The 6th Asian Youth Girls’ Volleyball Championship
SRI LANKA BEAT AUSTRALIA 3-2
Being the first match of the competition in front of a large crowd, the Australians started very nervous missing many first serves. This allowed the Sri Lankans to gain an unassailable lead. To the credit of the Aussie girls they pegged the score back to within 5 points. The team was well served by Beth Carey through the middle.
A change to the starting lineup for the second set saw a taller front court with Taylor Donovan replacing Tracey Hasselerharm through the middle and starting with a stuff block. The smaller Sri Lankans had difficulty repelling a well formed attack when the Australian passing allowed. Kobi Evans provided a great jump serve that scored strings of points and she set very well to a much taller Australian team. Hannah Martin produced some good hitting outside.
Making another change to the starting lineup in the third set, Jessica Russell-Croucher came on to replace a tiring Hannah Martin. The team began playing confident volleyball but once again gave too many easy points away with service errors and poor passing. Clearly the taller team, the Aussies could not capitalize on their height advantage at the net.
The fourth set saw Danni Horne return as setter and Hannah Martin moved to opposite with great effect. The Sri Lankans found it difficult to defend the big hitters out of position 2. The Aussies were able to dominate at the net with some big hits and a number of stuff blocks.
The final set was sideout volleyball, with the teams reaching 13 all, before the Aussies stumbled at the post. The team has now experienced its first taste of Asian volleyball, and realizes the opportunity that slipped through their fingers.
Match Result
http://www.asianvolleyball.org/competition/matchresult.php?compName=The%206th%20Asian%20Youth%20Girls%A1%AF%20Volleyball%20Championship&compId=30&action=match
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