitment and awesome team spirit throughout the season.
It’s amazing how much our Eagles have grown, both as individual players and as a team. A tribute to our coaches and all their hard work this year.

The Winchester Eagles ladies today competed in the South East Volleyball Association regional finals as one of the teams representing Hampshire.
The tournament included the two top teams from the Division 1 County Leagues in Sussex, Kent, Hampshire, Berkshire and Sussex. A total of ten teams, split into two pools of five.
The Eagles had to face Farnborough first, the team that would end up top of the pool. It was a tough game and although the Eagles tried their best, Farnborough took the game thanks to their aggressive and consistent serving.
The Eagles realised that they needed to improve their pass if they wanted to compete against teams with such strong serves, so they decided to start playing with a libero.
This stabilised their pass and defensive game and the matches against Dartford and Epsom were very close. There were many moments of brilliance, with quick sets through the middle that completely threw off the opposition block and some fast-paced attacks from the wings that wrecked havoc in our opponents’ defence.
The Eagles fought hard and gave their 100% for every point. The team grew incredibly throughout the day, with each game better than the one played before. They definitely played at their best in the last game against the Sussex Dolphins.
Although they didn’t make it to the finals, our girls showed great resilience, amazing team spirit and most of all a really big heart.
What an amazing achievement for this newly formed team. The club is very proud of every single one of you. Well done everyone!

What an amazing day of volleyball for the Winchester Eagles today at the HVA Mixed Grand Prix!
The Eagles stormed the tournament with three teams and took the gold.
All three Eagles teams played exceptionally well, displaying not only extraordinary volleyball skills but also tremendous team spirit.
We had a mixture of younger and more experienced players and we were really pleased to see how much our youngsters progressed throughout the day – some of them playing in new positions.
We were also very proud of our more mature players that lasted the whole day without subs or breaks in a tournament where playing is followed by reffing and on to the next game without respite – a real challenge on players’ level of fitness and overall form.
A great result for our growing club that is definitely becoming more and more prominent on the Hampshire volleyball scene. Well played everyone! Don’t forget to do some stretching or you’ll regret it tomorrow…

Today, 20th March, the Eagles Ladies Team competed in the last fixture of the Hampshire Volleyball Association League. With Salisbury Ladies unable to field a team for the day, the Winchester Eagles only had two games instead of the usual three but they were going to be key ones.
They first faced the Southampton Volleyball Club team, which at that point were still first in the league. The Eagles secured the game with a very convincing 2-0. This opened the way to qualifying for the South East Volleyball Association, especially after SVC were beaten also by Guernsey Ladies. All of a sudden, anything could happen.
After reffing, the Eagles faced SUVC. This proved to be a very tough and tight game, with both teams trading points and winning one set each. The tie break was going to be the decider. The Eagles put up a superb fight and lost by only two points.
In a league where every set and every point counts, the Ladies were rewarded for their hard work: they came second in the league and therefore are through to the regionals. What an achievement for such a newly formed team. On 14th May they will be competing against the best teams in the South East in Dorking.
The winners of the HVA League, Guernsey Ladies, invited the Eagles to play a friendly. Once again, the Winchester Ladies proved they belong right at the top, trading point on point against the champions. The match ended as a draw (one set all) for lack of time but the Guernsey Coach was overheard telling his players the Eagles are the ones to watch next season. Exciting times! Well done ladies!

Today, Saturday 12th March our Juniors made yet another trip to Cams Hill School in Gosport for the third Hampshire Volleyball Association Junior Grand Prix. The Eagles took part with three teams: an Under 14 Girls’ Team, an Under 14 Boys’ Team and an Under 12s Mixed Team, with a total of 15 players taking part.Our young athletes competed against clubs from all over Hampshire, including South Hants, New Forest and Farnborough. Our coaches Andy and Angie were once again very impressed by the quick progress made by all players. Great improvements were noticed not only compared to the Eagles’ performance in the last Junior HVA Grand Prix a couple of months ago, but also throughout the day. With every game played, our Eaglets grew stronger, more confident and more aggressive in their serves and attacks. The hard work done at training in the last few weeks on defence and serve receive also paid off, with our pass getting better with every set and more and more calls for the ball heard on court.There were moments of brilliance, with serving aces, three touches building up an attack, blocking, and even linking and rescuing the ball. Great volleyball skills all around. It was great to see the teams gelling, players encouraging and supporting each other, awesome team spirit and a good dose of resilience when playing against more experienced sides.Our Most Valuable Player award today went to Erwann for a superb overall performance and for his positive attitude.A big thank you to all the parents for making the trip and coming to support our Juniors. We look forward to seeing you all again at the next HVA Junior Grand Prix on 22nd May.