Joomla! site syndication http://aztecsvc.co.uk Thu, 09 Sep 2010 03:26:19 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://aztecsvc.co.uk/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://aztecsvc.co.uk Joomla! site syndication http://aztecsvc.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=2 After the shock defeat to the Ballymoney Blaze ladies the Craigavon Aztec ladies seen themselves having to travel to Bangor to take on the newest edition to the ladies Northern Ireland League. Aztecs started with a strong game plan, to serve hard and to defend their court with life and limb. Even at this there was a considerable difference in experience between the two teams and as ever experience really does count in volleyball. This was shown in the 1st set from the North Down Ladies with many free balls returned over the net but in awkward enough places to not allow the Aztecs attacks to flourish like they should. This way of tactically placing the ball made a lot rely on the Aztec’s service, lucky is probably one of the strongest in the League. Allowing them to take the 1st set a close 25-22.Once the 1st set nerves where over seen the Craigavon ladies get into gear and really run away with it, and with momentum growing point by point and the great blocking coming from both middle blockers with 3 stuff blocks each to keep the opposition at an arms length. It wasn’t long before the set was put out of reach with great attacking and serving to finish 25-12. The 3rd set was a joy for the Aztec Coaches with their service to start and 10 consecutive serves without return of points. This was extended to 15-4 and then North Down sensing this was their last chance to stay in the match found a tremendous come back of points to bring the score to 18-16 after Aztecs had taken their foot off the gas as well. Aztecs took a time out to refocus on the points at hand and how close they where to pulling off a comprehensive victory. Once back on court they did just that finishing the set and match 25-21.Team on the night: - No 1 Charlotte Wilson (Opposite) No 2 Emma Alderdice (Outside Hitter Captain) No 3 Rebecca Whitten (Middle Blocker) No 5 Lauren Bell (Middle Blocker) No 8 Michelle Diffin (Outside Hitter) No 9 Sarah-Louise Lowe (Setter) No 17 Sophie McIvorgh (Liberio) Aztecs Lady of The Match goes to: - No 9 Sarah-Louise Lowe, who after coming back to Aztecs midway through the season has transformed the entire spirit and play of the game, she pulled the strings on the Aztecs Attack and served incredibly well to keep them in front. News - Latest Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:42:50 +0100 http://aztecsvc.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=2 All teams and followers of the Northern Ireland Volleyball eagerly awaited the result of this match as the 2 leading clubs put their best against their best. This game was made all the more interesting with the 48spectators down, who wanted to find out 1st hand how the result would swing and what a night for the spectators. Aztecs unusual of themselves started strong and leapt to a 5-0 cushion from a great service effort and kept the points rolling with attacks coming strong from the Aztecs side of court. Ballymoney closed the gap every side out just eating away at the Aztecs lead and with a great balance within the North Coast ranks it allowed them to push on once the rotations had moved round, this compared to the Old Boys having as the name suggests a mixture of 1st team and more experienced players. This meant the lead changed hands in the middle of the set coming from Aztecs not being able to kill a ball and side out. After 6 unforced errors in the later half of the 1st set, their early lead was not enough and Aztecs conceded 1st blood 25-23 Ballymoney. The 2nd set saw what had to be the best fought set of the season with the stats from both teams showing what the Northern Ireland League is capable of. Points where coming in flows or 2 or 3 points at a time both teams kill balls into each other’s court. Then in outstanding form Aztecs blocked 14 balls the set, each stuff block taking the edge of the Ballymoney attackers, but again around the middle of the set inconsistency grew and lead to more shanked passes and few attacks from the Craigavon men, this gave Ballymoney a better chance to run more complex plays and they capitalised and hit hard taking the lead at 16-15 and then again 2 and 3 points at a time finished off the set 25-23. The last set again the stats speak for themselves, Aztecs had 9 kills, 6 blocks and 4 aces but also gave away 9 unforced errors giving the psychological advantage firmly with the North Coast men after taking the 1st two sets. Aztecs fought hard picking up a lot of hard spikes and tips, but it was just not enough with the final set going 25-21. Team Line Up On The Night: - # 1 Peter Lundy (Power Hitter) # 2 Ryan Caddell (Opposite) # 3 Jonny Orr (Opposite) # 5 Christopher Cousens (Swing Hitter) # 6 Colin Kirkland (Middle Blocker) # 7 David Irwin (Middle Blocker) # 9 Graham Bell (Captain, Setter) # 16 Alan Dowey (Swing Hitter) # 17 Lee Taylor (Libero) Man Of The Match: - Goes to # 6 Colin Kirkland, for just even his overall stats from the match, 14 blocks, 12 kills and 4 aces. Making him Aztecs leading blocking and scorer. News - Latest Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:12:06 +0100 http://aztecsvc.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=2 After a great Victory over Civil Service, the Craigavon men now travel to Bangor to play the League Winners last year North Down who where on track for an unbeaten season if Aztecs did not take it away from them in the last game of the league season. This was set to be a good match even with Aztecs losing 4 of its players from last year’s victory. North Down won the toss and opted to serve first, this immediately paid off as the went 4 points ahead from power jump serves that caught Aztecs napping and unable to deal with the speed of the ball. It was a very tight set with both teams winning points on runs of 3 or 4 each, although in the middle of the set again Aztecs missed 3 service allowing North Down to build a lead of 6 points with the score 20-14, this was a hard hit to come back from and the motivation had dropped, but thanks to some precision hitting from #16 Alan Dowey got Aztecs back to within touching distance but too little too late with the final set score 25-21. The 2nd set saw a fire light within the Craigavon men, they came out and served, passed and blocked with much more competitiveness and aggression, which some of the older members on the North Down team could not handle with the speed and intensity of the game now, this allowed Aztecs to run away with the set on the back of their great service game. This tempo of play kept North Down at an arms length and finishing the same way at 25-20 Aztecs. With 1 set a piece things where heating up both times wanting to take the next blood to go 2-1 up and swing momentum in their favour, with Aztecs still serving strong and with a new found intensity and fight in their passing and hitting they took the lead and kept the lead right up onto the 20 point mark. The score set at 20-16 with Aztecs looking the likely to take the set and 2nd blood, but the referee seemed to deem multiple faults on the net and in moving across the line of rotation too soon and with 3 faults, it was almost as if the referee was looking for things to call the Aztec men on with the score 20-19, North Downs power serve came round rotation and hit hard and took them into the lead at 23-20. The set was tight but not over as great power hitting from Aztecs own #1 Peter Lundy saw the points gathered back in quickly seeing the score at 24-23 Aztecs and set point. With two clear points needed one mistake from Aztecs and kill from North Down give them the 3rd set, if Aztecs where going to win, it was going to be a long night of 5 sets. With being nerved by the referee in the last set the Aztecs men felt deprived of a set and huge psychological advantage over their opponents. Coach Graham Bell calmed the team and explained. “If you lose a set by 1 or 2 points then you have to look back on points you lost and errors earlier in the set, we got to conserve them points so when it comes to the end of the set. We have a cushion their, if we have that it won’t matter if the referee calls 2 or 3 faults against us.” The men came out fighting like in the 2nd set, now especially with them starting service rotation, probably the best set of the night for the Aztecs when the fought hard, conserved their points and generally played their opponents off the court with the score finishing 25-18. A great set of huge importance to keep the momentum and game alive for the Craigavon Men. The 5th and final set, Aztecs won the deciding toss and opted to serve as they had won every service set so far. They started fast and took an early lead and with this mentality now of conserving points at 6-4 up Aztecs started to show signs of tiredness from pushing so hard for 4 sets, North Down played 3 clever technical shots to bring the score to 7-7 and with an Ace from Aztecs 8-7 and the change around. It boiled down to Aztecs required 7 points to win and continued to hit well until the scores went 12-9 to Aztecs where the screw turned and North Down surged a late comeback and took the score 14-12 and match point. Aztecs dug deep and with a never say die attitude they threw body and limb to the ground to stop the ball touching the court at all cost, which where then sided out and the score 14 a piece with 2 clear points to take it. With 1 kill from the North Down team 15-14 and match point and unlucky for Aztecs an attack error seen the ball go out of the court and the game ended 3-2 to North Down. It was a great game to push Aztecs to full distance but with Aztecs winning 110 points over 5 sets compared to 106 from North Down it is seen that defensive work needs to be done. Team Line Up On The Night: - # 1 Peter Lundy (Power Hitter) # 2 Ryan Caddell (Opposite) # 3 Jonny Orr (Opposite) # 5 Christopher Cousens (Swing Hitter) # 6 Colin Kirkland (Middle Blocker) # 7 David Irwin (Middle Blocker) # 9 Graham Bell (Captain, Setter) # 10 Andrew Priestly (Opposite, Setter) # 16 Alan Dowey (Swing Hitter) # 17 Ashley Tsang (Libero) Man Of The Match: - Goes to # 7 David Irwin, for a great consistency of service that kept Aztecs a live in the 3rd and 5th set service at least 5 or more every time he stepped back to the baseline, and even with a Libero for the middles David when back court threw himself about picking up some great digs to keep Aztecs siding out. News - Latest Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:55:02 +0100 http://aztecsvc.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=2 Last Thursday night seen the Aztecs Old Boys take on the team from Lisburn, Civil Service. This destined to be a heated match with Civil Service being the Bogey team for Aztecs, with the better of the records as more victories going to the Civil Service teams when they meet. Aztecs won toss and chose to serve 1st and try to put a hard service strategy, which back fired quickly when Aztecs failed to convert they 1st service. The allowed the Lisburn men to build a lead of 5 point bring the score. As the set moved on from the starting stage to the middle of the set this 5 point margin was still the deciding factor for Civil Service and this is when Aztecs started to attack harder with a lot more attacks which came from their passing taking a huge turn for the better, allowing them to run multiple plays and combinations. This continued rite threw to the end of the set with Aztecs finishing a very tight set 25-23. As Civil Service was holding the better results for when these 2 teams meet it was a great pressure of Aztecs to take the 1st set, this really spurred them onto playing a free flowing game that is more relaxed, which really suited the Aztecs. With the psychological advantage well on the Aztecs side of court, big hits after big hits, then followed by excellent service let Aztecs stop Civil Service at every comeback stage taking the set 25-19. The 3rd set, with the chance of Aztecs taking a momentous 3-0 victory over their rival on the cards, Aztecs raised the tempo of play dictating as much as possible as the crafty Civil Service team took tactical time-outs and substitutions to try and knock the Craigavon Men of their stride, but it was too little too late as the Aztecs could taste victory, and with an excently service on the night they never let Civil Service close enough to give them a chance to take control, game, set and match, Aztecs. Team On The Night: - # 1 Peter Lundy (Power Hitter) # 2 Ryan Caddell (Opposite) # 3 Jonny Orr (Opposite) # 5 Christopher Cousens (Swing Hitter) # 6 Colin Kirkland (Middle Blocker) # 7 David Irwin (Middle Blocker) # 9 Graham Bell (Captain, Setter) # 10 Andrew Priestly (Opposite, Setter) # 16 Alan Dowey (Swing Hitter) Man Of The Match: - Goes to # 6 Colin Kirkland for an impressive run of 15 services (10 non-returned), 4 stuff blocks and leading the team’s attack with 8 kills. A great performance from our last years 1st team player of the year. News - Latest Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:07:32 +0100 http://aztecsvc.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=2 Craigavon Aztec Ladies Vs Portadown Aztec Ladies The ladies Aztecs Derby Last week say the Men’s Derby finish with a tight 3-2 victory for the Old Boys, the more experienced of the 2 teams and again in the game of volleyball experience does count for a lot with the older Craigavon Aztec Ladies winning 3-1. With the set scores, 25-13, 25-12, 24-26, 25-12 The Craigavon ladies won the toss and decided to serve 1st and with placing their strongest server to start the quickly went 4-0 without reply, this was followed by a miss of service and with the girls still not fully in the game from not touching the ball in 4 points the Portadown girls came back with 4 serves of their own. After this 1st exchange of services the more experienced ladies got into a rhythm of siding out against the youngsters with good setting from step in Michelle Diffin allowing the 2 outside hitters Emma Alderdice and Kim Whitten punish the Portadown’s defence with hard cross court hits, technical line shots and tips which they where able to perform time and time again to give them 3 to 4 points from every rotation to Portadown’s 1 and 2 points from rotation due to unforced errors from the youngsters, this trend continued until the set finished 25-13. The 2nd set say the Portadown girls starting with service, although with nerves still there and inexperience seen them miss their 1st serve and within 3 rotations the Craigavon Ladies had stormed into a 7-3 lead and like the 1st set the Craigavon ladies pushed their physically advantages with great passing and serving hard against the opposition ending always plus 2 or more points from the rotation, this let them run away with the set 25-12. The 3rd set seen the Coach Graham Bell, bring on a 2nd string of girls who have just came into the squad this year and after a good team huddle with them they went out and court and give everything to fight for a place in the starting 6. The Portadown Girls where on a better level with the new starting players for Craigavon and this was a much tighter set as there was now unforced errors from both side now that left the set moving in runs of 3 or 4 points at a time for each team, this set seen it go right to the wire with it going over the 25 point set limit as scores where 24-24, with 2 clear points to get nerves came into play for both teams with the Portadown Girls finally stringing good serving form won 26-24. After giving the bench a run out the Craigavon Ladies reverted to their early starting 6 in the hope of capping any momentum gained by the Portadown Girls in taking their 1st set of the season. With their momentum from the last set the Portadown Girls took an early lead taking them from 4-1 to 7-4 but the experience from the Craigavon ladies brought them back from 9-5 down to 10-9 with 5 great serves from Kim Whitten and the following rotation amazing serving from Lauren Bell with a staggering 10 serves with 8 not returned, this points difference allowed the Craigavon Ladies to do what they do best, close out games. For the Portadown Girls it was a matter of how many points could they get before the game was over, the final score 25-12. Line up for Craigavon Aztec Ladies Line up for Portadown Aztec Ladies No 1 Amy Whethers No 1 Lucy Jones No 2 Emma Alderdice (Captain) No 2 Jenna Gass No 3 Rebecca Whitten No 3 Chloe McDowell No 4 Rebecca Sinton No 4 Rebecca Allister No 5 Lauren Bell No 6 Charlotte Boyd No 6 Abbie Montgomery No 7 Amy McCall No 7 Kim Whitten No 10 Sara O'Hara No 8 Michelle Diffin No 12 Nikki Andrews No 9 Sonia Black No 14 Mairead Lavery No 11 Sophie McIvorgh No 16 Shelly Pearson (Captain) No 17 Charlotte Wilson Player on the night: - Goes to Craigavon Ladies No 5 Lauren Bell for an amazing consistent performance with 21 serves (10 none returned) 2 Blocks and 6 Kills News - Latest Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:45:53 +0100