Season begins in Swedish womens elite… A lot of excitement..!!

We have been waiting for so long to get started and finally the weekend is here. As many might have read we have said goodbye to Samantha for now. She has decided to skip this season of volleyball to attend her family home in the US and she has been supported by the whole club and her team mates.
Now anyone who has followed our preseason will know that the loss of Sam is bound to have an influence on our team. Both on and off the court Sam was a HUGE asset to this team and we will surely miss her personality, crazy stories and many many jokes as much as her points on the court.
We will see you soon Sam – E.L.E.

We will take our time to regroup and we have brought in a new girl, Sara Fredrickson(USA) to compete with Kaisa and Margie on leftside. Sara(29 years old) is an allround hitter who played both middle, leftside and rightside in college and has spend the last many years on the AVP tour in the US playing beach volley. We expect that Sara in time will be able to push Kaisa and Margie to reach even further, but her versatility will be an asset to the team right away since she is a great block player and she can pass as well.

As a group I believe we can get stronger by this.. I have experienced setbacks before as a coach – huge setbacks, but nothing can make a team grow stronger than coming out on the other side realizing that you are still a strong team.. We WILL find ways to win games and nothing will stop us from working hard to reach the places we has set out to reach…

This weekend we play Hylte/Halmstad on the road and other than the 5 hour drive there we are all very excited. Taking a glance on the list of names on the Hylte player list it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that this will be a very tough match. 4 pro. Players and a very talented setter is what await us in Hylte and I am sure the see us as wounded animal right now, and if so we will be there to show something different.!
It is my opinion that the team able and willing to put the highest pressure in their serves will come away with the win. Both teams obviously hold a lot of quality player by player and experience on both sides of the net gives high promises of a match with few errors and a lot of disciplined volleyball.
We are coming there to win and we will do everything in our power to get the best possible start to the Swedish Championship season.


Other matches in the elitedivision…

Anyone who knows me just a little bit knows that I am a bit of a competitor and reading the Swedish volleyball Federations website the other day I found an article by a respected coach from last years Örebro team, Jonas Håård writing his bids for the outcome of the first round.. He guessed the following;

Gislaved - Örebro 1-3
Hylte/Halmstad – Lindesberg 3-2
Katrineholm - RIG Falköping 1-3
Engelholm – Sollentuna 3-2

Now you all quickly realize at least one match where I picture a different result.. ;0) but let me give a crack at the rest of them even though my knowledge of the teams in Sweden is still very limited. I like a fun challenge, and I believe it brings a little spicy taste to the sport..

Gislaved vs. Örebro
I have seen both teams this preseason and based on that alone Örebro must be quite big favourites in this one… Gislaved looked a bit unorganized last time I saw them and they have had a lot of changes on important positions. Örebro has pretty much the same starting line-up as last year and that also talks in favour of an away win… However a bird is singing of an Örebro team showing up with a few injuries AND missing staring libero and setter do to administrative “blunders” .. Could prove to be a costly mistake and my guess is that it will be. 3 – 2 Gislaved.

Katrineholm vs. RIG Falköping
Falköping has very quickly become a favourite team of mine… We have played them 4 times in preseason and it is an inspiration to see both the young girls and their coach with such a high level of devotion and passion. Nonetheless, playing the reigning champions away from the warm walls of the Gymnasium I have a hard time seeing them come away with a win. Katrineholm is a new team compared to last year, but we have played them once and it is a team with extreme quality. Both outside hitters can do almost what they like with the ball, and with a new setter filling out big shoes after last years big player, Agne Zakarauskaite a lot of pressure will is on to make the offence run – can she do it?? I believe she can from what I have seen. 3 – 1 Katrineholm

Engelholm vs. Sollentuna
As I see this match there can’t be much doubt that Engelholm is the favourites… They have the foundation of last years team – their Japanese setter, back in action and Tina has always been know for a very organized and disciplined squad. I can’t see many holes for Sollentuna to exploit but if one it would be the passing line of Engelholm. A new and young libero playing for a team with the highest goals and high expectations… A lot of pressure for young Karin but I believe that she has all the help she needs from their outsides and coach. 3 – 0 Engelholm.


That was my guesses for this round.. Of course I tip my own team to win if anyone was waiting for that.. ;0)
Either way I wish everyone good luck and I hope for a great start of this years league. I have been waiting for this day since late April where it became a fact that I was going to be the headcoach here in Lindesberg.

Michael

"This suspense is terrible... I hope it will last."

P.s. the match can be followed live on volleykanalen.se.. use our link from www.lindesbergvolley.se