Latest News and Results

March 2008

• Development Teams Top of the League
• Portland Tournament - By Dave Godden

February 2008

• Training with the GB Women's Volleyball Team

January 2008

• Development League Match 1
• Ashcombe Under 14's

December 2007

• Under 16 First Round Championships

October 2007

• Ashcombe Under 13's
• Melksham Grand Prix

July 2007

• Sandbanks Beach Volleyball Tournament

July 2007

Sandbanks Beach Tournament

Newbury Volleyball Club sent five teams down to the Premier Sandbanks Beach Volleyball Classic Tournament in Poole. This annual event is the biggest in the U.K with over 200 teams participating.
16 year old Will Lockyear paired up with 12 year old Alex Whitehead in the under 16 section. The competition in this age group was very strong but both boys held their own, taking all the matches within a few points of the winners.
The adult mixed team of Lukasz Bugno, Karol Kowalski, Sue Sayers, Leah Thompson and Magda Kowalska played throughout the day and were eventually knocked out in the quarterfinals.
Three of our youngest junior teams all 12 and under swept the board in their first ever beach tournament. They train regularly at indoor volleyball, but had to adapt to the heavy sand and wind making ball control more difficult.
The Newbury Girls team of Vanessa Blackmon, Samantha Giles, and Elisa Hill won all their qualifying matches through to the final play off then completed their victory with a confident win. This is their second success in recent weeks as they achieved runners up in the Ashcombe Tournament held at the beginning of the month.
The Newbury Boys - James Hill, Jordan Ayres and Nathan Blackmon only lost one of their matches in their pool and ended up in the final against our clubs other boys team aptly named the Newbury Gang who had also only lost one match. The final was a hotly contested match with both teams vying for the top position. The Newbury Gang of Finian Colbert Owen, Oliver Craven Todd and Robert Scholey had not played in a tournament before and were very critical of each other’s faults but it was this dogged determination that saw them go on and win the match by 2 points.
All three teams were presented with medals and prizes on the centre court in front of a grandstand of people.

Newbury Boys	Newbury Gang	Newbury Girls

October 2007

Ashcombe Under 13's - October 6th

Newbury Volleyball Club had a successful start to the new season with their junior squad. Two under 13 teams travelled down to Ashcombe School in Dorking on Saturday to play in the four-aside volleyball tournament. The girl’s team made up of Elisa Hill 10 years, Jackie Ward 12 years and Vanessa Blackmon 13 years played well in a pool of strong teams. They were at a disadvantage with only 3 players instead of four, and were also the youngest team to take part, but undiscouraged they served well and covered the backcourt in defence. They ended up a credible fourth place with the knowledge and experience to return again next year.

The boys team also a very young team were Jordan Ayres 12, James Hill 12, Daniel Kowalski 11 and Nathan Blackmon 10.
The team gelled well together winning their first match against Hillingdon Camels 28-16. Filled with enthusiasm and confidence they went on to beat Durrington High School 30-25, Hillingdon Pandas 28-16, and Ernest Bevin Orange 26-22.

Having won their pool Newbury went into the finals against Hillingdon Tigers. But here they met their match with strong attacks from the aptly named tigers, Newbury were unable to return the ball in the first set leaving a big points difference. In the second set the Newbury boys fought back hard but were obviously a less experienced team. Hillingdon Tigers took the match and won the tournament, Newbury boys came away with second place and a silver medal.

Under 13 Boys	Under 13 Girls

Melksham Grand Prix

Newbury Volleyball Club sent out another three teams for the second week running. This time it was the turn of the junior section to represent the Club. The teams travelled down to The Christie Miller Leisure centre in Melksham to take part in the Grand Prix Junior Tournament on Saturday 27 teams took part. The pools were made up of different age groups. Newbury entered the under 12 boys – Newbury Reds, the under 13 boys - Newbury DJ’s and the under 14 boys - Newbury Tags.

Newbury Reds team were made up from four players two aged 11 years and two only aged 9 years, and very new to volleyball. In this pool they played each team three times during the day. Their first game was against the Devizes Devils they got off to a good start winning the games 18-8. With plenty of encouragement and support from team Captain Oliver Craven Todd they continued their good fortune winning the next match against Melksham Maltesers 20-16. Newbury’s third opponents were against the strong Melksham Mini Monkeys who went on to win the match 21-11.

Results
Newbury beat Devizes Devils 2 games to 1
Newbury drew against Melksham Maltesers both winning a game each then on equal points in the last match
Melksham Mini Monkeys beat Newbury Reds 2 games to 1.
Newbury Reds finished the competition in 3rd place
Team Oliver Craven Todd, Daniel Kowalska, Robert Scholey and Conor McMenamin

Newbury DJ’s played each team in their pool twice. They got off to a shaky start in the first match losing 14-21 to Melksham Minimunch but turned the score round when they met again winning 15-10.
The second match they stormed ahead beating Wessex 21-10 and again 16-11.
The third match they put up a good fight against the Young Guns but remained a few points behind throughout and losing 16-11. In the return duel Newbury upped their attacks and took the match 18-15.
The final team Priory monopolised the game forcing Newbury to make tactical errors and lose the match 22-10. But undaunted in their final game of the day Newbury pulled together with some very good court defence and narrowed their opponents lead losing by only 4 points to a very strong team. Newbury DJ’s finished in 2nd place
Team James Hill Jordan Ayres and Dave Godden.

Newbury Tags although an under 14 squad ended up playing against some slightly older teams. This was the first time they had all played together in competition. Newbury started well in their first game by beating Melksham 20-16. Their second match against an experienced team Wessex proved a real struggle leaving Newbury trailing 18-6. Newbury were unable to return the forcefull attacks from Wessex.
The third match against Kings saw Newbury Tags reinforce their play with better digs and setting from the players enabling them to finish within one point of Kings lead of 14-13.
They went on to play teams from Pool B and eventually finished in second place

Team Alex Whitehead, Tim Godden, Alasdair Lockyear and George Scholey

December 2007

Under 16 Boys Championships - First Round

Newbury hosted the first round of the Under 16 Boys Volleyball championships on Saturday at their home venue Trinity School. They were drawn against two teams from Redhill, Stourbridge and the Mavericks from Wiltshire.
The Newbury team knew before they turned up that they were going to have to fight for every point. The club has a shortage of players in the 15 to 16 years age group. The squad is made up of four 12 year olds and the rest under 15 years.
Newbury were up first against Redhill B team, undaunted and moral high Newbury stepped onto court and surprised themselves by winning the first few points. Team Captain Chris Stent encouraged the players to work together passing up good balls to the setters. The more experienced Redhill team pulled ahead and won the match 25-18, 25-18.

The second match was against the eventual winners the Mavericks. In the first set Newbury were outstanding. The backcourt defence were picking up every ball. James Hill 12 years was on tremendous form digging the balls up from close to the floor. Setters Jordan Ayres and Alex Whitehead both 12 years were able to set high volleys to the attack hitters or deflect any bad balls over the net. Tim Godden and Chris Stent, the only lads tall enough to reach above the net were quick to transition from blocking the oppositions attack hits to then completing attack hits themselves. Alasdair Lockyear provided good cover from behind. All the players remained completely focused and gained in confidence. The teams serving was picking off the opposition putting Newbury into a 5 point lead towards the end of the set. Unfortunately Mavericks strong server came on and suddenly they were 24-23 up. You could feel the tension in the crowd, Newbury had nothing to lose they put all their effort in and won the next point level pegging 24 all. The next serve was from Newbury, Mavericks returned the ball into Newbury’s court, but quick action form the team saw the Newbury attackers spike down hitting the line in Mavericks court. Newbury were elated as they thought they had won but a hesitant “out ball” was called by the referee giving Maverick the point, and thus a win 25-24. This was a very disappointing call as a lot of people saw the ball in and the line judge wouldn’t make a call either way.
Mavericks went on to win the next set 25-13

The final match was against Redhill C. This was another closely fought match. Newbury introduced three more players from its squad Theo Durrrant, Dave Godden and Daniel Roberts. Tactical substitutions from the coach couldn’t prevent Redhill staying just ahead in both sets winning 25-20 and 25-23.

Coach Sue Sayers was extremely proud of the young Newbury players, the team showed true grit and determination against a stronger and older opposition. If they continue their commitment to the club they will shortly be a force to be reckoned with.

January 2008

Development Match 1 Report

Newbury fielded 2 teams in the first match of the season in the Development League at their home venue St. Gabriel’s School. The Development League is designed for novice players to gain match experience in a friendly environment. The rules allow 2 experienced players to play as part of the team with certain restrictions placed on them.

In the first match Newbury Juniors, a team made up of the younger members of the club all 11 years and under plus two older experienced 18 year olds played against Reading Aces. Reading had four adults and two younger members in their team. Newbury got off to a poor start losing the first set 15 – 5 to Reading. The second set saw Stuart McCulley keep service for 5 points allowing Newbury to win 15- 7. The third set both teams rallied point for point until Oliver Craven Todd pushed Newbury ahead with 4 good serves taking the set 15-11.

Team
Stuart McCulley, Magda Kowalska, Oliver Craven-Todd, Poppy Martin, Conor McMenamin, Elisa Hill Izzy McHattie, Robert Scholey

The second match Newbury juniors play their fellow club members Newbury Mixtures. The Mixtures were made up from the slightly older juniors and a newly recruited adult member. They too had a very disappointing start to the game unable to hold on to a service they lost out to the juniors 10-15.  The second set the Mixtures pulled together, determined not to be beaten by their rivals. The team took a 2 point lead after a close game winning the set 17-15.
The third set saw both teams battle again but strong serving from Jordan Ayres and Will Lockyear pushed the Mixtures ahead but only by 2 points again winning 15-13.
Conor McMenamin was awarded player of the match.

Team
James Berryman, Alex Whitehead, George Scholey, Ali Lockyear, Will Lockyear, James Hill, Jordan Ayres.

The third and final game was Newbury Mixtures against Reading Aces. The Mixtures cruised through the first set winning 15-9. In the second set Reading aces upped their attacks pushing the ball deep in the corners. The Mixtures altered their cover and successfully returned the ball taking the set 19-17 and the match.

Ashcombe Under 14's

Two teams travelled down to Ashcombe in Dorking to play in the under 14’s tournament held on Saturday.
The players used their initials to name the teams so Team 1 was Newbury AJ’s with Alex Whitehead Jordan Ayres and James Hill and Team 2 was Newbury Dogs with Daniel Kowalaski, Oliver Craven-Todd and George Scholey.
There were 7 teams in the tournament, two of the teams from St Thomas Moor school had players who must have been nearly 6 feet tall and towered above our players some of whom were only 11 years old.
Every team had to play each other in 1 set to 25 point making 6 matches in all.
Newbury AJ’s were drawn first to play on court 1 against a strong Ashcombe 1 team. They had a terrible start with all three players switched off and not even trying to work as a team they inevitably lost 25 –13. After a good team lecture they pulled together and went on to win the next match 28-8 to another Ashcombe team. Newbury AJ’s finished the day winning 3 games and losing 3 but only by a few points.

Newbury Dogs were totally opposite they had never played as a team together but came out fighting and full of enthusiasm. Although they were only triumphant in one match they stayed focused throughout the day and enjoyed 6 hard fought matches including their own club rivals the AJ’s who only beat them by 3 points.
Both teams gained a lot of match experience and hopefully learnt from their mistakes. By the time our players actually reach aged 14 they will dominate the other teams.

Newbury AJ's	Newbury DOG's

February 2008

Training with GB Women's Team

By Izzy McHattie, aged 11

On Saturday 9th of February 2008 Newbury Volleyball Club went to Weymouth to train with the Great Britain ladies team.  It took two and a half hours to get there, we arrived in Weymouth at 9:30. We went inside to the Weymouth Sports Centre. They have four courts to play and practice on.
We warmed up by volleying, digging, and spiking to each other. Twenty minutes later we all had an introduction for the day. The Great Britain team introduced themselves individually. The best British player, Lucy Bolton was there and there were four Scottish ladies. Afterwards we went into our age groups which were: 9-12, 12-14 and 14- 18.
We had two whole hours of training with the Great Britain team on how to do good sets, good digs, volleys and spiking.
We had a two hour lunch break: we went down to the beach with our lunches and two volleyballs. After we had eaten we put into practice what we had been taught.
At 2:15 we went back to the Sports Centre. For the remaining two hours we could either watch Great Britain warm up and play a match or do some practicing ourselves. Most of us watched Great Britain for half an hour and then we decided to practice spiking over the net.
Whilst Great Britain continued playing we played a match against Southampton boys. We played four sets and we won the final set which was a good way to end the long day. We collected our belongings and headed home to Newbury. Everyone had a fantastic Saturday. A special thanks to Vanda for driving me there and back and to Sue for organizing a brilliant experience.

By Becky Godden, aged 16

On Saturday, 9th February, we all got off to an early start, as the volleyball training day started at 9:30 in Weymouth. When we arrived, we were introduced to the Great Britain Team, and then split off into our different age and ability groups. I was in a group with 17 boys and me, the only girl. We warmed up by playing dodge ball and doing some stretches. Following this, we split off into pairs and practiced volleys and digs, often being stopped and given tips by the GB players. After a drink break, they went through the procedures of a smash hit, going through the footwork, arm position and height of the ball. I think this was the part we all enjoyed and benefited from most. After doing some drills including volleys and smash hits, they split us into teams of 4 and we played King of the Court. After this, we played full court with 6 players, often having the games paused to get some advice from the GB players.
 During the 2 hour lunch break, some of us went down to Weymouth beach and played some beach volleyball. It was really hot, sunny and we all had a good laugh. Arriving back at the venue, we watched the Great Britain team training, and then went off and were coached by the top beach volleyball player in England. We challenged Team Southampton to some matches and had some good games. 4:30 soon came around, and we all travelled back to Newbury after a great day of training and socialising.

March 2008

Development Teams Top of the League

Newbury’s two development teams the Juniors and the Mixtures were on form over the weekend winning all their matches.  Newbury Juniors is made up of the youngest members of the club plus 2 experienced junior players to help anchor the team. The development league gives an opportunity for new and novice players to gain match practice and have fun.  
Newbury Juniors played on Friday evening at their home venue St.Gabriel’s School against Farnborough and Reading Aces. They beat both Farnborough and Reading Aces.
Team Magda Kowalska, Stuart Mculley, Elisa Hill, Joseph Oliver, Dave Godden, Conor McMenamin, Jordan Ayres and James Hill

Newbury Mixtures travelled down to Aldershot Garrison for their fixture on Sunday. The team was made up of 5 juniors and 4 adults. They beat Reading Aces  15-9 in the first set and 15-7 in the second. They then went on to beat Farnborough 15 -8 and 15-10. Becky Godden from Newbury was awarded player of the match. This put Newbury Mixtures comfortably at the top of the league table.
Team Joanne Hahling, Amy Boyd, James Berryman, Jana Werner, Becky Godden, Tim Godden, Jordan Ayres, James Hill, Alex Whitehead.

Portland Tournament
By Dave Godden

On Saturday 15th of March, we played in a volleyball tournament in Portland. It was a wet and windy day, but we got down there safely. I was in a team with Jordan, James, and Alex, so it was quite a good team. We played our first match against Wessex, but we didn’t do too well, and lost. The second game was against the overall winners of our age group, but we played a pretty good game, and only lost by about ten points. The third game was the best one that we played, and we got a few good smash hits in aswell and we won. Then, we played all the teams again. We had got pretty confident with spiking, so we put in some good hits. After a long day we had earned third place in the tournament, and went home pleased.