Rebels Dominate Opening Weekend with a Statement Win Over Leeds Gorse

Opening Weekend game sees the Rebels come out flying against the well-known Leeds Gorse at Kettering Centre. The Rebels returned this season with an overwhelming squad of 18, fully prepared with a formidable arsenal heading into their season opener.

Set 1

Rolling out with quite a different set of players from last year, captains/returning players Lea Borovec and Chelsea Simmons walked on court heads held high as they immediately pulled away in points. The serving pressure put on Leeds from the beginning gave no room for error as Leeds struggled to gain any momentum and return the ball. Lea Borovec not giving any chances for Leeds to get the side out they needed as she stepped back to the service line, dealing a run of deadly serves, including 4 aces causing two early timeouts as Rebels walked off court with a lead of 14-6. Chelsea Simmons used this momentum and ran a flawless offence, keeping the high tempo sets, the Rebels are known for slipping through Gorse’s block. Utilising the new Opposite, Alexis Diaz-Infante, as she saw through the gaps in Leeds defence and spared no opportunity to kill the ball every time, having an attacking efficiency of 0.300%. The Rebels ran away with set 1 showing no mercy to their opponents and walked off with a score of 25-13 leaving a stunned crowd in the National Volleyball Centre.

Set 2

Heading into Set 2, Leeds needed to tighten a few screws to stay in this game. With the Rebels attacking at such a high-level Leeds used their block to slow down their offences, this caused a drop in Rebels ability to side out. Finally, Leeds established their main attacker Eva Borrowdale in the game, resulting in their ability to side out quicker than the Rebels who had eased up on their service pressure causing a lull in their momentum. With the score at 15-21 the Rebels needed to find the discipline from set 1 to catch up. During a scramble Saskia Frietas came close to an injury which led to a time out for the Rebels, however in a dramatic turn of events this led to a resurge in the Rebels team. Back on court the Rebels found their fire again and regained control of the set, with an outstanding flare kill from Frietas that electrified the room they had gained momentum. This led to a series of outstanding side out plays with Thea Schamblin finding every hole in the block Leeds left for her. With smart minds in play and a swap of libero to Emily Priestley the Rebels were in the set clawing back up to a tight score of 21-24. Leeds continued to serve strong on the Rebels they were forced to play out of system as they remained calm and in control of their possession during the set points. However, two huge mirroring blocks from Lea Borovec and Chelsea Simmons causes ruptures in Leeds service as they missed 2 in a row. Borovec gains momentum through acing Borrowdale and gaining a set point for the Rebels leaving her on the service line at 25-25. Schamblin once again demonstrating how you can’t leave a gap in the block for the American players in the league as she kills the ball for set point. A tight point ensues after Borovec missed a serve leaving a score of 27-27, but a gap was seen once again by Diaz-Infante who killed the ball with no hesitation. This gave the Rebels the momentum they needed to head aggressively into the next play and with an error made by the Leeds setter, former Rebel Molly van Essen they win the set 29-27 after facing a 6-point deficit and fighting back for a set that was theirs.

Set 3

One more set to go for the Rebels before they can claim a 3-0 sweep in game 1 of the league, heads high and a great bench of players proudly cheering them on they headed onto court. Simmons introduced Middle Julia Haynie, an intimidating attacker brought into the squad this year, as she causes some huge points early in the set with her slides. However, Leeds were not backing down and took control of the service line, equalising the power on court as Rebels struggled to side out, leaving the set score at 7-12. After a few points of scrambling to keep the ball in play Frietas had enough and delivered an immense swing on an over pass, pounding the ball into the 3-metre line and resetting the Rebels mind set with her attacking efficiency of 0.400%. With Madoka Weldon back on court the Rebels funnelled Borrowdale’s swings into her, and she popped them up for Simmons, turning killing swings into chances to score. The momentum needed one more push to swing back towards the Rebels and Diaz-Infante took it as she shut down a rare gap attack by Leeds. Borovec followed this up with her smart swinging of the day as she finalised her status of MVP by using the unfinished block of setter Molly Van-Essen to hit off catching up their score. Borovec managed to fend off the Leeds side out ability with her own as she rocketed through the game with 12 kills, 6 aces and an attacking efficiency of 0.500% leaving her untouchable on court. This untouchable power radiating from the Rebels was finished off by a slide attack with killing intent by Haynie and smart match point kill by Schamblin, leaving the Rebels winners of the game 25-20.

Ecstatic with their first win the team raced onto court to celebrate the season opener together, a true demonstration of how they want to go forth this season. Coach Alex Chinery leading through the game with tactical time outs and full belief of the girls on and off court. His final comment from the day:

“Today represented our first big test of the season and we passed with flying colours. Leeds are an outstanding team with some fantastic offensive threats. Set 1 was outstanding and will have teams on notice but coming back from 5 deficits in the next two sets is more pleasing to me today. Credit also to Volleyball England for running an outstanding event which a step above last year!”

by Tara King

The Rebels are set to play their first home game this Sunday, 20th October, against Darkstar Derbyshire. Don’t miss the action—grab your tickets now!

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