Volley ’68 HS1 – Harambee HS3 10/09/2025
Gents three’s season started off with a serious challenge. The men were sent on their first mission after only one training session as a new team. The newly formed team met up at the Sports Centre, where they were joined by reinforcements Mr. Holtkamp and Mr. Willems. Before we left, Mr. Holtkamp kindly helped fellow students to jump-start their new year. Or at least their car. After helping them on their way, the team left towards Losser, eager to test their skill and teamwork against the a formidable opponent: The third division team of our old rival Dr. Constantinovici. (Did I just call Monica old? Oops.)
After switching into our match outfits for the first time this new season, it was time to get ready for the match. We started off well, being able to match the men from Volley ’68 until roughly halfway in the first set. It was then that the men from Losser found weaknesses in our play. During the time-out, our new coach Lennart emphasized the need to communicate more. Despite the good advice, we couldn’t catch up. The other two sets followed a similar pattern. From time to time we could match their level, but at other times they managed to hit balls under angles that we didn’t know yet how to defend.
In the meantime, the teambuilding process got started on the sideline. After some talk about who should have the honour of being waterfeut, the subject somehow switched to the average age of the team. No idea how that topic came up. Melle immediately jumped at the opportunity to smooth-talk his way into getting more sets from Gerben during the season by guessing his age at 21. Clever guy. Anyway. It was around that time that the world was introduced to something radically new.
Middle-blocker Opposite Aspiring setter Herwin suddenly deployed our new prototype tactic: the showdive-shoot (Dutch title: “De showduik-steek”). Preliminary results show that the chance of success differs vastly per position. The first test was performed with a middle-blocker, which resulted in a direct point! Obviously, more testing was required after this initial groundbreaking success. So on the next ball, Herwin tried another showdive-shoot, this time towards the outside. Unfortunately, they seemed completely baffled and had no idea what to do, despite the perfect demonstration that Steven had given, directly the point before. Further testing is required to see the long term effects and success of this new approach, and whether we can confirm that only true middle-blockers are capable of executing (dealing with?) this new tactic.
Despite our best efforts, we failed our mission to disrupt Dr. Constantinovici. Despite the loss, we felt positive about the level we played during the game and how well we already did as a team. Monica kindly mentioned after the game that she felt the same. Eager to see what’s ahead of us, we decided to grab a drink in the canteen, which they had just closed. Oh well, can’t have everything. Or at least not on a Wednesday. Back to the SC!
