We did it and we did it well..!

We won the Cup this Sunday in a beautiful setting with 2.000 in the crowd and all the tention and excitment one can ask for.

Like I described in my previous article, the Cup tournament is single elimination going over 4 months with 1 match per month ending with the final i January. What makes it so special is that every match is do or die, kill or be killed, you snooze you lose etc. and that goes for the 1/16 final to the actual final. To win the final a team has to be able to handle these situations, making plays from 1st whistle to the last, sticking to tactics and be able to adjust during the match, because there is no tomorrow!
We were the best team at doing all of those things this Sunday and that is why we won. Holte was unbeaten by a Danish team this whole season and obviously that demands respect. We had that respect preparing ourselves and we played with that respect all throughout the match, knowing that if we stopped creating the match they would take over right away.
How to stay in such control of emotions in a match like this requires experience and God given ability to stay cool, and I think that proved to be the biggest difference between the 2 teams.

On our side of the net we had only 2 players that had never played and won a final before, and adding to that the difference in outside hitters on the two teams. Outside hitters get most sets in almost every match in womens volleyball so you need a certain level on that position to win. Both teams have great outside hitters, but when you look on experience or clutch time performances we outscored them by far.
Caley has since she came to Denmark won 3 Cup finals(now 4) and 3 championships and in each of those finals she has been a deciding player for her team and an MVP outside hitter.
Katherine has in her one and a half season in Denmark won 1 cup final(now 2) and 1 championship getting MVP award in all 3 finals.
Some hard statistics to match and it continues looking to the setter position and middle blockers where we have more experience when it comes to number of played and won finals.

Holte looked like they struggled with nerves and when that is hounting only 1 of 2 teams the outcome often will go only one way.

We won 3-0(25-21, 25-19, 25-20) after big leads in both 1st and 2nd game, but the 3rd game was close all the way to the end when Holte had a 19-17 lead. Katherine and Lotte won a couple of big points at the net, Kristen served a few points home and Jeanette and Caley made big defensive plays winning the last 10 points 8-2 and thereby the match.
Throughout the match our passing lead by Jeanette(L) was bulletproof giving Dorthe perfect conditions to do as she pleased, and she played her best game yet this season. One thing we did different this time playing Holte was keeping our middles in the game and really giving them more and more at the end of the match. We have struggled with that earlier this season but Sunday they both stayed in there and made crutial points.
The biggest thing for us though was our serving. We played almost without errors and still maintained a great pressure making Holte's offense onesided.

Celebrations and then back to work...

We spend last night celebrating in style with champagne, good food and good music. The girls have had today off but tomorrow we start working our way towards the play-offs. Still remaining is 8 matches of regular season and we strive to win them all in the small hope of still making the 1st round seed and having homecourt advantage in the play-offs.
We still need to improve a lot in our blocking and we need to further develop our offensive systems.

We will have a team meeting this week to adjust our goals for the rest of the season having made the 1st goal with the cup win. Next Sunday we travel to Copenhagen to play Lyngby(now 4-8). It is my old club and many of my friends still play on the team so it will be something special I think. Important for us will be to get focussed after this weekend and not allow Lyngby to stay in their comfort zone.

Michael

"We are the Champions my friend, and we'll keep on fighting to the end. . . . we are the champions WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, NO TIME FOR LOSERS CUZ WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS..."