VOLLEYBALL NEWS
This is our news page. Following are some of the many things that are happening in volleyball, not only in our area but all over the world. We invite you to let us know of any events or information regarding volleyball so that we can share with all (Contact us page)
Waikato Secondary School Senior Champs:
The placings at the recent Waikato Senior Secondary Schools Champs were as follows: Girls: 1 Hillcrest A 2. Matamata 3. Te Aroha A 4. Church College Boys: 1. Hillcrest 2. Church College 3. Te Aroha 4.Fraser Our Senior Secondary school Representative teams who will compete in this years Inter Provincial Champs in Auckland are in the process of being selected.
Club Volleyball:
The Hamilton Volleyball club women’s team will begin training at the Fairfield College gym on Wednesday March 30th. Trainings will be from 6.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. All prospective players are welcome to attend. We hope to run trials for our two Northern League teams on Wednesday April 13th at Fairfield College. Any enquiries can be directed to Andrew Kilham. (contact info is on the Clubs page)
A Force for Volleyball (1 September 2005)
Volleyball has had a strong following within Waikato Secondary Schools for the past two decades and now it has the opportunity to grow even stronger with the appointment of a "SportsForce Volleyball Development Officer" for the Waikato, Thames Valley and King Country. This coupled with new fresh attitudes from the national volleyball governing body "Volleyball New Zealand (VNZ)" and the regional body "Waikato Regional Volleyball Association" has the support and drive to grow and excel.
This development role has been created to increase the number of opportunities for people to play Volleyball. We are aiming to get volleyball into primary schools and intermediate schools while strengthening our secondary school levels and participation. We will provide and expand the opportunities to include not only Indoor Volleyball but also Beach Volleyball, ParkVolley, KiwiVolley and Volleyball for people with disabilities.
Carey Giddens - SportsForce Volleyball Development Officer
Phone: 07 838 2657
Mobile: 027 497 8671
Web page: www.sportwaikato.org.nz
Email: careyg@sportsforce.org.nz
New Zealand Men's Asian Champs - Thailand 25 September 2005
The New Zealand Men’s Volleyball Team is currently in Suphanburi, Thailand, competing in the 13th Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championships. This is the highest level of competition that NZ gets to experience and this years NZ team has been training as a group for 6 months having just completed their build-up with an undefeated series in Australia.
The other countries in attendance in Thailand are;
Thailand, Korea, China, Iran, Australia, India, Japan, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Philippines, Hong Kong – China, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Qatar, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan. A total of 18 teams.
New Zealand are in the same pool as Pakistan and Qatar and their results against these teams will determine their next opponents.
Sept 21, 2:00pm. Game 1 vs Pakistan
|
Teams |
Sets |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Total |
|
NZL |
0 |
24 |
25 |
14 |
|
|
63 |
|
PAK |
3 |
26 |
27 |
25 |
|
|
78 |
|
Set duration |
0:26 |
0:27 |
0:19 |
|
|
1:12 | |
New Zealand’s starting line-up for the 1st set was Nick Maber, Grant Bindon (captain), Brett Tawera, Fata von Reiche, Chris Nicholson (setter), Brad Takai, and Mark Norton as Libero.
NZ started well and reached the first technical time-out ahead on 8:6. Pakistan picked up their game and lead 16:15 at the next break. However NZ fought back, lead by their captain, Grant Bindon who had 7 kill spikes in the 1st set.
Head coach, Jeff Jiang, substituted Sam Frankham on for Chris Nicholson and Joe Sax on for Brett Tawera and NZ looked in control as they battled point for point with Pakistan. A missed serve by Sam Frankham gave Pakistan the opportunity to serve for the set when a lucky float serve dropped on the NZ base line to give Pakistan the set 26:24.
NZ started the 2nd set with Fata von Reiche, Sam Frankham (setter), Nick Maber, Benetti Schwalger, Grant Bindon, Brett Tawera, and Mark Norton as Libero. Disappointed to lose such a close 1st set the NZ team came out firing to reach the first technical time-out ahead 8:5. Nick Maber was unstoppable through the middle, killing the ball at will and lead NZ to the next break ahead 16:14. The game became quite intense as the momentum swung from team to team. Jeff Jiang made 1 substitution bringing Matt Wenn on for Sam Frankham for one rotation to give NZ a better blocking advantage and Benetti Schwalger had the opportunity to win the set when he had a one on one blocking situation with NZ ahead 25:24. Unfortunately not able to convert, NZ showed it’s international inexperience as they made untimely errors to give Pakistan the chance to serve for and finally clinch the set 27:25. Maber finished the set with 11 kills followed by Bindon on 5 and von Reiche on 4.
NZ started the 3rd set with Sam Frankham, Benetti Schwalger, Nick Maber, Grant Bindon, Joe Sax, Fata von Reiche, and Mark Norton as Libero.
Disheartened to have played so well in the first 2 sets and still be down 2:0 the NZ team started slowly and were down 4:8 at the first technical time-out. They continued to make errors and were soon down 8:16 at the next break. Again the lack of high calibre competition showed through as NZ made service and spiking errors to lose the 3rd set 25:14.
Overall the NZ team performed well against a high standard opponent and were very unlucky not to win the first 2 sets. They play Qatar next and still have an opportunity to finish in the top 10 if they can step up a bit more.
Sept 22, 2:00pm. Game 2 vs Qatar
|
Teams |
Sets |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Total |
|
NZL |
0 |
20 |
23 |
19 |
|
|
62 |
|
QAT |
3 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
|
|
75 |
|
Set duration |
0:21 |
0:24 |
0:22 |
|
|
1:07 | |
New Zealand’s starting line-up for the 1st set was Chris Nicholson (setter), Brad Takai, Nick Maber, Grant Bindon (captain), Brett Tawera, Fata von Reiche, and Mark Norton as Libero.
NZ started tentatively with a string of errors causing coach, Jeff Jiang, to call an early time-out at 2:6 down. Qatar kept the momentum going and lead at the 1st technical time-out 8:3 ahead. Strong serving from Qatar kept the pressure on the NZ team and Qatar still had a commanding lead at the 2nd technical time-out ahead by 16:8. Jeff Jiang brought on Sam Frankham for Chris Nicholson and Benetti Schwalger for Brad Takai and NZ finally started to fight their way back into the set. Some strong hitting from Nick Maber and Benetti Schwalger caused Qatar to use up both their time-outs but NZ paid the price for giving Qatar such a big lead as Qatar won 25:20.
NZ started the 2nd set with Fata von Reiche, Sam Frankham (setter), Benetti Schwalger, Nick Maber, Grant Bindon, Joe Sax, and Mark Norton as Libero.
NZ started off strongly and had an early break before Qatar fought back to lead 8:6 at the first technical time-out. Both teams traded blows for the next period of play as Qatar held onto their 2 point lead at 16:14. NZ’s defensive hustle kept them in the game as Mark Norton and Grant Bindon made some spectacular pick-ups to bring NZ even at 21:21 before Qatar scored a couple of crucial points with tough jump serving and held on to win 25:23.
NZ started the 3rd set the same as the 2nd and found themselves down 4:0 very quickly causing Jeff Jiang to call an early time-out. Qatar then stretched that lead to be ahead 8:3 at the first technical time-out and were even further ahead at the next by 16:10. Matt Wenn came on for Grant Bindon and Chris Nicholson came on for Sam Frankham to try to upset Qatar’s rhythm. This worked briefly as NZ fought back with some strong spiking from Fata von Reiche, and Nicholson blasted a couple of jump serves for more points. Unfortunately the lead was too much to pull back and Qatar finished the game ahead on 25:19.
NZ now fall into a section with Pakistan, Bahrain and Chinese Taipei, but unfortunately take their previous loss against Pakistan with them. NZ’s next game is against Bahrain.
If you want to follow the New Zealand Men's team progress at the Asian champs go to:
http://www.asianvolleyball.org/news/news_content.php?TblName=news&NewsID=320
New Zealand women's Under 19 (25 September 2005)
NZ win second test in the Jenny kirk trans tasman 3 - 0
25 - 22, 25 - 14, 25 - 23
NZ started the match similar to last nights test match and were 8 - 5 down,
20 15 down due to a large number of unforced errors in the 1st half of the
1st set. In the second half of the set Carly Hona, Rachel Morgan and
Keirryn hintz lifted the NZ game with some great attacking plays. Australia
switched their rotation to combat the nz outside game and swapped Rachel
rourke to the d side to block our open hitters. With Rourke combining with
Tooker on the block Simone head found it difficult to get though the Aussie
block in the first set but was solid throughout the game on defence.
Nz won the second set comfortably and were always ahead. Carly Hona had 6
kills, Rachel Morgan 3 kills and Renee Handley was outstanding in defence
and passing all over the court.
The 3rd set was a repeat of the 1st with the aussies 8 - 5 up and then 16 -
12 up on the kiwis. NZ cut down their unforced errors in the second half of
the set and simone head found her hitting game and got 4 crucial kills
towards the end of the set. Australia made far too many unofrced errors
averaging 12 per set.
Carly Hona and Rachel morgan had excellent all round games, and NZ libero
Renee handley was absolutely outstanding. Stewart henderson was very
impressed with Handleys all round defensive game and passing. She made some
awesome defensive pickups.
Hopefully another good result tomorrow
Colleen