20 games, 5 matches and 16 days is what it took to bring the national championship and thereby the double gold in a perfect season..
Describing all 5 finals would take forever to do. Both teams played with very few errors most of the time but also with a low aggressiveness which made the rallies long and full of amazing defence. The first 4 finals both teams won their matches on the road but lost at home, so before the 5th final which we had to play away from home, the statistics were on our side. However, the loss in the 4th final at home with 0-3 was hurting a lot on the whole team, the club and all the fans. Spirit was down and everyone just seemed a bit more tired than usual.
We spend 3 days on rebuilding and re-motivation the girls and we chose a completely different style of play going in to the last final. Having a tired team I chose to let everyone loose and just go for every possible kill in the match. It is often more fun to play that way, and when you have fun you forget you are tired… The girls went on court this Sunday at 2pm and played the best match they have played since we won the Cup final in January. We lost the 1st game 25-23 but then took the next 3 in a row 25-20, 25-18, 26-24. The gym went absolutely crazy among our fans and the rest of the crowd seemed kind a stunned. The way we entered this match, took control and never let go until it was over came as a surprise to everyone but us and that was exactly what we wanted…
On top of the 2 gold medals this season the team got 6 player awards as well… Juliane Daugaard made team of the year as a middle, Kristen Karlik made it as rightside, Katherine as outside. Katherine also got MVP of the league(2nd year in a row) and she got MVP in the Cup final as well. Jeanette(libero) was awarded the fighter award in the final series. 6 player awards that sends a clear signal to the rest of volley Denmark that this year our team was the strongest, and I think the club can be very proud to have put together a team like this, especially taking into consideration that the team lost a star player in outside hitter Caley Carter-Knudsen in January.
Season is over …. Saying goodbye!
When a season ends no matter winning or losing there is always the inevitable shower of tears from players, coaches and club members. Tears because you at the end of a road with your team. Next year the team will be different no matter what, and that is always a heartbreaking thing to go through. This year maybe more than normally since we have 3 players from our squad who is at the end of their volleyball career. Lotte Hauge(middle), Jette Breuning(middle) and Dorthe Windeleff(setter) are all quitting. On top of that our National team middle Juliane Daugaard is moving to Copenhagen for school and is therefore playing in a different team next season.
All 4 players will be missed beyond words and they will be close to impossible to replace. A big thanks to all 4 of them, Lotte, Dorthe and Jette good luck in your new life without elite volleyball, I wish you the best of things. Juliane you have the support of the whole team and the club making you changes to Copenhagen, and remember that the bond you have with these teammates will never go away no matter where you play.
At the same time our 3 American players are leaving to go home, and rather they are coming back or not is still not settled. The negotiations are in process and time will tell, but most likely scenario when looking at history is that 1 of them at the most will return but maybe none of them at all.
This leaves 7 big holes on the team compared to the team that won the finals and there is a big job at hand for the club over the next few months. First of all a new set of goals needs to be made, then a coaching staff that lives up to the goals set by the club and then rebuilding the team to match the goals and the coaching staff. All of those things depending on ability to raise money and support from the local industry and the city to reach those goals.
The above written also means that I myself have not yet decided where I will be going from here. The support from the team has been indescribable and there is no doubt that the club and I will work to re-sign the contract, but nothing is sure for now and even though both parts are interested there are still many things that needs to be taken in to consideration.
So for now I would like to send out a huge thanks to the club and the board for the big work they have been doing over the last 9 months. Bringing the gold back to town is also a result of the hard work being done behind the curtains. Congratulations!!
A big thanks to all the sponsors for their support, without you it would never have been even close to possible, and this also goes for the city and all the support the local media shows in the work we do in Fortuna. Thank you all a ton..!!
Right now it is time to celebrate and in a little while I will figure out what the future brings for me, all I know for sure is that I will be involved in volleyball and I want to be coaching as much as I can.
Mini
“Our house… In the middle of our street… our house…!”
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Finals....!
The semi’es are over and we won in 3.. Something I could only dream of before the matches were actually played, but none the less it is true.
Firstblood..
The first semifinal we played at home and with an enthusiastic crowd, and we had high hopes… Brøndby came with the same aggressive style of play that we saw in our loss last time, and we had no answers in the beginning. We lost 1st game 25-23. 2nd game started and Brøndby came out serving us out of the court. We were down 12-0 when I had taken both time-outs and made 2 subs – nothing helped. We lost the game 25-8.. :0/
3rd game came up and I decided to sub all my tall players on court from the beginning to get some momentum in block/defense, and it worked perfectly.. We started out with 5 blocks in 7 points and won the game 25-20. We brought momentum to the 4th game and came out on top with a 25-19 win based on blocks and hard serving pressure.
5th game was close all the way to the end, but we kept our cool in the end and completed the comeback with a 15-11 win.
Double kill..
2nd semifinal was played away in a very small and intense gym. We expected Brøndby to be over us like white on rise and we felt ready to resist. We came out aggressive, and with big leads in both 1st and 2nd game it seemed we were doing the right thing. But both games ended with a 25-23 defeat and suddenly we were back where we started in the match before. 3rd game was the same from the start.. We came out charging and swinging at every possible ball, but this time we kept it going throughout the game and won it 25-16.
4th game and we wanted to repeat last match, but Brøndby had a different idea and the came to an early lead of 4 points. We closed the gap to 22-20 and the survived 2 matchpoints at 24-22 to win the game 26-24.
5th game and we wanted to keep the momentum going for us. We agreed to be loud before, during and after every point and take advantage of us being on our way to a comeback and the pressure being on Brøndby. We changed sides down 8-6 but tied it at 8-8, and from then on we didn’t look back winning 15-12.
Killing spree...
3rd semifinal was played yesterday and now it was up to us to win the series in 3 matches. We were at home, our gym, our crowd and nothing would mean more to us then give the crowd a win.
1st game and we came out hammering balls to the ground and block/defense worked like a charm. We got to a 9 point lead early on and didn’t let go. 25-17.
2nd game had the same start as the first, but Brøndby hung in there and didn’t give up. Half way through the game we threw away a few stupid points hitting the ball out and a couple of bad serves tied up the game. In the end though we overcame our small slump and took the game 25-23.
3rd game and time to close it up. The gym was ready to explode and I think we all knew what we were about to do.
We started out with a 4-1 lead and it looked like we were on our way, but in a last effort to turn things around, Brøndby took more chances hitting and they served tougher. Midway through we were down by 4 or 5 points, and the players started to look tired. Both sides had a hard time killing the balls so the rallies were VERY long… Good times for the crowd, but hard for the players and coaches..:0)
I decided to take out 3 players, Jette(MB), Dorthe(S) and Maja(OH) to get fresh energy on court, and in came Julie, Jane and Katie. All 3 added considerably to our comeback which was completed after 3 setpoints to Brøndby and 3 matchpoints to us in a dramatic finish to a super intense and well played semifinal series. 30-28 was the final score and thereby a 3-0 win.
Time to re-charge and re-load..
We stand here now having killed off a very tough opponent 3 matches in a row. It has taken such a hard effort by every individual around the team, and an even bigger effort by the whole team as a unit to win this series.
Last match in regular season we lost our starting middle, Lotte who is out for season. Same match Kristen sprained her ankle but has been able to play through the pain in the semi’es. Those injuries together with our 3-0 loss against Brøndby in February made us a minor underdog coming in to the play-offs, but I feel we have answered a few questions with our performance in these last 3 matches.
We will spend the weekend resting and then start Monday with an easy practice mainly about tactics before the final. After practice the team is going to Copenhagen to watch the 4th semifinal between Holte(#1) and Frederiksberg(#4) where Holte leads the series 2-1 and are favorites to proceed to the finals. Tuesday and Wednesday we will pick up the intensity at practice and make sure everyone is fit and ready to perform their best on Friday 9th which is when the first final is played.
I am super proud of the girls for making the finals. We have already won 1 gold medal this season in the Cup, now let’s make it one more to become National Champions.
“We came, we saw and WE WON!!!”
Firstblood..
The first semifinal we played at home and with an enthusiastic crowd, and we had high hopes… Brøndby came with the same aggressive style of play that we saw in our loss last time, and we had no answers in the beginning. We lost 1st game 25-23. 2nd game started and Brøndby came out serving us out of the court. We were down 12-0 when I had taken both time-outs and made 2 subs – nothing helped. We lost the game 25-8.. :0/
3rd game came up and I decided to sub all my tall players on court from the beginning to get some momentum in block/defense, and it worked perfectly.. We started out with 5 blocks in 7 points and won the game 25-20. We brought momentum to the 4th game and came out on top with a 25-19 win based on blocks and hard serving pressure.
5th game was close all the way to the end, but we kept our cool in the end and completed the comeback with a 15-11 win.
Double kill..
2nd semifinal was played away in a very small and intense gym. We expected Brøndby to be over us like white on rise and we felt ready to resist. We came out aggressive, and with big leads in both 1st and 2nd game it seemed we were doing the right thing. But both games ended with a 25-23 defeat and suddenly we were back where we started in the match before. 3rd game was the same from the start.. We came out charging and swinging at every possible ball, but this time we kept it going throughout the game and won it 25-16.
4th game and we wanted to repeat last match, but Brøndby had a different idea and the came to an early lead of 4 points. We closed the gap to 22-20 and the survived 2 matchpoints at 24-22 to win the game 26-24.
5th game and we wanted to keep the momentum going for us. We agreed to be loud before, during and after every point and take advantage of us being on our way to a comeback and the pressure being on Brøndby. We changed sides down 8-6 but tied it at 8-8, and from then on we didn’t look back winning 15-12.
Killing spree...
3rd semifinal was played yesterday and now it was up to us to win the series in 3 matches. We were at home, our gym, our crowd and nothing would mean more to us then give the crowd a win.
1st game and we came out hammering balls to the ground and block/defense worked like a charm. We got to a 9 point lead early on and didn’t let go. 25-17.
2nd game had the same start as the first, but Brøndby hung in there and didn’t give up. Half way through the game we threw away a few stupid points hitting the ball out and a couple of bad serves tied up the game. In the end though we overcame our small slump and took the game 25-23.
3rd game and time to close it up. The gym was ready to explode and I think we all knew what we were about to do.
We started out with a 4-1 lead and it looked like we were on our way, but in a last effort to turn things around, Brøndby took more chances hitting and they served tougher. Midway through we were down by 4 or 5 points, and the players started to look tired. Both sides had a hard time killing the balls so the rallies were VERY long… Good times for the crowd, but hard for the players and coaches..:0)
I decided to take out 3 players, Jette(MB), Dorthe(S) and Maja(OH) to get fresh energy on court, and in came Julie, Jane and Katie. All 3 added considerably to our comeback which was completed after 3 setpoints to Brøndby and 3 matchpoints to us in a dramatic finish to a super intense and well played semifinal series. 30-28 was the final score and thereby a 3-0 win.
Time to re-charge and re-load..
We stand here now having killed off a very tough opponent 3 matches in a row. It has taken such a hard effort by every individual around the team, and an even bigger effort by the whole team as a unit to win this series.
Last match in regular season we lost our starting middle, Lotte who is out for season. Same match Kristen sprained her ankle but has been able to play through the pain in the semi’es. Those injuries together with our 3-0 loss against Brøndby in February made us a minor underdog coming in to the play-offs, but I feel we have answered a few questions with our performance in these last 3 matches.
We will spend the weekend resting and then start Monday with an easy practice mainly about tactics before the final. After practice the team is going to Copenhagen to watch the 4th semifinal between Holte(#1) and Frederiksberg(#4) where Holte leads the series 2-1 and are favorites to proceed to the finals. Tuesday and Wednesday we will pick up the intensity at practice and make sure everyone is fit and ready to perform their best on Friday 9th which is when the first final is played.
I am super proud of the girls for making the finals. We have already won 1 gold medal this season in the Cup, now let’s make it one more to become National Champions.
“We came, we saw and WE WON!!!”
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