Game 5 v France – Match Report

Abu Dhabi International Women’s Volleyball Tournament
Australia v France
May 26, 2008

Set 1 – 19-25
Set 2 – 28-30
Set 3 – 24-26

Set 1
Maycock, Peacock, Brammer, West, Rourke, Mowen, Brett (L)

There is a delay in play before the game even starts, as there seems to be a problem with the French teams line up or team list. Both teams are back on the court keeping warm by peppering, while the Officials sort of the problem. Play is underway now, as the French jump out to a 3-0 lead, but Australia win the side out thanks to a backrow kill from Rourke. The Australian’s look tired in their play as the French lead 8-2 at the technical time out. Struggling to pass the short serve and attack hits that are just too long or with not enough pace to kill the ball. Jenny Day subs in for Brammer. Great hit from Rourke, Australia get to 3-8. A string of points to the Australians and they seem to have perked up, now trail by 3 points, 8-11. Mowen with the overpass kill, its 9-11. Now the Australian’s are finding some form, big hits from West and Peacock, and a great block by Maycock reading the tip perfectly from the French. But they find themselves still trailing the French, down 11-16 at the technical time out. France serve 4 points in a row and now lead 20-11 before Australia manages to side out through a quick kill to Mowen. Points now to Australia, a tip kill by Maycock, great control blocking from West and errors by the French, 16-22 and the French coach calls for a time out. Peacock with the kill from backrow, and Maycock with the kill block, Australia now 19-23. But the French team return fire with a kill from 2, and win the set with a service ace, 25-19.

Set 2
Maycock, Peacock, Rourke, Watt, West, Mowen, Brett (L)

Being down 1-3 in the start, the Australias block has brought them back in this game, as Tara West is making this her set. Two kill blocks, two spike kills and a number of controlled block touches, she is all over the net. Australia have the lead 7-5. Side out to France, but a stuff block by Mayock on the quick ball and Australia lead 8-6 at the technical time out. The Australian’s are still having problems with the serve recieve, the French have now hit the lead, and are up 14-10, as Australia calls for a time out. France still lead at the second tecnical time out, 16-11. West comes back into the front line for Australia and again lifts the Australia girls, organising the block and hitting winners. Australia have caught up now, 15-17 as the French call for a time out. But just as they catch up, the French seem to find a way surge away from the Australians. Aussie’s call for a time out 22-19 down. And the next three points all go Australia’s way, a hige stuff blovk by Watt and an ace by Peacock, its 22-22, France time out. Australian’s are fired up now, its 23-23, now 24-24 as its the French team are making simple errors. The teams still trade side outs, 25-25, 26-26, Australia get the point break and set point at 27-26, but they are aced by the French team. Still in it and some great play from the Aussies, huge solo block by Watt, 27-27, 28-28, but in the end it is the French that win the set 30-28.

Set 3
Maycock, Peacock, Rourke, Watt, West, Mowen, Brett (L)

The Australian’s continue their great form from the end of the second set, they lead 5-3 early in the third set. Kill Block by Mowen and followed by the tip kill, and the Australian’s still lead 6-4. Thanks to a West C Quick kill, at the first technical time out, Australia are in the lead 8-7. A few simple errors hurt the Australian’s, and they are still in this set, but are trailling the French 13-16 at the technical time out. Watt hits a great ball past the block down the line from 4 which fires the Aussie’s up. They now trail 15-17 to the French. Rourke with the hug kill from 4, West with the stuff block, Aussies back to with in 1 point 18-19. France time out, at 20-19. France now out to 22-19, Australia calls a time out. They side out and get to 20 points, and service error Australia, France are 23-20. Net touch by France, and then stuff block by Mowen, Australia are 22-23. Setters tip to France brings up set and match point for the French, 24-22….saved by Rourke, wipe off the block. Australia gets the score back to 24-24. But again it’s the French who finish it off and win the third set 26-24.

Game 4 v Italy – Match Report

Abu Dhabi International Women’s Volleyball Tournament
Australia v Italy
May 25, 2008

Set 1 – 20-25
Set 2 – 11-25
Set 3 – 13-25

Set 1
Maycock, Peacock, Rourke, Mowen, Brammer, West, Brett (L)

Australia start well in this their last pool match. Good position in defence allows them to continue the play from the Italian attack, whilst it’s the Italians that look a bit uneasy in their play. The teams trade side outs up to the first technical time out, where Australia lead 8-7. The Aussies have definately lifted their game for this match, as their defence is keeping the ball alive and an awesome shut down block by Mowen gives them 9 points to Italy’s 8. Scores remained tied up as both Brammer and Rourke hit the stats page with a kill each, score now 11-11. Not giving up the fight, a great kill block to West keeps them in the game, after the Italians have snuck away with a 2 point advantage. West with the C quick kill gives Australia 13 points, but it is the Italian’s that now lead 16-13 at the second technical time out. The other thing helping the Australian’s in this game is the very loud and vocal crowd, banging their drums and tamborines, cheering for every point played by both teams. A huge difference to the previous atmosphere the girls have played in. The Italian’s now lead by 3 points, up 19-16, as each Australian player is stepping up to win points for their team. Peacock with a kill from the backrow and Rourke with stuff block on the overpass spike by the Italians. Australia calls for a time out at 17-22 down. The big improvement this game is definately the defence, but a few unforced errors start to creep into the Australian’s attack, as the the Italian’s take the first set 25-20.

Set 2
Maycock, Peacock, Rourke, Mowen, Brammer, West, Brett (L)

Australia out to an early lead in the second set, up 3-1. Thanks to Rourke’s power hit outside, the Aussie’s maintain the lead now 6-4. An ace to Peacock and they lead 7-4. A great slide hit from West, but just too long on the side line, the Italian’s edge their way back in. Another kill to Rourke, this time down the line, HUGE, and its Australia that lead 8-6 at the first technical time out. Again, it’s simple errors that creep into the Australian’s games, in their passing and hitting, as the Italians get to 10-8 and Australia calls a time out. A paintbrush kill by West stops the run of Italian points, Australia 9-13 down. Italian’s still in control though, as the Aussie’s passing is struggling. The Italian’s lead 16-9 at the technical time out. Down 18-9, Jenny Day subs in from Brammer. The Australian’s confidence seems low now, the crowd is quiet. Down 11-22, Louise Bates subs in for Rourke. Better play now from the Australian’s but its the Italians that are still in control, they win the second set 25-11.

Set 3
Bertolacci, Watt, Day, Rourke, Bates, Lealamanua, Brett (L)

Not looking as strong as they did in the previous sets, the Australian’s still manage to keep in touch with the Italians, who lead 8-5 at the technical time out. A kill to Day and Rourke have been the highlights so far, and now Day with another kill from 4 after the break in play. Australia down 6-8. The Italian serve and attack is too strong for the Australian’s as the opposition jump away to an 8 point lead, 16-8 at the technical time out. Another 3 points to Australia’s 1 sees the Italians in command at 19-10. Anna Maycock subs in for Bertolacci. Kill from Rourke gives Australia the side out, but the Italian’s win it back on an Australian attack error. Coach Amanda Fielding calls a time out 11-22 down. Side out the the Australians and a hitting error from the Italians, gives Australia 13-22. Service error Australia and Tara West subs in for Watt. A stuff block to the Italians gives them the set 25-13 and the match. Australia will now play France for 9th/10th place tomorrow, Monday 26th, 11am UAE time (5pm AEST).

Photos now online

Action shots from the games and team trainings, as well as some behind the scenes good times photos are now online at Picasa. Follow the links on the Photo page above, or jump straight to it at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ausvolley

Game 3 v Algeria – Match Report

Abu Dhabi International Women’s Volleyball Tournament

Australia v Algeria

May 23, 2008

Set 1 – 11-25
Set 2 – 13-25
Set 3 – 23-25

Set 1
Maycock, Mowen, Rourke, Brammer, Lealamanau, Peacock, Brett (L)

Algeria are out to a 5-0 lead in this first set, as the Australian’s find it hard to get a pass to their setter. Australia call for a time out. First point to Australia thanks to a C Kill to Mowen. Block to Peacock gives Australia their second point. Algeria lead 8-2 at the first technical time out, as again the Australian’s struggle to recieve the serve. Bertolacci subs in for Maycock. Better play from the Australian’s this game, as the find form with their blocking, but their hits are still just too long. Big kill from Rourke in 4 gives Australia 4-10. And two errors from the Algerians, and Australia are now 6-10 behind. Peacock hits a kill from 2 and then aces the Algerians, its 8-13. Algerian rally back now to win the next 3 points, and lead 16-8 at the second technical time out. Jenny Day subs in for Rourke as the Australians now find themselves down 9-19. Great blocking joust from Bertolacci, but the Algerians have the Australian’s scrambling all over the court. A controlled block by Mowen and then a tip from Brammer helps Australia get to 11 points. Algeria bring up set point with a swipe off the Australian block and finish the set with an ace. Algeria win 25-11.

Set 2
Bertolacci, Brammer, Peacock, Mowen, Watt, Lealamanau, Brett (L)

The Australians seem a bit more relaxed this set, and are keeping in touch with the Algerians. Watt’s first touch of the ball is a kill from 2. Algeria run away with it set again, now lead 8-4 at te technical time out, as the Australian’s defence is becoming a little more desperate, but the simple errors are letting them down. The Algerians are fast around the court and manage to touch everything the Australian’s hit at them. They now lead 12-5. A kill by Watt gives the serve back to Australia, West subs in for Lealamanau. Another kill by Watt and some good touches from Mowen when blocking, bring Australia closer to the oppoisition, but Algeria still lead, now 16-9 at the second technical timeout. Jenny Day subs in for Brammer. The Aussies seem more confident in their play, trading side outs with the Algerians, but the oppositions spikers are just too smart, finding the Australian’s court everytime. Algeria are up 23-13 now as they stuff block Day in 4 and a tip gives them set point. The finish it off with a fast kill from 4 and take the set 25-13.

Set 3
Bertolacci, Peacock, West, Day, Watt, Mowen, Brett (L)

Australia have the lead early in this set 4-2, great blocking by Mowen and spiking from Peacock. Double sub from Australian, Maycock in Watt and Bates in for Betolacci, to bring some blocking height into the front court. Australia still in in, 5-5, 6-6. And the Australian’s block is helping them now, two stuff blocks in a row and Australia lead 8-6 at the technical time out. Australia stil hold the lead, 10-8, but as the errors creep in, Algeria level up the scores at 10-10. Teams again trade side outs, 11-11, 12-12, but the Australians definately seem more in control of their game. Keeping it level all the way to the second technical time out, but it is the Algerians who are now in the lead 16-15. Australia grab the lead at 18-17 thanks to Peacock kill and stuff block from Tara West. Score are leveled again 20-20 as Maycock goes back to serve, and Peaock with the overpass kill gives Australia 21-20. The Algerians though come back and whilst the Australian’s are playing the best volleyball so far this tournament, again a few too many errors hurt them and the Algerian’s win the third set 25-23.

Game 2 v Egypt – Match Report

Abu Dhabi International Women’s Volleyball Tournament
Australia v Egypt
May 22, 2008

Set 1 – 21-25
Set 2 – 23-25
Set 3 – 21-25

Set 1
Maycock, Peacock, Brammer, Rourke, West, Lealamanua, Brett (L)

Australia win the toss and elect to serve. Egypt side out with a kill through the middle, and Brammer returns fire for Australia’s side out. Big kill to Rourke from 4 levels the game at 2-2. West shows her form with a quick kill through the middle, and goes back to serve 2 aces, Australia 5-3. Australia out to 6-5 now thanks to Peacock from position 2. The Aussie’s are passing better this game and Maycock is finding Lealamanua ready for the side hits. Australia lead 8-7 at the first technical timeout. The Australians surge forward thanks to errors from the opposition, but they Egyptians manage to keep in touch with the Australians, now 13-13 as Coach Amanda Fielding calls for a time out. Teams are trading side outs now, 14-14, 15-15 as Egypt’s tips seem to catch the Aussie’s off guard, but Maycock catches the last one with a block to take Australia to the second techincal time out out 16-15. Egypt again in the lead, as the Australian’s attack keeps missing the mark too long, 20-19. An ace to Maycock evens up the scores again 20-20, as Egypt calls a time out. The loud Egyptian crowd are lifting their side as they come up with the first match point 24-21. And they win the set off an attack error from Australia, 25-21.

Set 2
Bertolacci, Bates, West, Peacock, Rourke, Lealamanua, Brett (L)

Starting this set, Setter Lauren Bertolacci connects well with Rachel Rourke on the outside to set up 3 straight kills, and to catch up to the Egyptians after being down 1-3. The score 5-5, Australia winning points from their power and the opposition scoring off Australian overpasses. Egypt lead at the first techincal time out 8-6. The Australian’s struggle with the serve reception, and the Egyptian front line are always ready to kill anything at the net. Australia calls for a time out 8-13 down. Awesome block by Tara West helps to lift the Australians, 10-14, and a big transition kill from Rourke gives them another point, 11-14. And Rourke again on the outside 12-14. Rourke is finding the opposition’s floor now. Ace by West and Australia are now back to within 1 point, 13-14. The Australian’s defence has woken up now as they are covering ready for the tip past the big Australian block. Peacock with a kill from 2, and then a service ace ties up the scores at 15-15. A great rally from both side, exchanging hard hits, but it’s Egypt that wins it and leads 16-15 at the second technical time out. Bertolacci with the setters dump and finding her middles helps Australia back into the lead 19-18. One point up, the next point down, Australia, simple errors are hurting the Australian’s as they need to control the play for a run of points. Egypt are in the lead 23-22, Australian time out. Brammer subs in for Rourke. The spike goes too wide to give Egypt set point, and an overpass kill gives them the set 25-23.

Set 3
Maycock, Peacock, Mowen, Rourke, West, Brammer, Brett (L)

It seems that the court is too short on one end, and the Australian’s attack is just too long. The errors give Egypt the lead at the first technical time out 8-4, as the Australians regroup to win a few points back, 6-8. The Australian’s seem too tense to enjoy the game, and more errors in attack let the Egypt team creep away. Australia find themselves down 10-14. Bertolacci subs in for Maycock, connecting with West straight away. Australia now 11-15. Mowen with the stuff block gives Australia 12 points. Side out to Egypt, they lead 16-12 at the second technical time out. Mowen with the C quick kill and then another stuff block, followed by the slide kill, and Australia are back to within 1 point, 15-16. Score is now 18-16 to Egypt, as Jenny Day subs in for Rourke. Justine Mowen is definately the highlight for the Australians in this set, but not to be outdone, Tara West wants a piece of the action. Between them the girls have won the last 5 points for the Australians through the middle. Scores are leveled at 21-21, and again the Egyptian team jump away, now up 23-21 as Australia call for a time out. Egypt get to match point, but it is saved by an off pace kill from Jenny Day. Still with match point, Egypt wipes the spike off the Australian block to win 25-21.

Australian Coach named Coach of the World Team

As part of the development play to help establish womens volleyball in the UAE, the organisers of the tournament scheduled in an exhibition match between the UAE women’s team and a “World Team”, which consisted of a player from each country represented at the tournament. It was decided at the technical meeting that the only female head coaches at the tournament should have the honour of coaching the team, and thus Australian Coach Amanda Fielding and French Coach Laurence Plasman were given the job.

Australian Captain Anna Maycock was chosen to be part of the World Team, which also included Rouguy Coulibaly (France), Janneke van Tiensen (Netherlands), Dominice Steffen (Germany), Valentina Fiorin (Italy), Tatiana Kosheleva (Russia), Nancy Carrillo (Cuba), Yasmin Yehia (Egypt), Natavan Gasimova (Azerbaijan) and Melinda Hennaoui (Algeria).

The World Team started strongly in the 1 set match, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. But the UAE team had some hard and fast hitting spikers that brought them back into the game. Evenly matched from 8-8 onwards, the UAE team showed that they could play elite volleyball and match it with the world’s best. That and possibly the language barriers and limited communication on the World Team would have also help out the UAE women. The match was neck and neck all the way, forcing the World Team coaching staff to use their 2 time outs, and it was the UAE team that had the first match point at 24-23, looking to cause an upset over the more experienced team of players. But in the end the World Team were victorious 27-25 over the UAE team.

Game 1 v Netherlands Match Report

Abu Dhabi International Women’s Volleyball Tournament
Australia v Netherlands
May 21, 2008

Set 1 – 17-25
Set 2 – 11-25
Set 3 – 12-25

Set 1
Starting Lineup – Maycock, West, Rourke, Brammer, Lealamanua, Bates, Brett(L)

Shaky start from the Aussie girls, but they find some form by the fourth point, with a overpass kill by Rourke, she goes back to serve, 1-3. A huge kill by Brammer from the outside gives the Aussie’s the side out, 2-4. A great side hit from West cause confusion on the Netherlands teams to win Australia’s third point, 3-5. Bates into the attack from the outside gives them another point 4-6. At the first technical time out the Netherlands are in the lead 8-4. And a huge kill from Rourke gives Australia the side out. 5-9. Defensive play from Anna and Rourke gets another kill 6-9. The Netherlands have jumped away from the Australian’s in this set, and now lead 9-16 at the second time out. Australia side out and win the point off a block from West. 11-16. West is working hard through the middle running the quicks, and at 13-17 a double block from West and Rourke shuts down the Netherlands attack. Bates hits a winner from 2 down the line to get to 14-20. Rourke with a huge jump serve and and the block from Brammer on the side to give Australia 17-24. Netherlands win the set 25-17 on a net error.

Set 2
Starting Lineup – Maycock, West, Rourke, Brammer, Lealamanua, Bates, Brett(L)

The Australian’s are serving tough in this second set, but so are the Netherlands. They jump out to 7-4 in front of the Aussies, but a pipe kill and defensive up from Rourke in the back court gets them to with in 1 point, 6-7. Netherlands side out to lead 8-6 at the first technical time out. The Australian’s struggle with their passing allowing the Netherlands to take control of the set serving 5 points in a row to lead at the 2nd technical time out 16-8. Australia is rallying with the Dutch, but find it sifficult to terminate. Bates hits a kill from position 2 to give a side out, but the Dutch roll the spike back into the Australian’s court to no reply. Australia now find themselves down 10-20. Brammer with the kill down the line from 4 gets Australia to 11-20. The Netherlands are just too skilled and are running the show in this set. Through powerful serving and deceptive attacking play, they win the second set 25-11.

Set 3
Starting Lineup – Maycock, Mowen, Rourke, Brammer, Peacock, Lealamanua, Brett(L)

Great serving from Brammer and a huge blocking presence from Rourke in position 2 gives Australia the lead 4-2 in the third set. Peacock just as effective tooling the block to get the return side out, Australia 5-3. A few too many hitting errors from the Australian’s and the tough serve run of 5 serves from the Dutch, and the Australian’s now trail 5-8 at the first technical time out. And much like the second set, the Dutch serve is too much for the Australian recievers. Coach Amand Fielding makes a few subs into the Australian line up, Bertolacci & Watts in, but the Netherlands are just too strong, and they win 25-12 in the third set.

Statistics:

Attack – Team 33% kill 11% ke
Block – Team 6 kills
Passing – Team 1.65 Brett 1.88 Brammer 1.75
Serving – Team 1 ace 5 errors

“We are going to Abu Dhabi”

With those words, and only a month and half to prepare, the Australian Women’s team have assembled together in Abu Dhabi to compete in the International Women’s Volleyball Tournament. A great honour for the team to be invited to participate and possibly considered a logistical nightmare to organise, but the team has made it and finally on the first day on competition (today) they are all together.

The team’s preparation hasn’t been extensive. Nine of the players have been training with the AVL teams in Australia, and all compete in the first round of AVL last weekend in Melbourne. Those players and support staff departed Melbourne on an 20 hour trip to Abu Dhabi, arriving at the hotel in the early hours of tuesday morning. The three remaining players were coming in from other locations, 2 from the USA and 1 from France, where they have been playing and training with their Club or Uni teams. They arrived 20 hours after the rest of the team, and missed the first training practice. And our captain, Anna Maycock, almost didn’t make it all. Not that anyone was panicking…but orginally given the wrong departure time for her flight from Tolouse, she missed that flight, and when she turned up the next day to catch the same flight, the ticket had been cancelled. But not one to be flustered, she just booked her own ticket to Dubai, and thankfully is here.

But who said that International travel had to be all smooth sailing. One team official was feeling rather victimised in her adventures, as there always seemed to be a problem at each airport she went through. Departing from Melbourne, her carry on luggage was too heavy, but of course, no one else’s was weighed, and transitting through Singapore, the metal detectors went off, but possibly the best incident was at Dubai International Airport, when bringing up the rear of the group, was the only person selected to have their luggage x-rayed, and thus seperated from the group for what seemed like a lifetime, but really only momentarily. (Do I really look that suspicious?)

Welcome

The Australian Women’s Volleyball Team are currently in Abu Dhabi to compete in the first Abu Dhabi International Women’s Volleyball Tournament. This innaugral event has attract 10 teams from across the world and has a total of $1million in prize money on offer.

This site will follow the girls daily life and experiences in the UAE, providing some insight into touring with VTAW, as well as recording the results and match reports for their games.  Photos will also be uploaded as well  as any tournament news or funny stories to share.  To get yourself started, make sure you visit the Team’s Page, and get to now the girls that represent Australian Volleyball.