Volleyball Inter-Insulars 2015

After months of hard work and training the Volleyball Inter-Insulars were finally upon us. Last Saturday (18th April 2015) the Guernsey island volleyball teams travelled to Jersey to compete.

The Ladies B team played first, unfortunately losing 3 sets to 0 against the strong Jersey side. The Ladies A team arrived after the first set was played (after having to travel over on a later flight) so unfortunately we missed some of the match but what I did see the Guernsey ladies were fighting hard and making their island proud. There was great team work and excellent back court hitting from Carly Tucknott and Laura Eggo (even if she managed to jump above the height of the net!). Once the match finished, Laura was approached by the umpire to congratulate her on her efforts and how well she played.

Ladies B Match ended 3-0 to Jersey

1st set - 25-18 to Jersey

2nd set - 25-10 to Jersey

3rd set - 26-24 to Jersey

Laura Eggo (11) goes in for an outside hit

Our youngest female island player Becky Gauvain (5) showed her excellent setting skills throughout the match

The unstoppable block - Sophie Alder (8) goes up to block a Jersey outside hit

Next to play were the Mens B team and they too lost 3-0 to Jersey. The final result does not represent how close the match was, with the final set ending 24-26 to Jersey. I definitely feel the younger players in the team deserve some recognition. Sam Eggo, Luke Archard and Tom Guille played really well despite the opposing team having much more experience. (Also a quick shout out to Andrew Maiden who played for the Volleyball Mens B team, then flew back to Guernsey to compete in the first ever mens netball inter-insular match and WON!)

Mens B Match ended 3-0 to Jersey

1st set - 25-15 to Jersey

2nd set - 25-13 to Jersey

3rd set - 26-24 to Jersey

Great defence by Andrew Maiden (4) and Luke Archard (3)

Tom Guille beating the Jersey blockers with his outside hit

The Mens A team played after the Ladies A (I will get to our match a little later) and they fought until the end. Unfortunately Jersey won again but this time the final score was 3-1. The match was everything you would expect from top island players - it was fast paced with big blocks and even bigger hits! Nick Gaudion's setting was brilliant and both Ross Martel-Welsh and Dan Skipper dominated at the net. The Guernsey guys really gelled well as a team, despite only finding out the final squads 4 days earlier.

Men A Match ended 3-1 to Jersey

1st set - 25-27 to Guernsey
2nd set - 25-22 to Jersey
3rd set - 25-15 to Jersey
4th set - 25-29 to Jersey

Callum Hockey (5) somehow making jumping THAT HIGH look easy

Dan Skipper (8) going up for an outside spike. The main question though, what is Nick (2) doing?

Big block from our Guernsey guys Ryan Martel (6) and Callum Hockey (5) against the "fit meerkat" (Helen's words, not mine).

I think it's fair to say the Ladies A match was the most nail-biting of the day. Our match was the only one to go to the 5th and final set and Jersey just won by 2 clear points. During the course of the match we saw some great three touch volleyball - accurate digs coming in to the setter (particularly by our libero Hannah Riley). Our setters, Karen Jehan, Gemma Nicolle and Helen Crawley were then able to set the ideal ball to us hitters to spike. Jennifer Lindfield, in particular had some stellar spikes that, I'm sure, impressed even the Jersey team. I was fortunate enough to be awarded the player of the Ladies A match title for which I am extremely grateful and flattered. I would like to thank all my team mates for such an amazing game and season so far.

Ladies A Match ended 3-2 to Jersey

1st set - 25-16 to Jersey

2nd set - 24-26 to Guernsey

3rd set - 25-23 to Jersey

4th set - 17-25 to Guernsey

5th set - 15-13 to Jersey

The Guernsey Ladies A Volleyball Team
Karen Jehan (7),  Jennifer Lindfield (5), Carla Marly (4), Emily Gaudion (12)
Sarah Biggins (8), Tyler Thorne (9), Hannah Riley (11), Gemma Nicolle (10), Helen Crawley (2)

Jennifer Lindfield (5) doing what she does best!

Ladies A - Me (9) to serve

The medal I received for being awarded player of the match

It was a long day but well worth it. I feel so proud to represent Guernsey and play with such lovely people. Of course we made some mistakes and simple errors but we now know what we need to work on and practice in order to improve further.

It was a long day... zzz
Head cheerleader, Karen, having a well deserved nap on the ferry back home (Sorry Bucky! It had to be done!!)

I would like to take this opportunity to thank a few people who have helped me and the rest of the ladies along the way. First and foremost our coach, Rodney Elmy, for all the hard work and effort he has put in to training us and improving our skills. Also to Neil Elmy who has helped out a many of our training sessions. Lisa Dowinton helped organise the whole Jersey trip as well as play some great volleyball, so thank you Lisa for all your had work.

Finally I just want to congratulate all of the men and women who played in the inters this year and say well done to them all. I am so proud of all the women I play with and I absolutely love my volleyball family! We have trained so hard this season and it showed in our performance! We have improved so much since last year and that shows in our final result. We should all be so proud of ourselves! Now to concentrate on the Natwest Island Games that are being held in Jersey in the summer time.

GREEN ARRRRMY!

PS: Thank you to Karen Jehan for letting me use the images she captured (along with Karen Buck-Archenoul & Ross Martel-Welsh) - they are great.

Below is some footage I managed to capture of the matches with the help of some other players. Enjoy

Bye for now x