Island team wins national league

Thursday 24 March 2022

Guernsey's ladies' volleyball team has won a national league for the second time.

They finished first of seven teams in the Ladies' Grand Prix event hosted by the Hampshire Volleyball Association.

The team won the competition for the first time in 2018. Island Coach Harry Barrett-Giles said the second win was hard-earned.

“Throughout the season the team has shown incredible commitment to training and travel despite covid disruptions,” he said.

“They thoroughly deserved to bring the trophy home and all involved should be very proud of the important role they played in this achievement.”

Pictured: 11 Guernsey ladies' volleyball players participated in the final Hampshire league games. 

11 island players travelled to Gosport last weekend for the final games of the league.

The team needed to win two of their final three games to secure their place as league winners.

“I decided to take a large squad to give myself as many options as possible and give the team the best chance of the result it needed,” said Mr Barrett-Giles.

“The first game was against Southampton and it was clear that we were in for a challenge, but Guernsey put on an impressive performance.

“Particular credit goes to Team Captain Jen Lindfield and Carly Tucknott, who were relentless in their serving.”

Pictured: Coach Harry Barrett-Giles credited 'smart hitting' as a major contribution to the team's success. 

A volleyball set is won by the first team to reach 25 points and games are played to the best of three sets.

The Guernsey ladies' team beat Southampton 25:14 in the first set and 25:17 in the second.

“Our second game was against South Hants and a combination of strong serving, smart hitting and a determined defence saw us take an easy first set 25:4 and continued to take the second set 25:15,” said Mr Barrett-Giles.

The team’s last game was against The Golden Girls - a team with multiple National Volleyball League players.

The Golden Girls beat Guernsey 25:19 and 25:22, jeopardising the island’s first place position.

Pictured: The Guernsey team celebrates on court. 

“As we lost our final game, we had to rely on Southampton University beating second-place team Winchester to avoid the league coming down to a point difference.

“We watched the game as it continued into a third set. Fortunately, Southampton University won, which secured our position as league winners ahead of Winchester.

“Our involvement in these tournaments is incredibly important and it highlights how vital match practice is.”

Pictured: The Guernsey ladies' island team finished top in the Hampshire league. 

Team Captain Jen Lindfield was pleased to return to play in the UK after the covid-19 pandemic derailed the previous two seasons.

“It was so nice to finally get back to competing off-island and be able to show how talented our team is by winning back the title and trophy,” she said.

“The ladies and our coach have worked so hard in preparation for this and I was so proud of us all for our performance and determination.”

Pictured top: Guernsey ladies' volleyball team. Credit: Danielle De Kock.