Winchester Eagles Volleyball Club

On a rainy Friday evening the Eagles showed up at Woodlands Community College with full strength and a full squad. Angie won our ‘coin’ toss as an unorthodox rock, paper, scissor game against the first opposition, Roke. On the whistle, Liz served strongly, leading the Eagles to win the first point. Despite some questionable digs and covering, Tara managed to put up some sets thanks to her amazing movement, and the Eagles secured a nice lead. Claire supported the team, giving super tips to the players and a consistent performance through middle, meaning the team secured the first set.
In the second set, the Eagles stopped flying but still remained high in the sky, securing it with a tight 23-21 victory.

Onto the second game, after a short rest of reffing, the Eagles flew onto court to tackle New Forest. With a completely different energy, the Eagles kept a high performance throughout the whole game. Lou, our opposite, took a chance with a great set to Angie who finished an outstanding point. Cheering and encouraging chants made the difference to take the Eagles to a comfortable 21-14 victory. In the second set, Tara came in. On this occasion our setter, Tara, showed great skills as opposite with consistent hits and getting up for the block whilst covering the sets when our setter, Fab, was taken out. Beth and Liv played a strong game, with Beth covering every inch of the back court and Liv securing the final point with a sublime back court hit, leaving the score at 21-12.

Throughout, the bench showed superb support, mostly Vicky shouting alongside Paul with his fingers in his ears – when she wasn’t on court smashing through four. An excellent game played by all players where everyone contributed to the team, the dream, unbeaten team.

On Friday 18th February, despite storm Eunice battering the country, the Winchester Eagles braved the motorway and headed to Southampton to play two games in the SADVA League.
They first faced New Forest Volleyball club, a young team with some talented and promising players but the Eagles didn’t give the youngsters any chances. With their aggressive serves, clever attacks and reliable defence, the Eagles easily took the first set and New Forest did not even get to double figures.
In the second set, the Eagles continued to dominate and played very consistently, allowing all players to come on court without any hiccups. The game was sweet and short, with a very convincing 2-0 score.
The second game was against Southampton Volleyball Club. The Eagles were in for an easy win and they took advantage to try players in different positions.
It is not always easy to play well against a weaker team and the Eagles perhaps got a bit too relaxed. The passing was a bit under par at times and it took a whole set to manage the tandem “Mango” combination. Still, they finally succeeded and coach David should be proud. It was again a 2-0 victory.
The ladies remain top of the SADVA League. UNDEFEATED.
Drinks at the local pub followed as always, with a big cheer to Liv who could not be there tonight because she was celebrating her birthday. Happy Birthday Liv!

Dear Members,

The club shop to get Winchester Eagles training tops, together with tracksuit tops and trackpants are now live. Initials or numbers can be added to clothing, if you wish.

It is the last day to get a delivery discount using WEDC, which expires on 18 Feb.

So do have a look and see what you would like to order, if you wish!

https://kmd-clubshops.co.uk/product-category/winchester-eagles-volleyball/

Last night, both Winchester Eagles Mixed teams played two games at SADVA: one against the Gosport Jedi and the second against each other in an all-Eagles derby.
First on were the “oldies’ team” facing the Gosport Jedi. It all started with David’s insidious serves down the line, over and over again. The Gosport Jedi just could not return the ball and before they knew it, it was 6-0 for the Eagles. When the Jedi finally gained the serve, it got even worse for them. Captain Andy was simply unstoppable at the net and kept on bombarding them with powerful killer hits. At one point, it got so scary on the Jedi court that one player had to duck out of the way to save her head. Timidly, the Gosport Jedi tried to build a counter attack but things did not get any better there: they simply could not get past Andy’s insurmountable block. They tried with their hits, they tried with their tips, they even tried with their volleys but the ball kept on bouncing back in their face. All it took was a few tricky serves by Fab and Ollie and the first set was over.

In the second set, the Gosport Jedi tried a come-back but they stood no chance. Relentless and clever attacks from our unstoppable middle players – Andy and Ollie – and effective hits from our wing hitters – Claire, Parakram and Fab – left setter Angie spoilt for choice. The second set was quickly over and the Gosport Jedi never made it to double digits.
Next was the derby. The young Eagles put on a much better fight than the Jedi against the oldies and did manage to get to double figures in both sets. There were some really good serves from Julio and Lou that caused some trouble and an overall great team effort from the young Eagles. Liv and Liz bravely attacked against Andy’s block. Robin, Tania, Beth and the whole team fought hard to defend the strong hits coming their way. However, once again David’s serves gave the oldies a comfortable initial lead and they youngsters were never able to catch up. So it was one set nil for the oldies.
In the second set, the young Eagles renewed their resolve not to be easily beaten. There were some excellent passes from Robin, Tania, Christian and Beth. With spectacular defence efforts from Luh and Scott and some power hits down the line from Christian and Tania, the oldies had to work hard to secure the second set but once again they prevailed and took the match 2-0, concluding the game with a brave jump-serve from David.

In the final game, the young Eagles faced the Gosport Jedi. After a shaky start, the Eagles regained their composure and fought hard throughout the first set. Unfortunately, the Jedi won it, mainly thanks to their aggressive serves.
In the second set, the Eagles made some tactical changes in their passing unit and started to have more control in their power hits. The Eagles’ serves became more effective too and they managed to secure the second set.
The decider was going to be a tie-break and what a set it was! The Eagles’ fight was amazing and the two teams kept on trading points head to head throughout the set. When it looked like all was lost, some aggressive serves from Lou made it all possible again. Unluckily, because of time constraints, the tie-break score was capped at 23 and the Eagles lost it by just one point. Yes, they were beaten but they could definitely hold their heads high.
After a panicky moment when it looked like we had all been locked in at Woodlands, both teams headed to the pub for the customary celebratory drinks. The only absentee was the team mascot, Arsie the Eagle. Where are you, Arsie and when are we going to see you back on court? Surely, if we keep on winning, Arsie will be back soon. Watch this space.

On Saturday 15th January, our juniors took part in their second Hampshire Volleyball Association tournament. This time, HVA made entries available only in the Under 14s and Under 16s categories and the Eagles fielded four teams. With no Under 12s, the two Eagles Under 12s teams – “White Tailed Eagles” (Mixed) and “Brown Snake Eagles” (Girls) had to compete in the Under 14s categories, together with the two “Black Eagles” teams (Under 14 Boys and the Under 14 Girls).
Once again, all our athletes impressed us and made all parents and coaches extremely proud. The Under 12s fought very bravely against older, bigger and more experienced players and even managed to beat some of the Under 14s teams.
Our Under 14s had to face some very strong and skillful squads but they immediately rose to the challenge. They certainly surprised us all when they started blocking and hitting to keep up with the opposition, using skills that we had not had time to introduce at practice yet.
It was lovely to see what an impressive progress all our players made in just a few months. There was great team play, aggressive serves, lots of three touches and rallies and even some improvised hits, tips and blocks.
We all look forward to seeing them perform again at the next HVA tournament on 12th March.