Newsletter Reports
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Newsletter Reports |
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GB Women's Press Reports from the World University Games from Daegu, South Korea. |
| Photo: Back row l to r: Louise Fawcett (physio), Lucy wicks, Nichola Osborne, Chantel Mortimer, Lisa mullarkey, Rachel Bragg, Craig Handford (Coach) Front row l to r: Sarah Palmer, Elaine Krawczyk, Helen Brown, Katie Virr, Rachel Laybourne (capt) Missing: Lianč Herbert, Shauna Mullin |
| 30-08-03 World University Games 15th-16th place play-off Great Britain 2-3 New Zealand In an agonising and ultimately disappointing end to their World University Games campaign, Great Britain women volleyball surrendered a two sets to love lead to lose 2-3 to New Zealand in their final play-off match. The defeat left GB in 16th place out of 20 in the tournament. It all looked good for GB as they took the first set, which was tight throughout, 25-22. The second set followed a similar pattern, with neither team able to pull away. However, GB pulled things round from 17-19 down to again win 25-22. New Zealand had the upper hand in the third set and, after squandering a couple of set points, took it 20-25. The match turned at 21-21 in the fourth set when some unnecessary errors found their way into the GB game and New Zealand took the set 22-25 to level the match. GB rarely threatened in the third set, and despite some hefty serving by Rachel Laybourne, New Zealand took it 8-15 to win the match. Looking back on the game and the tournament overall, team manager Mike McKeever said: It was a disappointing final result in a game that we could have won, especially having gone two sets ahead. But in the end they played the big points better than us Overall its been a very positive experience. Were a young team and individual players have learnt a lot at the Games. We now need to get home, put the work in, and continue to develop ready for Izmir in two years time. |
| 30-08-03 Volleyball women downed by Mexico In the 13th-16th place play-off at the Daegu 1 High School Gymnasium, Great Britain women volleyball team were beaten in four sets by Mexico. They now face New Zealand on Saturday to determine their final placing at the World University Games in Daegu, South Korea. In a tight game which could have gone either way, Mexico eventually triumphed 25-27 17-25 25-16 18-25. Team manager Michael McKeever said: We attacked and blocked well and served better than in our previous games. Unfortunately we didn't receive their serve sufficiently well and especially in a very tight closing set. This is what ultimately led to our downfall. The team will be fighting hard on Saturday to end their Games campaign on a winning note. |
| 29-08-03 GB in play-off defeat Great Britain volleyball team had a tough time of it in today play-off match at the World University Games in Daegu, South Korea. They lost 0-3 to Canada and now face Mexico in their next game, as the final standings become clearer. The Canadians were always on top at the Daegu 1 Junior High School Gymnasium and never looked back once they took the first set 16-25. As in their previous matches the GB team never gave in but the Canadians were too strong, winning the next two sets 13-25 16-25. Team manager Michael Mckeever said after the game: We could and should have done better in this match. It was a disappointing performance and a disappointing result. We need to pick ourselves up now for our match tomorrow against Mexico. |
| 28/08/03 - Daegu Dreamin The official mascot of the 22nd Universiade in Daegu, Korea is "reami" and at the half way point the British Women? Volleyball team is still dreaming of glory. Britain have secured a vital win over Algeria (coming from 2-0 down to clinch a 5 set thriller) to finish 4th in their Pool and now face the mighty Canadians on Thursday 28th August in the 9-16th place quarter-finals. With Australia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Hong Kong joining GB and the Canadians there are no easy games at these World University Games. The story so far has been mixed. A very hot, humid and wet Daegu greeted the GB volleyballers on Saturday night (16th August). Sunday was an orientation day, with a light afternoon training session to try to get rid of the effects of the 30 hour journey and the 8 hour time difference. An early morning session on Monday was followed by an afternoon scrimmage match with the Canadians, fresh from an 8 day preparation camp in Japan. However the GB team was already suffering; Helen Brown was making good progress with her sprained ankle (sustained during the last training session in Loughborough before departure), middle blocker Chantel Mortimer was sidelined with stretched ankle ligaments, power hitter Rachel Bragg was unable to train or play due to back problems and captain Rachel Laybourne was suffering from a stomach bug. But the 3 set match allowed all the fit British players to get their first taste of volleyball in Korea and while 2 sets were closely contested the team was left in no doubt about the size of the task ahead. As Tuesday arrived people were beginning to feel more in the time zone, and adapting to the ambience of the Athletes Village - a beautiful, brand new, high rise development to the north of downtown Daegu. The players had two 6 bed apartments on the 7th floor (of 15) while the staff shared a similar apartment on the 6th floor with the football and tennis staff. A scrimmage match Tuesday afternoon with Mexico in 40degrees heat and 80% humidity saw a disjointed performance from the Brits, still struggling to serve with any consistency and unable to provide a stable pass with which to run their offence. Laybourne was still not fully fit, but played, but more worryingly Lisa Mullarkey had woken up that morning with a sore Achilles and, under medical advice, did not play. Mortimer came back to the fray but Bragg was still out. With the first match against France looming on Thursday morning (11 am) coach Handford decided not to look for any more scrimmage games, he wanted the troops as fresh as possible for the opener. And then good news and terrible news. An MRI scan on Bragg back showed no major problems and she would probably be fit to play in a couple of days. An ultrasound scan on Mullarkey achilles showed up a partial tear she would take no part in the tournament. Too late to break this news to the team before the French match; Lisa was left with an agonising decision about whether she should go home or stay. The French match saw an excited GB team take the floor and hold its own through the first rotation but with five serving errors and 4 reception errors the set slipped away 25-17. Competing at the net throughout the match, scoring with 8 blocks and 22 kills (France 9 blocks and 20 kills) GB could not match the French serving, passing or defence, giving up too many errors (28 to France? 16). A combative performance was lost 17-25, 14-25,16-25. Consecutive rest days on Friday and Saturday allowed the team to go to a very hot, long and exhilarating Opening Ceremony Thursday evening and enjoy their first complete day off from volleyball and travel for over a week. Sunday match against Australia came around so quickly. Lisa had left for home Saturday morning, a tearful and painful decision for her and the whole team. Bragg back was finally responding to intensive treatment and for the first time since arriving in Korea Handford had 11 players from which to choose. Meanwhile on Saturday France had come back from 2 sets down and saved 5 match points to beat an Aussie team that had blocked everything for 2 sets and dug everything for the next three in 5 thrilling sets. Could the Brits match the Aussie simple but well executed system? Alas no - undermined in the first set by 6 serving and 6 reception errors Australia strolled it 25-7. The second set was nearly as one sided, 25-12. In the third, a more determined performance, the reduction of unforced errors and improved blocking (4 stuffs) give GB a glimmer of hope but at the crucial time Aus drew away from 19 - 17 to win comfortably 25-18. A very disappointed team left the court to thank their band of vociferous supporters and to reflect on a painful experience. With Russia being the last match in the group, Monday match against Algeria was a just win A first seven of setter Lucy Wicks, opposite Rachel Laybourne, middles Chantel Mortimer and Liane Herbert, swing hitters Katy Virr and Rachel Bragg and libero Sarah Palmer took the court. Despite the introduction of Helen Brown and Shauna Mullin to try and strengthen the team? serving another atrocious serving display (7errors) paved the way for a 25-19 first set loss. In the second GB moved to a 17-15 lead behind better serving (4 aces and for the first time in the tournament no serving errors) but a string of 8 strong serves from Algerian captain Derrdij took them to 23-15 and an eventual 25-22 win. Staring defeat in the face Coach Handford? decision to keep faith with his starting line-up paid dividends. They did not disappoint. Rachel Bragg unleashed a barrage of 8 kills, the block scored with 3 stuffs and more importantly forced the Algerian outside hitters away from their favoured cross court hitting angles and into errors on the line. Leading from the start GB won their first set of the tournament 25-19, keeping alive their hope for victory. The fourth set was GB? most comfortable set to date; Lucy Wicks put together 2 runs of 5 serves and 3 serves and the Algerian block was unable to make impact on the British attack. A comfortable 25-13 win. A nervous tie break saw GB change ends at 8-5 ahead only to go behind immediately 10-8. Katie Virr then stepped up and put in 2 blistering serves, Liane Herbert got a stuff block and despite an outrageous decision from referee Kozlovsky on a non block touch GB stayed in front to win the match 15-12. Thank goodness for that was Handford reaction at the end. Once we controlled the ball in reception and defence the Algerian had no answer to our power at the net. It was a brave display to hold our nerve and come back from the brink. I know we can play better than that and I looking forward to the next round. In the final group match captain Laybourne was rested she still had not fully recovered from her ailments. Setter Elaine Krawczyk had her international baptism of fire against an aggressive Russian team and Nicola Osborne showed she had no fears of the Russian attack with 2 superb individual blocks on their very quick offence. However the match didn? mean anything to either team final group placing, and it showed. The Russian serving dominated and they strolled to a 7-25, 13-25, 8-25 win. At the half way point in the Universiade volleyball competition 3 British attackers feature in the Best Attackerstatistics 5th Rachel Bragg with 26 kills for a kill ratio (kills/attempts) of 36.6%, 7th Chantel Mortimer 18 kill, 31.6% and 9th Rachel Laybourne 28 kills, 30.4%. Top of the stats is Spain? Fernandez with 37 kills, 55.2%. GB also feature 12th on team blocking with 21 stuff blocks at an average of 1.5 per set. China lead with 44 blocks, average 3.1 per set. Thursday sees GB face Canada in the first of a series of 3 matches to determine rankings from 9 to 16. Although underdogs the team relishes the challenge and another opportunity to explore their limits. They then play into the Japan v Mexico match (winner v winner, loser v loser) on Friday and finish the tournament Saturday. Michael McKeever Team Manager |
| 27/08/03 - GB lose final group match In their final group match at the World University Games, the Great Britain women volleyball team suffered a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Russia. In what was always going to be a tough game against a strong and extremely tall Russian outfit, GB took the opportunity to rest a number of players ahead of the forthcoming play-off games. In the first set the Russian? powerful serve and attack proved too much for GB and the set slipped away, 7-25. The second set started more evenly before the Russians again pulled away to take the set 13-25. The Russians piled on the pressure in the third set winning it 9-25 to take the match. It was always going to be difficult for GB against a country with a successful volleyball tradition, as GB? Chantel Mortimer explained: Despite a distinct height advantage on the Russian side, the GB team fought well, but at the end of the day the experience of the Russians showed through and was reflected in the final score. |
| 25/08/03 - GB Claim First Win A stirring fight back by the Great Britain women volleyball team gave them a thrilling 3-2 win over Algeria ?their first victory in the World University Games tournament in Daegu, South Korea. GB looked down and out, but the fighting spirit that has shone through in their opening two games again came to the fore. Algeria just got the better of a tight opening set and again pulled away at just the right time to win the second. After that it was all change. GB took the crucial third set 25-19 which seemed to knock the stuffing out of their opponents. GB were by now well on top and took the fourth set 25-13. In a tense final set which could have gone either way, GB held their nerve to win 15-12 and provide them with a huge confidence boost ahead of Tuesday game against Russia. Coach Craig Handford was a happy man after the game, thank goodness for that! We made it difficult for ourselves in the first two sets, but once we got ahead in the third we never looked back. It was a worthy win against tricky opponents and the team showed great spirit to come back as well as they did.? Final score GB 3-2 Algeria: 19-25 22-25 25-19 25-13 15-12 GB? next match against Russia starts at 0700 BST on 26 August. |
| 24/08/03 - GB loses to Aussies Great Britain women volleyball team suffered their second defeat of the World University Games at the hands of Australia. The Australian were particularly dominant at the net throughout which made it difficult for GB to get into the game. The first set ran away from them early on, the Australians winning it 7-25. The start of the second set was more even, as the GB team began to settle into the match. Solid serving kept the score to 5-6, before the Australian pulled away to 5-11. GB continued to battle hard but were unable to bridge the gap, eventually losing the set 12-25. Australia raced into a 0-5 lead at the start of the third set, but a succession of good serves, particularly by Helen Brown and Rachel Laybourne, hauled GB back into contention ?trailing 12-13. From then Australia again took control, pulling away to take the set 18-25 to complete the victory. GB now turn their attention to their next group match against Algeria on Monday. |
| 21/Aug/03 - France too strong for GB Great Britain 0-3 France World University Games Women? Volleyball Group C Great Britain women volleyball team battled hard but were beaten 3-0 by a French side considered to be one of the pre-tournament favourites. There was very little difference between the two sides for long periods, but the French team? ability to retrieve seemingly lost points saw them home. In an even start to the first set, both teams traded points as the game settled down and Great Britain more than held their own, leading 10-9 at one point. However, the French then began to pull away, eventually winning the set 17-25. Strong French serving early in the second set saw them open up a 0-4 lead, but a determined GB team stuck in there and good work at the net by Chantel Mortimer, Lucy Wicks and Katie Virr helped them keep in touch. Despite this, France never lost their grip on the set, eventually winning it 14-25. A couple of long, exciting rallies bought the lively crowd to their feet in the third set, with good serving by GB captain Rachel Lambourne inspiring her side. Once again the French held firm taking the set, and the match, 16-25. Overall an encouraging performance by GB with many positives to take forward to the next game against Australia, as team manager Mike McKeever explains: It was always going to be a difficult game against France and the girls performed to the level we hoped they would. The performance has put us in great heart for our next match, which will be very competitive. If we can reproduce our top form it should be a good game for us. Today a lot of the players played well against on the best team in the tournament. We fought hard, were aggressive and never game up. Great Britain next match against Australia starts on Sunday 24 August at 0500GMT. |
| 20/08/03 - Team GBR Face France in Volleyball Opener With the clock ticking before their opening game against France, Team GBR Volleyball manager, Michael McKeever, is pleased with the progress of his team. Having spent three weeks at their Loughborough training camp before flying out to Korea last week, the ladies are without doubt one of the best prepared teams in the British delegation as McKeever explains: "Being together in the training camp has been of huge benefit to the squad. It's given the girls a good opportunity to bond as a group, and we arrived in Korea with a settled squad in which everyone knows their role. "As well as training together at Loughborough, we've had two mini-tours to Belgium and Sweden. This has been vital as without it we would struggle to compete in what is a very tough competition. "The result is a young, enthusiastic and well prepared group, and I am confident that we can equal or hopefully better our 12th place finish of two years ago." The 12-strong squad includes eight ladies from Loughborough University, including captain Rachel Laybourne who said: "After the good build up we've had we're now raring to go and are looking forward to the game against France. If we play to the standards we have set for ourselves I m sure we will do well." The ladies take on France tomorrow (Thursday) at 3am BST at the Deagu Il Junior High School in Daegu, South Korea. |
| 13/08/03 - GB Students bite back in Belgium The biggest challenge to date for the GB Women's team was a 3 match series against the best that Belgian club volleyball could offer - Hechtel, a team that in the recent past was too good for the English senior team and was in the middle of their preparation for their first season in the Belgian pro league. Missing a key middle blocker, GB were concerned about the fire power of the Belgians from the serving line and the speed of their game at the net. And so it was. First match Friday night (8 August) saw the experienced Belgian side dominant from the serving line. The first set was lost 25 - 19, behind 4 Belgian aces and a series of slide and combination attacks that had the GB block chasing a ball that was already on its way to the floor. What a lesson for rookie middle blocker Liane Herbert - her brain was exploding - how can anyone deal with this? All the problems posed in training were happening at high speed right in front of her, and down each side of her (but not over the top of her!). Drawing breath at the end of the first set, the Brits refocused on their service reception - side out or die - and everyone resolved to keep fighting. At 16 - 7 down in the second however, nothing was going right . Each British side out was followed by yet another serving error; but ther was no respite from coach Handford - keep serving to the max. And then libero Sarah Palmer decided to kick in and pass and defend like the player that the team knows she can be. Captain Rachel Laybourne produced a couple of unexpected blocks and the team began to believe that maybe the Belgians were not superhuman after all. With setter Lucy Wicks now able to deliver to her quick hitters and to score at will with her second touch attack the team clawed its way back. But four set points later, and with the Brits still unable to serve 2 balls in a row into court, Hechtel won the second 34-32. At the start of the third the continuing strength of Students block began to bite into the confidence of the Hechtel hitters. Palmer started bossing her reception unit and it enjoyed its first error free set since the team came together 6 weeks previously. A defensive adjustment dealt with the Belgian off speed attacks and GB maintained an early lead to win 25 - 20. After these 3 hard sets coach Handford resolved to test his bench - Korea will bring 7 matches in 9 or 10 days and the depth of the squad will have a significant influence on the team's eventual placing. Mullin came in to replace Laybourne in the opposite slot, and Osborne saw court time as a blocker/hitter. A close run set was edged by the Belgians 25-23, despite the continuing tireless work of Mortimer in the front row. Post match the team reflected on the positives - a close match, we were able to deal with their powerful serving (but only if we concentrated) and we could match them, and even dominate, at the net. But nothing less than a sterling performance would do the job. Saturday afternoon, what a performance! Rachel Bragg stepped up to the serving line and produce a run of 5 straight aces (2 of them the Belgians didn't even move for!) Also siding out at will behind their best service reception to date the Students dominated - completely - to stroll it 25 -16. Second set, same story with a twist. Katie Virr got her range with her jump serve and delivered 4 winners. Bragg meanwhile decided that the game is more than hitting and serving and produced 2 kill blocks to round off her best match so far. Herbert began to adjust to the speed of the game in the middle and delivered a kill, a block and an ace to contribute to the cause. Mortimer bossed the net, pounding 3 quick sets and refusing to let any Belgian attack pass without at least a controlled touch - 25 -19. As ever with an eye to Korea, Handford developed the bench in the third set, but not before Bragg floored a Belgian defender on a back set, delivered by setter Wicks to an open net (no blocker). The Belgians laughed at their colleague, but each was glad it wasn't them that took the impact of the ball. A close loss 25 -23 in the third was followed by a disappointing 25 - 18 result in the fourth, as the depth of the GB squad was tested. The real damage had been done in the first 2 sets and the potential of this British squad had finally seen light of day. The Belgians (unprecedentedly) declined a third match on Sunday so the Students filled the time with an early morning training session, and a highly competitive intersquad match (and a late afternoon trip to the pool - it was 37 C after all). Manager Michael McKeever - 'This team has begun to understand what it might be capable of. They are excited at the prospect, and so they should be. They have, individually and collectively, a great capacity. What they want now is to be able to find this level in Korea. I believe they can, and they will surprise a few countries in the Games. They have worked hard and have been fortunate to have found support from BUSA and their sponsors FIT http://www.fitfortraining.co.uk that has allowed them to express their talent and desire.' Team: Rachel Bragg, Helen Brown, Liane Herbert, Rachel Laybourne, Chantel Mortimer, Sarah Palmer, Katie Virr, Lucy Wicks (all Loughborough), Elaine Krawczyk (Strathclyde), Lisa Mullarkey (Kings College London), Shauna Mullin (Heriot-Watt), Nichola Osborne (Oxford) Coach Craig Handford, Manager Michael McKeever For further information: Visit www.busa.org.uk/WUGs2003Volleyball Michael McKeever michael.mckeever@ntlworld.com |
| 12/08/03 - GB declare themselves FIT for World Games The impoverished GB women's volleyball team found themselves in the money when Finance Industry Training Limited announced their support for the Students in their quest for glory at the World University Games in Daegu, Korea 21 - 31 August 2003. FIT director David Wicks said ' We are delighted to support the GB Women's team and wish them every success in Korea. They portray quality, improvement through training and hard work, and competitiveness and in any market place these attributes count for a lot.' GB coach Craig Handford commented 'This support has allowed us to prepare in a better way than we could otherwise have afforded. The team have been together in Loughborough for 5 weeks and we have been able to travel to Sweden and Belgium as part of our match preparation programme. We go to Korea in good heart, with a determined attitude and as a much better team - thanks to FIT' FIT provide quality training resources for quality financial advisers and can be found at www.fitfortraining.co.uk Michael McKeever michael.mckeever@ntlworld.com |
| Further information is available from: Russell Langley, Press Officer,
British Team E-mail teamgbr2003@busa.org.uk
Tel 0082 19677 7673 More Team GBR news can be found at: www.busa.org.uk/wugs2003 |
| Daegu, South Korea, will host the 22nd World University Games from
August 21st ?31st 2003 www.universiade-daegu.org This year team GBR is sending its largest ever team to the Games in terms of sports entered, with around 100 athletes to look out for. These include James Gibson (Swimming ?Gold Medallist at the 2003 World Championships), Tim Mundon (Archery ?Silver Medallist at the 2002 World Championships) and Richard Kruse (Fencing ?2002 Junior European Champion). Team GBR will be looking to better the medal tally of Beijing 2001 where ten medals were won. Great Britain has entered teams in Archery, Athletics, Fencing, Football, Gymnastics, Judo, Swimming, Tennis, Taekwondo and Volleyball. The World University Games were founded in 1923 to enable nations to compete against each other on a world stage at a student level. They are held every two years and are open to competitors between the ages of 17 and 28 who are university students or who have graduated within the previous year of the event. The 22nd Universiade in Daegu will feature over 180 sporting events across 13 sports. At least 6,000 athletes and officials from 170 countries will be present at the Games. The British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) is the governing body of university sport, running national competitions in 46 sports from Athletics to Windsurfing, and co-ordinating the Great Britain representative teams for the World University Games and World University Championships. |
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