


Results from first week of semi finals. 4th September 2022

State League Women ECU 3-0
Advance to Grand Final on 16th September
SLW was our top ladies in full flight. We did our mental preparation and came out firing, not giving ECU a chance to get into the first set, and continuing the domination in the second set to take a two set lead. The Cats ladies knew ECU would come back at some point, and so prepared for the 3rd set and swapped some players to keep the Balcatta team fresh.
A lapse of concentration allowed some service errors and let ECU to draw level in the third. But a quick timeout and refocus from the Cats saw the ladies draw clear in the third and hold on for a decisive sweep over the second place team from the regular season.
The top Cats team gets the bye next weekend, and will play 1pm at Warwick on the 18/9 in the grand final.
Coach Aaron.
State League Reserves Women lost to Busselton.
Play Reds next week for a spot in the Grand Final
SLRW played Busso today in a thriller match but ended up going down 3-1. The first set was close with the ladies fighting until to the death with a rough call to lose the set 23-25. Second set came and the girls attitude and effort was on full display with no easy ball hitting the ground, maree lam diving all over the place the girls defence was immaculate winning 25-21. Third set was very much like the second but a rough patch at the end saw Busselton catch up after trailing by 6 to take the set 23-25. Fourth set was a tough battle with both teams zapped of energy from the long rallies and huge energy but that didn’t stop the captain Marie marsaa down after injuring her thumb, the girls struggled to terminate the ball and ultimately went down 19-25. The ladies put in 110% effort with a wonderful game and know where the errors were.
Division One Women defeated United 3-1.
Play in the Grand Final on the 16th September.
First set the girls played very well, every tactics and strategies we organised for the game was working. Second set we relaxed a bit and make more mistakes. Other two sets we show to everyone why we finished in first, a very strong team with everyone knowing exactly what to do.
The POTW should go to every player that showed up at the game, for that Chelsea as capitan and for leading the team to the grand final deserves the POTW
Division Two Women lost to UWA
Play ECU next week for a chance to go to the Grand Final.
There were lots of finals nerves in our team today and a slow start magnified those nerves for some of our players.
We just couldn't gain any momentum in the match even though we were having some fantastic rallies. Our serving let us down in crucial places meaning that we just couldn't ever feel like we were on a roll.
UWA played well but we let the mental side control us and just didn't play our best volleyball.
On the positive side, that means it is on our control to fix these issues and we can learn from them and go into our next match full of determination and grit so we can fight for the win.
This team has everything in it to successfully fight for the title in 2022, we just need to band together and believe in ourselves and each other on the court.
I'm looking forward to next week when we can show our resilience and bounce back strongly in our preliminary final.
Division Four Men lost to Rossmoyne 2-3 and are eliminated.
Going into semi finals the boys were keen to get into it leading to an overexcited start, pretty quickly they were able to calm themselves down and clean up many aspects of their game and began to look like the stronger side on court. First set Rossy took out the win at 25/18 but we built some good momentum going into the end of the set.
Set 2 25/20 win:
Being down a set sparked some new life into the guys along with the momentum gained at the end of the previous set. They showed real dominance this set in both their offensive and defensive capabilities.
Set 3: 20/25 loss
A weak start led to an early timeout this set but allowed the guys to pull back a 5 point deficit with some great targeted serving from Jaron. Unfortunately Rossy fought back hard taking out the set in the end.
Set 4: 25/19 win
Once again being down 2/1 gave the guys energy to fight back even harder, this set was filled with incredible volleyball, we were playing our offensive game and looking strong doing it leading to Rossy being visibly nervous and shaken. The win in this set put us in a good headspace to go into the fifth.
Set 5 14/16 loss
Unfortunately despite having momentum on our side from the previous set Rossy fired back hard taking an early 4/0 lead, after a timeout on our side we fought back to within one point of them before the side swap. Following this we began to dominate in our offensive plays in combination with consistent targeted serving we had a lead going into the end of the set, unfortunately after a few timeouts on their end and some great attacks Rossy was able to come back and take the win with a 4 point run at the end of the set.
Overall a fantastic match and the best the guys have played all season. Every player did incredibly well especially as we had to change rolls with one of our middles out due to injury. Jaron with great consistency in his serving and setting, Axel with many big swings and smart plays, Ash and Dien with consistency serving and hitting, Andy with his middle play despite having not played it all season and coming in as backup setter, Ryan with incredible ups as our libero, Jon with his strong blocking pressure but MVP will have to go to Jacob aka Junior for his incredible hitting with countless strong swings.
Division Four Women defeated ECU Red 3-0 and advance to the Grand Final on the 16th September.
It was a slow start from the girls with everyone feeling the nerves of finals, with the first set filled with service errors and communication errors, however after a little warming up the girls managed to return from a deficit to win 26-24 in the first set
The second set was more successful as the girls brought the momentum into the third set, winning multiple long rallies and showcasing brilliant scrambling and never giving up. The girls took set 2 25-20
The third set was similar to the second set, many long rallies that could’ve gone both ways but ultimately ended with us winning them, the girls managed to stay on top and took the set and game 25-20 again.
Everyone had a really good game, with everyone on the team stepping up and playing extremely well. A standout player was Zara Del Borrello, who had multiple blocks and kills through the middle, even able to pull of an a ball. However, player of the game will have to go to captain Alice who only had one service error all game and kept her consistency throughout the game and showcased strong leadership skills. The girls are looking forward to the grand final and are excited to bring home gold