Ipswich Rocks rock in Norwich

18^th November 2007 started very well. All the Rocks made it to Norwich on time and awake. A small surprise came when we were told that the schedule had changed. Oh, well, at least we had time for some breakfast with coffee.

Our first match was against Brentwood , who turned up as a mix of their two teams, yet still missing the sixth player. The Rocks were warming up their bodies as well as minds - trying to remember their positions. Once it clicked, they played without making any major mistakes and won 32:18. Then, it was time to meet another opponent, Out Of Nine, without leaving the court. The performance was still not spectacular, but strong service, powerful hits through four, and occasional surprise hit through the middle brought the Rocks a fast victory (37:13).

In the second round, they met current EVL number one team Pink Ladies, and their good old friends from Stowmarket. These two games required slightly better concentration, as the opponent teams were the winners of their Pools. Despite the Rocks being a newborn team, they are very fast learners. Their team-work was visibly better after every game. Throughout the two games the spectators have witnessed strong service from every single Rock, solid digging and fantastically reliable setting from Marta and Inga. Thanks to them, Anna, Julia and Ewa enjoyed “making holes” on the other side of the court, and Eva and Lucy “tried out” some proper middle hitting. Pink Ladies got an unpleasant surprise and lost 14:36 . The Rocks were slowly switching off during the game against Stowmarket; the score was 25:15 for the Rocks at one stage. But then their point collection desire emerged again and they finished this month’s EVL tournament with a 34:16 victory.

We have not seen any shorts through the middle, which is probably down to the team being very new. Let’s hope the Rocks’ spectators will be soon enjoying some fast shots and maybe a few pipes…

Day’s result: Rocks’ clean victory. Overall result: 8^th out of 12 teams (because of missing last month’s tournament)

The tournament, overall, was a good learning and team-work practice for the Rocks. At the same time, the atmosphere was highly enjoyable thanks to the team’s fans, who came all the way from Ipswich and made a lot of noise, which is so very important for the performance of any team. A big THANK YOU from the Rocks goes to them. Not only did they make a big difference for the team, but they also entertained a couple of Slovako-English kids running around (Inga’s addition to the world). These two future volleyballers were, in turn, making everybody laugh. And when it came to refereeing, they both were invaluable help to the scorers, but not only with turning the points… Julia left Norwich with perfect knowledge of some Slovak words.

We are looking forward for the future performances or IPSWICH ROCKS!!!

Posted by Lucy on 23/11/2007

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