News
GB Women in France
21st January 2010
The Great Britain Women's volleyball team travelled to Quimper, France from Thursday 7 - Sunday 10 January, to compete against Quimper Volley 29, the professional club of three GB athletes; Lucy Wicks, Rachel Laybourne and Stacey O'Connor. The GB team were invited by the towns of Briec and Quimper, to train and play an exhibition match to celebrate the opening of a new sporting complex in Briec, just north of Quimper. All GB travel, accommodation and expenses were paid for by our hosts.
This trip was particularly beneficial for GB as it provided:
- a competitive outlet for the Sheffield centre-based players
- an opportunity to transfer the training undertaken in Sheffield into competitive match situation
- an opportunity for centre-based players to experience pro-club environment
- an opportunity for the four (Wicks, Laybourne, O'Connor and Rachel Bragg - currently with Toulon) French pro-based GB players to compete with GB team
- Audrey Cooper, GB Womens Head Coach, the opportunity to see the three GB players training environment/structure and view the quality of the Quimper team, as well as to meet Quimper head coach and discuss the progress and development needs of the three Quimper- based GB players
As well as the volleyball, the GB team also took part in a few off-court activities, firstly meeting the Mayor of Quimper in a reception at the City Hall. There was a friendly exchange of gifts as (Statistician) Matt Bianco translated a speech from Audrey as she thanked the city the city for their hospitality. The Quimper coach, Yamandu Peralta, and his family, played host the to GB women for a welcoming dinner which was a chance for him to meet Audrey and learn about the GB programme. On the morning of the exhibition match, the Mayor of Briec and his associates greeted both teams after the court training, and the warm welcoming saw another exchange of gifts and another perfect translation by Matt for Audrey’s speech to the town of Briec. Following the exhibition match both teams had dinner at a restaurant. In keeping with European culture the meals were significant and lengthy!
Scrimmage match – 8th January 2010
GB 2 - 1 Quimper Volley 29 (25-20, 22-25, 25-15)
GB had a positive start to their tour with a win over Quimper in a three set match. In this match, Stacey O’Connor played with Quimper, Rachel Laybourne and Lucy Wicks played with GB.
The team objectives were to transfer the work we have been doing in training into the competitive environment, in particular our style of offence and our block defence system.
After playing a little rushed at the start of the match, the team settled well with strong serve receive that allowed our middle offence to function and impact the game significantly, disrupting the opposition’s defence.
Quimper played a quick offence to the outside and it took a while for the GB block to pick up this speed. However, on the back of some good serving the GB block started to frustrate the Quimper attackers with a good number of kill blocks and significant block touches. As a result the transition play was made easier for the GB women who took advantage and controlled the match easily in the 3rd set. The team finished the match with 28% overall attack efficiency.
GB were energetic and played with a high intensity compared to that of Quimper, and this helped to put up a good performance.
Key Stats
Team Serve Receive: 2.12 from 50
Indiv S/R: Bertelli (L) 2.55, Bragg 2.11
Team Attack Efficiency: 28% (34 kills)
Indiv A/E: Carter – 11 kills / 73%, Bragg 11 kills / 28%, Laybourne 5 kills / 22%
Block - 9 stuff blocks, 15 positive block touches
Serve – 8 aces
Exhibition match – 9th January 2010
GB 3 – 2 Quimper Volley 29 (25-20, 17-25, 25-19, 12-25, 15-10)
The GB girls were eager for the exhibition match against Quimper and so were the home support, with approx 700 people coming out to watch the match creating a superb atmosphere with their fleuro yellow t-shirts, large drums, horns and a couple of microphones. It was a great opportunity for our girls to play in front of vociferous home crowd and deal with the difficulties that can bring. Again Stacey O’Connor played with Quimper, and Rachel Laybourne and Lucy Wicks played with GB.
Our objectives for the match were again to put in a performance, executing our style of offence and to use tough serving and our block/defence system to counter their powerful outside hitters. It was also key for all players to get the opportunity to play.
GB started the match focussed and energetic and took a 8-2 lead into the first technical time out. After a positive start and winning the first set, the match was a bit of a roller coaster and a great example of how strong serving and momentum shifts can win or lose sets, as the game was controlled from the service line in runs of points for each side.
Consistency is key. Our serve receive was at times excellent which allowed our offence to cause Quimper a lot of problems, however there were a couple of runs of points where we allowed Quimper to dominate us with their serve, particularly with their tough jump float serve, which allowed them into the game.
Similarly, with 14 aces we served tactically with excellent velocity, which allowed us to execute our block defence tactics effectively. To this Quimper had no answer. However, a couple of back-to-back service errors gave them the momentum and allowed them to establish a points lead.
With the team rotating in each set, all players saw the court which was important and GB came away with a win against a good serving team who play a fast offence with strong/powerful hitters. Rachel Laybourne was solid all round for GB, and the teams strong blocking was again a strong point and a deciding factor. The GB team showed character and resilience throughout the five sets and were deserved winners.
Key Stats
Team Serve Receive: 2.06 from 86
Indiv S/R: Bertelli (L) 2.25, Laybourne 2.38, Taylor 2.13
Team Attack Efficiency: 16% (39 kills)
Indiv A/E: Bragg 10 kills / 25%, Laybourne 11 kills / 24%, Wicks 7 attempts / 29%
Block - 12 stuff blocks, 30 positive block touches
Serve – 14 aces
British Squad: Vicky Palmer, Jenn Taylor, Maria Bertelli, Jo Morgan, Laura Beardsmore, Jo Healy, Grace Carter, Rachel Newton (all Sheffield based) Lucy Wicks, Rachel Laybourne, Stacey O'Connor (all Quimper based) Rachel Bragg (Toulon based). Audrey Cooper (Head Coach), Matt Bianco (Statistician and Translator).
