Honours Women
Yarra Ranges 3 – Heidelberg 1
1st (Yarra) against 2nd (Heidelberg). This game was a bit of an unknown commodity.
Heidelberg was going to be without two of their strongest line-up (Shannon and Karly) and Yarra was going to be without one of our strongest (Sian).
The winner was going to be the club who had the better depth of player talent.
Our first set was running at point for point up to about 15, then at the crunch time of the set, we managed to pull away with more consistent play during rallies and better finishing options.
Set two was pretty similar to the first set with Georgia and Karina coming in to win the second half of the set for us.
The third set was the set that we all assumed we would win like the last two, but the opposition had different ideas. We got rolled 25-19.
A slight attitude change for the next set and the fourth set was ours giving Yarra Honours Women their sixth straight win, and outright top spot on the ladder.
Special mentions to Nikki Bishop and Suzannah Ball for their hard work running the middle attack all game. A fantastic effort ladies and our win was due in no small part to your efforts on the day.
We can now enjoy another two-week break due to School Holidays and National Junior Champs in Brisbane. Yarra Ranges Volleyball Club will have no less than nineteen female players representing Victoria across the three age groups at Nationals this year.
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Women’s Div. 1
Round 9 - Monash(3) def Yarra Ranges (2)
Another excellent game which came right down to the wire – again! Disappointing that we couldn’t win, but none-the-less a lot of positives.
Everybody played well and did what was asked, but in the end it was the experienced heads of Monash that literally pulled them over the line.
There’s no need to single anybody out this week – everybody served well, blocked well and passed exceptionally. Setting was great but was sometimes let down by spiking accuracy. That’s not to say that our spiking was bad – it was still good but only at about 80%. More aggression is sometimes needed.
I urge all our players to ask themselves what we want out of this year. This is a great club with a strong history of pride, determination and a strong bond between team and club mates. A lot of excellent people have played for Yarra (and Monbulk) and still do!
We need to work harder at the little things at training like balance and preparation for all the skills – passing, setting, serving and spiking. Just going through the motions won’t improve anybody and won’t win us those 5 set battles.
We have a real shot of making an impact on the finals, if not winning. We need to be stronger under pressure and not be afraid of taking risks when needed.
Experience and maturity is a great asset on the court, but as we’ve shown already, it isn’t everything. We are more than capable of doing great things when we put our minds to it!!!
Jon Miller - Coach