DA: 10-0 Polen

As Göran has said in his write up about the weekends travel to Gdansk, Poland, it was not a short trip. We traveled by bus from Falköping taking almost 4 hours, the night ferry to Gdnyia taking 12 hours, and a short bus ride to Gdansk taking about 30 minutes.

After checking in to the hotel and a light luch we walked to the gym nearby and trained with the junior girls of the Trefl Gdansk team. Boys and girls Coach, Adam Miotk had good drills which challenged the girls ball control and patience. It was a good opportunity and exchange of ideas between Adam and myself, which I gladly took notes of which exercises would work in the RIG atmosphere. After the training, everyone was tired and in much need of some rest and dinner.

Saturday afternoon, the girls had a match at 13.00. The expectations were to work on their own side, a similar thought process to when they play in the leagues at home. The flow of each set went well for us. The team worked well together and had very few attack errors over 5 sets (11). However, the errors at the service line were very high (29). That being said, the attack percentages from almost all of the attackers was at a high. Outside hitter Wilma Calmfors had 56% attack efficiency with 27 attempts, 1 error and 15 kills. Middle blockers Paulina Lindberg, Fanny Skogsfors and Hedda Broberg, with both setters Ella Sandberg and Tyra Areskoug had great connections from position 3. Fanny Skogsfors had the highest attack efficiency of the middles with 60% on 10 attempts, 2 errors and 6 kills. The match also saw consistency in serve receive from receiving outside hitters and Libero Catarina Cooper. Final set scores: 25-16, 25-12, 25-17, 25-21, 25-19

Sunday morning, RIG had a second match. Individual video sessions the night before and once we got the the gym were had in order to prepare each player with what they needed to work on during the match. After all, they were there to get better and challenging themselves was priority number one! I (Coach Whitney) continued to urge the team to go outside their comfort zones. When plays were happening to easily, to not be satisfied and instead, to challenge themselves to do something different, something they knew would be tough at an even higher level. RIG's opponents were much better than the day before, we had our work cut out for us. One of the Gdansk players who was giving the team trouble, was their left handed opposite. She was short but powerful. Her jump serve was the hardest to handle for us. She was able to kill off 8 aces in 5 sets! 

Spiker Evelina Granberg had her best match of the weekend, Sunday. Recording a high of 62% positive in receive with no errors. Her efficiency in attack at 59% with 29 attempts, 2 errors and 17 kills. On top of all that, Evelina scored 2 aces. Year 1 middle blocker Paulina Lindberg also made her contribution with 4 blocks. Ulrika Blomgren contributed in attack with 10 kills out of 24 attempts with 1 error, crushing one unforgettable attack sharp angle in front of the 3 meter line. Final set scores: 25-20, 25-18. 25-18, 25-22, 15-12. 

Overall, the weekend was a time for experience and challenging ones self mentally, challening ones self to play smart instead of hard sometimes. RIG thank's Gdansk for the opportunity and hope to continue the cooperation again in the future. 

Back to work this week to prepare for the approaching end of the Div 1 season and for the tournament in Italy. Exciting!