Yarra Ranges Volleyball Club

Women’s Honours

Yarra Ranges 3 – Camberwell Cobras 2

2nd (Yarra) against 6th (Camberwell). Camberwell has the unusual record on only having played one three set match for the season. All of the rest were five set matches and this one was to prove no exception.

The Honours Women team had had an ordinary lead up to this match. We had what was effectively a three-week break due to the long weekend and a Bye.

Add to this, our Comedy nite taking one of the training nights, our two setters not being above to train during that week, and the scene was set for what could have been a major upset.

As it turned out, we played a game that was a direct reflection of the lack of training. Serve and serve/receive was just that little bit off, sets were not as precise as they had been in the preceding matches and our finishing was more than a little erratic.

Other teams may have faltered with all these problems, but this group of ladies is a pretty special. When it was time to step and do the hard work, everyone, did the little bit extra to show that the earlier wins were not just luck. A superb serving display by Georgia to win the match when scores were locked at 10:10 in the fifth set sealed our fifth consecutive win.

Congratulation ladies, a thoroughly deserved win. This win elevates Honours Women to the top of the table again.

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Women’s Div. 1

Round 8  -  Yarra Ranges (3) def Camberwell Cobras (1)

Very, very exciting game from the sidelines, all the girls were exceptional today which is a positive. Makes it very hard to split the votes!
Cobra’s are made up of good senior players with the combination of a few hard hitters, always serving well, and tough in back court. It is definitely a good sign when you can beat such a team when they are at full strength. Cobra’s were 2 games clear at the top of the ladder, and with this being only their second loss for the season they were never going to go down without a fight. We won’t see this team again until finals, and with today’s result the confidence will be boosted.
All of our players had good games and yet I know they can all play better!
Nicki Bishop was a handy inclusion yet again to make up the numbers, and I think she enjoyed her game. A little casual on the serves, but still consistent enough. Playing pass-hitter and then opposite, she always had an impact.
Amy is still looking for the form she had at the start of the year, but still had another good game. Passing was great however her hits were a little astray. She makes up for this with well adjusted hits and tips. A few minor adjustments in her approach and more time spent with Ash’s sets at training will help.
Ash set well today as always, but more practice is needed at dropping the outside balls consistently in the same zone. Her tipping game and movement to the ball were very good today and she served well to position.
Michelle and Mandi were two of the standouts today, Michelle filling the pass-hitter position left by Suzi quite well. Her passing was better, but will improve even more with corrected arms and lighter footwork. Mandi passed a lot better today and moved really well to the ball. She is a great option to have as libero when Danica is unable to play, however her serves are also an asset and usually very hard to judge.
Kat, Ingrid and Emily shared the middle again this week with blocking preparation improving but execution only slightly better. Kat started a little rough but came back strong and had a good game. Ingrid needs to play stronger and toughen up those hands on the block. Her attack is proficient, however the serves need more control and confidence. Emily is a very good contributor no matter where she plays. Her serves today had good direction, as too her middle hits and a couple of overpass attacks. All three girls played well but their transition during points needs to be faster in order to draw more of the opponents’ blocks.
Great win today and made even sweeter knowing we weren’t at full strength with the exclusion of Kate, Josie and Danica due to prior commitments and injury.

Jon Miller - Coach

Yarra Ranges Women’s Div. 1

Yarra Ranges (3) def Mornington (0)

Good game with a great result. This was our second 3-0 win for the season, with everyone playing well enough to win. There were no real stand-outs in today’s game. It was one of those games where the opposition weren’t playing too well so we didn’t need to push as hard as we really can.

The girls’ execution of skills was good, but could have been better. It was an opportunity to play people in different positions. This caused some confusion during the game but we eventually worked it out!

Congratulations to Suzi who probably played her last game in Div 1, as she’s been promoted to Honours as a middle hitter. Nicki Bishop also played today, as she’s coming back from injury. Div 1 is a good tester for her ankle rather than the higher pace of Honours.

A special thanks to the girls who did duty. It was a real hassle to organize this week, but with the added help of Mick Stevens we had enough people. More effort by some needs to be made so that all our hard work on court isn’t undone off court!

Jon Miller - Coach

Honours Women

Yarra Ranges 3 – Renegades 2

1st  (Renegades) against 3rd (Yarra).  This was always going to be a massive match.

Point for point in the first two sets, with Yarra taking each set out by a narrow margin.

We wandered off our game plan “pathway” over the next two sets, and while we were never far away in each of the next two sets, we didn’t appear to be capable of winning them.

The fifth set was a beauty.  As a coach, standing on the sideline, I was very surprised to see the score at 8-7, and then again, after what appeared to be a minute or two, we were ahead 11-7.  After a couple of late rallies by Renegades, we kept our cool and playing to the plan, the fifth set was ours, 15-12.

A huge effort by all the squad with precision setting by Georgia and Tanya, certainly kept Yarra’s ability to play smart attacking volleyball.

As has been the case, over the last four weeks of winning matches, to single out individual players in what has been a fantastic team effort, would not do justice to the team.

This match showed how a team has to play to achieve the desired result.  The effort at trainings is now starting to bear fruit on match day.  Well done to all the players.  This was one of the best team games we have seen from a Yarra side for a long time.

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Division 1 Womens

Yarra Ranges 1 – Renegades 3

4th  (Renegades) against 3rd (Yarra).

The Renegades team was a mixture of experience and skill.

As the score line for each set showed, we were always pretty close, but with youth and enthusiasm as our major asset, the “old heads” of Renegades proved to be the difference.

This particular game found that if our blocks were not effective, then the defence had to change.  We did this in the third set and found our defence was picking up the ball a lot better.

However, it was again, the experience of the opposition in tight rallies that proved the difference.  They just managed to put the ball where we weren’t, at the right times.

Our trainings should reflect an increase in blocking practice and floating defence where our defenders have to read the attackers and move accordingly.  All things that are easily remedied over the next few trainings.

Overall, with the number of players coming back after a week of illnesses, the team played very well.  With a good training under their belt this week and next week, look out our next opponent, Mornington in two weekends time.