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!!!”