Week 3 Recap
Week three’s opponent on Court One of Ventnor was the formidable JC Leap Agency. Spiked Punch was joined by special guest player Mike Maxwell. Mike signed a one week contract to play for Spiked Punch after being highly recommended by Alison. She thought Mike would contribute to our short handed team, she told us that he, “is tall and is a very good athlete”. It was a good signing for the team, and her words couldn’t of been more true.
Game one started with JC taking a nearly 10 point lead on the Punchers. It was beginning to look bleak, but behind the ace serving of Alison, Spiked Punch clawed it’s way back into the game and managed to pull off one of their toughest victories to date. Solid overall play from the trio of Natalie, Geoff, and Mike really enabled the team to pull of the victory.
The second game JC got off to a commanding lead, and never really looked back. They took the game rather handily, but the athletic plays made from Eric and the rest of the Spiked Punch crew towards the end of the game really carried over into the third and decisive game.
Game three can simply be highlighted by some big game serving. Looking into a swirling wind Joe, a member of Spiked Punch picked apart the JC defense to build a big early lead. Such a lead that JC was forced to use a timeout to regroup. However there would be no ability for the JC squad to regroup on this day. For MVP of the night Geoff brough his A-game serves which whizzed through and decimated the frightened JC defense.
It was a good feeling for the members of Spiked Punch to win two of three, with the practice a few nights before really paying off. Unforced errors still need to be worked on further, and the precision of our bumps and sets must still be improved upon for hopes of a title run. But big strides were made this week, congratulations to all.
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:33 am
Great recap, Joe.
The swirling winds and elevation advantage on the North side of the court provided a great opportunity for powerful serves.
I agree that we need to do a better job of limiting errors. Let’s add communication to the list. We are still afraid to speak on the court during game play. Don’t be. The setters are responsible for letting the hitters know if they need help AND who is getting set for the hit.
Further, know your position on the court. The most confusing aspect is playing on the front line and switching with the setter. None of the hitters should be standing in the middle position on the front line during a serve (offense or defense). Outside hitters should be on the outside, lined up properly to allow the setter to slide into position once the ball is in the air.
Back line corners should be able to touch finger tips in the middle of the court when receiving a serve. If positioned properly, there won’t be any serves that drop in the middle. One of the corners should just call it.
Back corner players shouldn’t be so concerned with guarding the sidelines either. How many serves go there? Plus, the outside hitters on the front line should be creeping back a little for any short serves on the line. Of course, the middle back should always be floating for any deep balls.
Too bad we couldn’t practice this week. Eric, what’s up for Sunday? Anything?