Over the weekend we play our final pre season matches in Falkenberg vs some of the teams teams in Scandinavia. On Friday we played OVK and lost 3-0. OVK played a very strong match with consistently strong serving which creating many problems for us. We fought hard and came back in the second set but unfortunately some of our own errors let the game get away from us and we were never able to recover. This was a tough lesson for our team. The best thing was that we would get back into another game quickly the next day vs Forde. his game we turned up with a stronger focus and fight in team. We played at a higher level and won the first two sets comfortably. Unfortunately in the 3rd and 4th set we got caught in a few rotations where we let Forde take 4/5 points straight. In what were very close sets this managed to cost us in the end. The final result was 2-2 but we felt confident that we had made good improvements technically and physically.
On Sunday we had two matches to be played. The first game was against Gentofte. We knew they were a tough opponent as we saw they had defeated Falkenberg the day before. With our aim to simply improve on our previous match the guys came out with a good positive attitude. Using another new lineup we played a very level match and won 2-1. We were up 2-0 in this match but unfortunately lost some focus in the 3rd set. But overall we improved again and gained more confidence in our players.
Our final match for the weekend was against Falkenberg. In the first set we slipped back into a lack of focus and passion in what we were doing. Falkenberg took advantage of this with strong serving and efficient attack. We lost the first set poorly and needed to find more if we were to have a chance. Having been in this situation before the players came together and worked our way back into the match. We won a very close 2nd set and from there gained more confidence in our play. It was good to see that we would then pushed on to win the next 2 sets and the match 3-1.
Overall we saw the weekend was a good experience where we can learn a lot. All players had good opportunities to show what they can do in match situations and in the end it gave us great confidence that no matter who is on the court we can play at a high level.
Next Sunday the real business begins as we take on last years champions in LVC. The match will be played October 4 at 1700 in Halmstad Arena. See you there!!!
Matthew Young
Preseason Elite Tournament results Day 1:
FVBK – Förde 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 27-25) ÖVK – Hylte/Halmstad 3-0 (25-17, 28-26, 25-21)
Saturday Results Morning matches: FVBK – ÖVK 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 25-19) Gentofte Volley – Förde 4-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-23, 26-24)
Afternoon matches: FVBK – Gentofte 1-2 (18-25, 26-24, 22-25) H/H – Förde 2-2 (25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 23-25)
Sunday Results Morning matches: ÖVK – Förde 2-2 (30-32, 25-21, 25-23, 26-28) H/H – Gentofte 2-1 (25-22, 25-19, 21-25)
Afternoon matches: FVBK – H/H 1-3 (25-16, 25-27, 17-25, 22-25) ÖVK – Gentofte 0-3 (21-25, 15-25, 14-25)
Bilder från söndagens match mot FVBK finns på facebooksidan.