posted 26 Feb 2012 14:14 by Luke Vanhegan
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updated
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For the second week running, Arena take the honours, beating Melton VC in a five set thriller, filled with quality volleyball from both teams.
With Super-Matt back from self-imposed quarantine due to a nasty bout of Madagascan Avian Man-Flu (I'm sure that's what he said - it sounded very serious anyway...) the change in first six line-up served only improve on Arena's victorious visit to Lincoln seven days ago. The 'serving at match point down' pressure was avoided this week, and Arena were fortunate to finish off the deciding set rather more comfortably.
Arena opened the first set strongly, and with some good serving, passing, setting (of course!) and hitting, somewhat surprised themselves by taking the first set by 6 points 25-19. The good momentum was carried into the second set, until Melton started to come back strongly with some solid hitting and good defence. Arena held their nerve at the end of an increasingly tight set to take it by 29 points to 27.
After the agony of losing the second site despite scoring 27 points, Melton hit back hard in the third set. Strong and accurate serving put Arena under pressure, and although the passing held up, the hitting turned into a crock of s**t. Melton comfortably closed out the set 25-14 to get themselves on the scoreboard. Arena performed slightly better in the fourth set, but that meant only losing by 4 points. Melton levelled the match by taking the fourth 25-21.
Nerves started to jangle as for the second week running Arena had to face a deciding fifth set. Strong serving at the beginning of the set from Manzur helped Arena race into a 4-0 lead. Must have been something to do with an inspired selection of the starting rotation...
Melton quickly recovered valuable points with equally strong serving, making it 8-7 to Arena at the change of ends. From then on, traffic began to flow one way despite increasingly hard hitting from Melton. Arena kept their heads in the home straight, leaving the visitors with just too much to do.
The pressure told as there was a slightly tame end to the match, which was in stark contrast to some fine hitting and tactical play from both sides. The game was played in the right spirit (as games should be when there's only one ref!) and was probably a very good game to watch!
It's a shame there could only be one winner. Unfortunately for Melton, it was Nottingham Arena.
posted 26 Feb 2012 14:13 by Luke Vanhegan
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updated 26 Feb 2012 14:14
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Arena take it to the limit (16-14 in the deciding set!) in a last gasp 3-2 win over high flying Lincoln Lynx.
Arena hit the road for their first match of 2012, looking to improve on a 3-0 loss to Lincoln Lynx before Christmas. A magical mystery tour on and around what used to be the A46 (I really need to update my sat nav) took the team to Lincoln with high hopes of a better performance than in the reverse fixture.
Arena's squad of seven (welcome back Simon!) put in a solid display, with all members of the team performing well. A cunning piece of team positioning crafted by Team Captain (for the night) Luke and Chief Setter Alan saw Big Steve T moved out to four, alongside bionic Dan through the middle. The results were spectacular! Throughout the course of the match, Dan and Steve led from the front and won many of Arena's points, ably supported by Simon, Manzur and Mick (away from bench-warming duties for a welcome outing!).
Arena lost the first set 14-25. Came back to level, taking the second 25-15. Lost the third 20-25 only to come back strongly in the fourth to level again by taking it 25-17.
Lincoln had pounded many hits thus far, and continued to do so in the deciding set. However, the Arena block were now reading the game well and were successfully making telling blocks. The final set stayed on a knife edge, with Lincoln even holding match point at 14-13. However it wasn't to be, and Arena (under huge pressure - now who was it serving at the death...?) served out the match from 14-14 to take the honours by 16-14 in the fifth set.
I think that the team talk at the start of the fifth set made the difference. After all, who does want to drive all the way home looking like they've got a mouthful?
A top result for Arena, with both sides contributing to an excellent game of volleyball played in fine spirits. Roll on Melton next week!
Not many people have been playing volleyball for as long as Kev Greef. Not many play piano either. Probably even fewer can do both at the same time! Well, we haven't seen Kev doing both, but he can knock out a mean 'House of the Rising Sun'.
posted 3 Jan 2012 15:03 by Luke Vanhegan
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updated 8 Jan 2012 03:41
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Arena end 2011 on a high with a convincing 3-0 win over Ashfield Vipers.
A reasonably solid display, with the exception of a wobble in the first set gave Arena their third win of the season, and sent the team into the Christmas break on a high.
The highlight of the second set has to be Dan roofing one, with, wait for it...... a jump serve! Those present will remember it for a long time. Those that weren't will just have to be amazed at this incredible feat....
In the beginning there was a volleyball court. Then a scoreboard appeared. It read Arena three - Darkstar nil. Mwah ha ha ha!
Nottingham Arena's fourth outing of the season ended in a one-sided win over this season's newcomers, Darkstar. The 25-12, 25-20, 25-19 scoreline tells you all you need to know. Arena were out of the blocks fast, and despite a good fightback from Darkstar in the final set as Arena had a slight wobble, the result was never really in doubt.
The thumping beats that came from Darkstar's end of the court during the warm up didn't seem to have the desired effect. Arena stormed into an early lead with some excellent setting from Alan that made Matt and Steve look like pros as they put away some good balls through four and three. Precise serving from Luke turned the solid early lead into a stonking opening set that Arena took for the loss of only 12 points.
In the second set, good passing from Steve and Matt helped keep the scores close, with Manzur mixing some good hitting with stealthy movement around the court - so stealthy that not even his own team knew where he was sometimes. Arena did the business once again and took the second set 25-20.
After warming the bench excellently for the first two sets, Captain Mick came on in the third set to produce some steady and effective hitting. With defeat looming, Darkstar decided to go for broke and produced some powerful spikes in the third set, wiping off the Arena block several times. At 12-18 down, Arena unfurled the big guns, and turned to their Polish Bionic Man through the middle. Looping middle sets through three were completely spanked by Dan, with 100% success (and before you say 'well 1 successful hit is 100%', Dan managed at least 8!). Awesome.
From 6 points adrift, Arena closed out the final set, and the match, 25-19.
Nuff said!
P.S. Big Dave - get yourself fit again and stay away from sharp metal objects in future!
posted 2 Nov 2011 13:55 by Luke Vanhegan
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updated 2 Nov 2011 14:21
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Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. After the heights of the opening match of the season, Nottingham Arena plummet to the depths of a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Lincoln Lynx. Despite confidence being high from the win over Loughborough, a weak passing display lets us down and breaks our unbeaten run early in the season.
Despite staying level for most of the opening set, some weak passing (setting the tone for the rest of the match) meant we lost the first set. The quality of play went downhill from there, and despite a fightback that came way too late, we lost the match without registering a set and headed for an early shower.
So, let's leave this result here and move on to better things! Melton are our next opponents. Let's see a return to form for Arena, and the result that we want.
posted 23 Oct 2011 03:07 by Luke Vanhegan
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updated 2 Nov 2011 02:46
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Nottingham Arena won their first match of the season in three sets with a solid performance against the students of Loughborough.
Clearly the directions must have worked as everyone made it to L'Bro on time, and a multi-coloured team took to the court after a fifty minute warm up to take on the mighty students of Loughborough.
The first set was tight at the beginning, but Arena's passing was solid, allowing the attack to be varied, with Matt and Steve putting away some good balls. We pulled away at the end to take our first set of the season 25-17.
On the back of a successful first set, we took a logical step and changed a winning formula by bringing on this season's new recruit, Manzur. After a few navigational errors on court, probably from a desire to get on the front row and hit a few balls, he did just that and helped Arena get their noses in front.
Some poor receiving allowed L'Bro back into the set, and a superbly tactical timout from the coach (for the night) made almost no difference for a few points until Arena decided to pull themselves together, use Dan for a few more hits and close out the second set 25-21.
For the third set, Mick's phenomenal power hitting at the back wall had taken it's toll on his shoulder and he assumed bench warming duties.
The third set saw Dan receive some of the best setting of the match, allowing him to unleash his awsome physio-inspired power (they had the technology to rebuild him) to pound the ball into the L'Bro court. Unfortunatley the sets came from the L'Bro side of the net, and resulted in their setter being subbed off.
Arena surged ahead in the set as student thoughts clearly turned towards the bar, realising there was only going to be one winner in this match. Dan turned on the style with his jump serves. Alan sprayed the ball around effectively. Matt changed from power hitting to clever tipping, almost as if he was trying to conserve energy for something else. Arena took the set 25-18.
A solid all-round performance and 3-0 win from Arena was an excellent way to start the season. The display was far from perfect however; while most things worked well on court, the main area for improvement is clearly post-match attendance at the pub!
posted 18 Oct 2011 14:52 by Luke Vanhegan
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updated 18 Oct 2011 15:08
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Friday 21st October sees Arena begin the season against the ever youthful team from Loughborough Uni. Is it me, or do they look younger every year? I'm sure I saw one reading the Beano last time we played them...
On the off chance that travel arrangements aren't completely clear, the idea is to meet outside this kind of court in Nottingham, not this one. If you're not sure, email Mick.
Let's open the season with a good performance, and a win. Skopać parętyłekstudentów!
posted 6 Oct 2011 08:00 by Luke Vanhegan
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updated 18 Oct 2011 14:43
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Our super-efficient Mens Team organiser has sorted out 4 of the 5 fixtures that we need to play this side of Christmas (how many days to go?? Arrgghh). Matches against Loughborough students, Melton, Lincs and Darkstar should now be in your diary.
The final match for this part of the season is against Ashfield - we're just waiting for them to confirm the date and time for our away match with them.
Whether we play home or away this side of Christmas, the reverse matches will be played in the New Year. Mick will be emailing you all when the next round of fixtures have been arranged.
