TN feeling volley good for play-off
TEAM Northumbria women’s volleyball head to Kettering for next month’s Super 8s play-off final as firm favourites following a convincing semi-final win against London Orcas.
However, their male counterparts missed out on another showpiece final following an agonising ‘golden set’ defeat to fierce rivals Sheffield.
Head coach Dave Goodchild admitted TN’s women lacked consistency - but the hosts ultimately outclassed their opponents to take the two-legged semi-final 3-2, 3-0.
He said: “It was good to get the win in the first leg but our performance could have been better,.
“In three of the sets we played really well and won them comfortably so when we were playing our best volleyball we were unstoppable.
“We have to try and maintain that same mentality throughout the game and cut out the little errors.
“We did that in the second leg and it paid off.
“We got into a bit of a rut in the second half but we bounced back out of that and once we took the second set I knew we would be home and dry.
“We played some of the bench players to give the others a rest because it has been physically demanding on all of the girls.
“Whitney Phillips was unbelievable again – I think she was plus 35 in the second leg so it was a strong weekend for her.
“All in all it was a great weekend. We played really good volleyball, worked hard and we are into the finals so we are really happy.”
It was a different story for the men, who suffered defeat at the hands of a relentless Sheffield side in a golden-set decider.
Goodchild added: “We lost after the first leg in all honesty.
“We should have won that match and our performance in it was just it not acceptable for our group of players.
“When you go into a golden set anyone can win and Sheffield played really well.
“They are a really good side who never give up.
“We played well in the second leg to take it 3-1.
“We fixed everything which had gone wrong the previous day and it was a good day for us in that respect.
“Unfortunately, it just was not to be at the death.”