Aces Mixed 1st Team fought two strong teams today and came up with 4 points, keeping us at 2nd place in Division 1.
We started against Oxford, and started strong. Our passes were clean and our attacks smart, and we comfortably won the 1st set. The 2nd set saw our focus drop and some shaky defence let Oxford take us to a deciding 3rd set. In the end, we were not able to overcome the opposition and lost 2-1.
Next up we faced Maidenhead, currently sitting behind us in 3rd place. We picked up the intensity from the very start, and delivered a very strong performance to comfortably take the 1st set victory. In the 2nd set, we became too relaxed once again, as Maidenhead built a growing lead over us. By the time they were 18-12 up, the game looked to be going to another deciding 3rd set, but we managed to keep pace with them until they had a 23-18 lead. Unfortunately for them, Carmel was serving now, and thus began a legendary 7 point comeback, full of power serves, epic saves and some monster blocks from Jamie. We took the set 25-23 to clinch a well earned 2-0 victory. You can watch the game highlights here.
MVP for both games : Lauren Chan
🖤 NVLgirls
What a thrilling game we got to live on Sunday!
As promised, there was a non-stop display of quality volleyball from both sides 💪🏻🏐. And it was so close…
Reading Aces took the first set confidently. Then Team SideOut came back stronger winning the second and the third one by the minimum. However, we weren’t going to give up and we fought to keep the fourth set home. We took Team SideOut to the tie break, not dropping the intensity at any point during the whole two hours that the game lasted.
And we put on a fight! But so did they… Managing to win this Quarter Finals match 2-3.
1⃣ 25:17 2️⃣ 20:25 3️⃣ 23:25 4⃣ 25:23 5⃣ 9:15
Despite the result, we’re very happy and proud of our performance, energy and team work 🌟 Everyone played phenomenally! Watch the highlights here or full game is also available here.
A great weekend for RAVC Men 1 as they secured a straight 2:0 win against the current table leader – Oxford Bulls in their first game.
Though 2023 did not start well in favour of our team but our men were able to quickly get back strong and showed some amazing skills throughout both matches.
1⃣ 25:17 2️⃣ 25-23 MVP – Dustin.
Second game was against Spikeopaths M1
Our team continued with their skilful play against spikopaths M1 in the first game however closely lost the set 21:25.
Later in the second set, It was promising to watch the team collectively add that extra effort to stay dominant against spikos. Our men maintained a very positive, fun and focused play leading towards win over the second Set 25:21.
The deciding set kicked off as expected in favour of our men, with the strong dominant attacks leading the match score 11:6, but unfortunately the match ended early as the hall booking ran out of time.
1⃣ 21:25 2️⃣ 25:21 3️⃣ 11:6, MVP – Ram
With the season half way through, our Mens team are positive and determined to constantly improve their volleyball skills and showcase competitive performance in their upcoming matches.
Congratulations Mens 1 team and Good luck!
🖤 Men 2
Reading Aces Men 2 vs Newbury Men
1⃣ 11:25 2️⃣ 29:27 3️⃣ 11:15
In set 1 Reading Aces Men 2 were unable to receive the Newbury serve from a couple of players in particular and despite some good rallies, lost the 1st set 25-11.
Some better serving in set2 particuarly from Simon (97), William (47) and Geoff (21) allowed us to be much more competitive. Bringing substite Max (79) on to front court also created a stronger block which won more points keeping the advantage with Reading. We continued fighting as we passed the 25-25 point to eventually take the 2nd set 29-27.
In set 3 Newbury were ahead 8-4 at the change of ends but some more good serving from Geoff took us to within reach of the set at 8-11 but unfortunately too many serving errors from Reading Mens2 meant we weren’t able to reduce their lead, eventually loosing the set 11-15. MVP:William Chan
Second game was Reading Aces Mens2 vs Basingstoke Jaguars finishing 1⃣ 25:16 2️⃣ 26-28 3️⃣ 15-11
Reading took a good lead in set 1 against Basingstoke Jaguars with some good serving from Andrei (71) and Geoff (21) building a 15-6 lead. Basingstoke did manage to get a run of serves towards the end of the set but this was too little too late as Reading took the 1st set 25-16.
It was Basingstoke that took the initial 7-4 lead in the 2nd set but Reading Aces Men 2 held on to bring the score back to 13-14, however a run of good serves from Basingstoke took them to a 22-18 lead. But Men 2 weren’t done yet and further good serving from Geoff took us to 21-23. A clever tip from Andrei and good hits from Mantas took us to 25-25 however none of the following 3 serves went in and all it then took was one good serve from Basingstoke for them to have 2 clear points and the set 28-26.
So now we’re intoo the deciding set – which didn’t start well for our Men 2 as Basingstoke ended up with a 5-2 lead following hitting errors, easy balls over along with inconsistent setting.
Men 2 came back to 5-6 by serving well (47) and winning some good rallies (80) but another hitting error from our middle gave The opposition the advantage once again.
We changed ends at 6-8 and a 31-shot rally took place but Men 2 were unable to put any decent attack up, eventually loosing the rally with a Basingstoke Jaguars shot to position 1.
After a timeout at 6-10 down we got side-out and into another long rally (26-shots) which again didn’t have any real attack until eventually there was a set to the wing (21) for a winning hit.
A forced error from another Men 2 wing hit (21) won us another point, but this was followed by a Reading service error to give the ball back to BSJ at 9-11 down.
Men 2 traded a couple of points with a Basingstoke tip and a Men 2 hit (72) to get side out at 10-12 but another service error from Reading Aces resulted in 10-13 down.
The Basingstoke serve was controlled but a too-ambitious reverse middle hit resulted in a hit in the net to leave us 10-14 down.
A 2nd timeout at 10-14 allowed a bit of composure and a good back court hit (47) then gave us side-out at 11-14.
However, despite another good serve (21) we were unable to defend a ball sent wide to position 1 and lost 11-15. MVP: Sunae
❤️ NVL Ladies
Well… Sadly, it didn’t go our way this time…
The NVL squad had some good rallies and sharp points, but that wasn’t enough.
1⃣ 14:25 2️⃣ 23:25 3️⃣ 17:25
Dartford Volleyball Club put on a big fight and took the win home. Their game was passionate and clever. They fought for every ball and, consequently, didn’t drop a set.
But there’s only one way from here, right? Upwards! 💪🏻
Lots to take in and to work on, so keep watching this space.
We had loads of games last weekend featuring four teams. Well done to all! Here some of the results.
❤️ BVA Ladies A great weekend for BVA ladies = a good start to the new year with our first victory of this season. Team was joined this week by Meg and it was great to have a coach helping us on match days!
The first match was against Oxford University – their first meeting with them this season. Ladies made a good start to the set, with a couple of rotations winning a few points on serve to give us a lead mid way with encouragement from the bench to have more confidence in our hitting. The scores then levelled up and at we found ourselves at 24-24. Unfortunately the serve went astray (sorry girls!) and we finally lost the set 24-26. A couple of changes, due to injury and making sure everyone was involved, followed in set 2. They fell behind and it looked as if it would be a quick set. However we fought back well, finally losing 18-25. MVP for the first match was Diane.
The second match was against Newbury, for the second time this season. They had lost to Oxford, so our team was hoping for a good game. The scores were very close throughout the set, but with some good covering and hitting they won set 1 by 25-23. The second set again started evenly, but ladies coped well with changes to rotation and again held their confidence to win that set 25-23 as well. Their first victory of 2023. More to come! MVP was Muryam.
We would also like to send our best wishes to Gargee who has returned to India this week. We hope all goes well and we will miss her cheerful presence on court.
🖤 Men 2 Strong start to the new year for Men’s 2 with two wins on the match-day. The day started off with a 2-1 victory over Reading Aces Men’s 3. Set stands at 25-13, 18-25, 15-4. Men’s 2 lost their momentum in the second set but picked up quickly afterwards in the final set to secure the match.
The second match was also a close contest with Newbury Juniors. The opponent put in a few good hits but our middle blockers stood strong and shielded the team. Set stands at 25-23, 25-22. MVP for both matches was Leo. Men’s 2 is hoping to continue this form to the end of the season.
Reading Aces Volleyball Club 