Winchester Eagles Volleyball Club

Today at the HVA Grand Prix, the Winchester Eagles Ladies played three tough games, all against teams that they had faced in November and December 2021. But this is 2022: New Year, new team and it was pay back time. The first match was against Guernsey Ladies and it was always going to be a tough one. Back in December, the Eagles had lost to them at the tie break by a handful of points and they were determined not to let that happen again. In the first set, the Eagles had a shaky start and Guernsey Ladies took an early lead. However, just when the Guernsey Ladies were starting to relax and think it was going to be an easy win, the Eagles started fighting back big time and it got to 23 all. If it hadn’t been for a random whistle blow that made the Eagles players stop, the Eagles would have definitely taken the set, led in their comeback by Courtney’s amazing serves. But unfortunately the first set went to the Guernsey Ladies by a couple of points. The second set was close too, with both teams trading points but in the end the Eagles took it and they went on to win the tie break too. Great start of the morning for the Winchester Eagles and just reward for a team that never gave up and fought for every point.

The second game was easier. The Eagles were facing South Hants Ladies, a team they had already beaten back in November. South Hants went on court with a mixture of experienced players and promising juniors, but they could not do much against the unstoppable Eagles Ladies. The Eagles took advantage of their early lead 5-0 (again, amazing serves by Courtney) to refine their tactics: ball distribution improved dramatically, the Eagles’ attacks became undefendable and we started to see some very effective use of backcourt hits. Defensively, the Eagles protected the court impeccably, with great and prompt comms and very well-adjusted positioning on court. Always starting with a comfortable lead, the Eagles were free to practise their aggressive serves and they took both sets quite easily, with South Hants barely reaching double figures.

After the resting and reffing break, the Eagles Ladies had to get their focus back because their last game was the one they wanted to win the most. The Golden Ladies had beaten them in their very first game of the HVA league back in November and the Eagles were ready to take their revenge. This time, they knew all the Golden Ladies’ tricks and they were not going to be taken by surprise. The Golden Ladies had two very strong players who dominated the court. They also had another two very experienced players who, despite serving underarm, had won way too many points with their tricky serves, not only (frustratingly) against the Eagles back in November, but even against SVC today (despite the fact that SVC had fielded mostly NVL players). The Eagles Ladies were smart and they neutralised the Golden Ladies’ servers with strategic positioning on court in serve-receive. The move worked and the killer serves simply didn’t happen for the Golden Ladies this time. Still, the Eagles had to keep their cool because the Golden Ladies were good at returning the ball defensively and had two very strong hitters. However, the Eagles put great pressure on them with aggressive serves and relentless attacks, both front and backcourt. The Eagles tactics worked and every single player gave 100% for every point and it showed. The Eagles won both sets to take the game. It was celebration time! Three games, three wins. This is the Winchester Eagles 2022 team. And we absolutely love them!

Today our juniors had their last session of 2021 and played a fun Christmas tournament in their festive attire.
All teams gave their all and we witnessed some truly amazing serves and very good team spirit.
Santa’s Little Helpers, The Naughty List, The Red-Nose Reindeer and The Secret Santas faced each other in timed mini-games.
Congratulations to the Secret Santas who came first with four wins and well done to all the teams for their impressive efforts.
The session ended with treats for everyone and Festive Greetings from the Coaching Team.
Check out our Club Website for some team pictures. Have a fabulous Christmas break and we look forward to seeing you all back on court in 2022.

Another glorious double win for the Winchester Eagles Ladies Team in the SADVA League last night.
The Ladies first faced Roke, who had a number of very experienced and strong players. However, the Eagles neutralised them from the very first serve and dominated the game, easily winning it 2-0 thanks to smart attacks, aggressive serving and great passing.
The second game was against New Forest and again the Eagles won both sets quite comfortably thanks to great team work. Everyone played incredibly well, immediately adapted to new positions on court and supported each other at every stage of the game.
The Ladies remain undefeated and top of the SADVA league. A brilliant way to conclude 2021. Celebratory drinks at the local pub were duly attended and more cheering will take place tonight at the club Christmas social.
A huge thank you to our coach David for coming to support us.

A great day at HVA today for the Winchester Eagles Ladies’ Team. Three games, all taken to three sets and some truly amazing volleyball.The Eagles had a tough start, with their setter dropping out last minute due to injury. Fab had to stand in, despite having an injured finger herself and what a fabulous job she did. Her sets were steady and consistent and her ball distribution great. Definitely MVP for the day. For the first game, the opposition was a tough one: Southampton Volleyball Club. Not only did they bring in their Div 3 National League Players, half of the team was made up of their Div 2 NVL players. SVC took the first set rather easily while the Eagles were finding their feet but the Eagles were not going to let them take the game without putting up a fight. And what a spectacular fight it was! The Eagles Ladies fought point after point, putting SVC under great pressure with strong serves and relentless attacks, both front court and back court and they took the second set. It started to look a bit embarrassing for SVC and they were very nervous when the Eagles came incredibly close to winning the tie break. Unfortunately, SVC ended up winning the third set (helped by distracted scorers that forgot to give the Eagles a point at the 10-10 crucial moment). The Eagles were defeated but could proudly hold their heads high.The next game was against Southampton University Volleyball Team. The Eagles took the first set easily but SUVC fought back and took the second set. The tie break was very close but unluckily the Eagles lost by a handful of points.The last game against Guernsey ladies was again very tight. It ended at the tie break and the Eagles, after a shaky start, had a great come back, really supporting each other through the rough patches and ending up only a couple of points behind.Despite the disappointing final scores, the Ladies showed great team work, resilience and determination. The team is growing stronger after each game and results are sure to follow soon. Watch this space.

On Sunday 21st November, our juniors competed in their first ever volleyball tournament, taking part in the Hampshire Volleyball Association Junior Grand Prix in Fareham. The juniors’ uptake for the competition was incredible and the Eagles were able to enter three teams in the Under 14s category and two teams in the Under 12s. With a contingent of 20 players across five teams, the Winchester Eagles were the Club with the highest number of athletes competing, a great achievement for a volleyball club that has only started its junior sessions a few weeks ago.
The Eagles’ accomplishments, however, did not stop there. Coaches Andy, Angie, Robin and Saffi felt extremely proud of all our junior players, who displayed great skills, team spirit and resilience in all their games and fought on undeterred even when facing more experienced players who had been training together for years.
A special mention goes to our mixed Under 12s team, who took everyone by surprise and took home the gold, coming first in their category. What a smashing start of the season and what a success for such young players who have only just started playing volleyball.
All our athletes performed incredibly well throughout the day. Each team consisted of four players and played six games against teams from other Hampshire clubs, including Portchester, South Hants and Farnborough. Our juniors even learnt some refereeing skills, as they were called to score, line judge and referee other teams’ games.
Our club coaches’ award went to Peter, who displayed great team spirit by constantly encouraging his team mates during their games not only when they scored points but also when they made mistakes.
Finally, a huge THANK YOU to all the parents and carers who not only drove our juniors all the way to Fareham but also stayed on to cheer them on and support them.
The juniors section of the Winchester Eagles Volleyball Club is growing fast and is very promising. Our athletes are training hard week after week and are continually improving their skills. We look forward to seeing them compete again in January in the next HVA Junior Grand Prix.