Winchester Eagles Volleyball Club

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)!

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!

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.

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.