Aussie boys defeat NZL 3 - 1 in series opener
-Murray Mansfield Junior Trans Tasman Trophy - Match 1 - 06-10-08
The Australian Youth Boys team took a 1-0 lead in the first match of the ‘Murray Mansfield’ Trans
Tasman Cup this evening after a shaky start where their play was riddled with errors.
Result: AUS def NZL 3 : 1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-14, 25-19)
The Australian Youth Boys team took a 1-0 lead in the first match of the ‘Murray Mansfield’ Trans Tasman Cup this evening after a shaky start where their play was riddled with errors. While the team has spent the last two days in a training camp in Canberra, already there are signs of improvement which should leave the team in good stead as they embark on their Asian Youth Championship campaign.
The Kiwi outfit began the first set strongly as they pressured the Australian reception and transitioned well, which helped them set up a clear break by the first technical time-out at 3-8. After managing to sideout via a Mercer attack the Australians quickly got their score ticking over. Initially an A. Hill kill block and then a subsequent overpass kill by Clewes off a Mercer serve helped close the gap to 7-10. However two serve errors by the Australians saw them fail to take advantage of the momentum they had created. It wasn’t until A. Hill blocked and then killed on transition that the scoreboard was levelled at 18-18. Unfortunately the home team again failed to take advantage of their good play as they slipped away to trail 18-21, the 3 point difference taken through until the end of the set.
The introduction of Winzar and Bates to the starting line-up for the 2nd set was met with instant success as the Australian pass settled and allowed the quick attack to be run on side-out. Strong positional serving by Winzar, which included an untouched float-serve ace, saw the home team lead 8-4 at the first technical time-out. But the team wasn’t happy with that lead and set about extending it via some solid blocking – both middle blockers, Clewes and Winzar, in the thick of the action as they registered kill blocks, Australia out to a commanding 16-6 lead. To their credit the New Zealand team didn’t give up and made huge in-roads into the lead, a handful of errors by the Australian team aiding their cause as the Australians appeared to falter to a 21:18 scoreline. But the challenge was halted after two attack errors of their own, followed up by a kill block to Lowe to square the match at 1 set each.
The young Aussie players defended well, however were unable to terminate the rallies in the start of the third set, as New Zealand edged ahead slightly 3-5. But their determination wasn’t without reward, Australia dominating at the net with their block, Peacock kill blocking twice in quick succession while Clewes added another as their opposition were unable to find a way past the block. The Australians out to a sizeable 11-6 lead. This lead continued to grow as the Australian attack sided-out without fail as well as creating further transition opportunities to Lowe and Clewes, Australia continuing to push until the end of the set as they registered a 25-14 scoreline.
Needing one more set to secure the first match, the Australians appeared a little nervous on serve, erroring three times before the first technical time-out. Fortunately the home team was helped through strong side-out attack by L. Hill and consecutive transition kills to Lowe as the team pushed to an 8-5 lead. As the set continued to progress, the Australian defence again showed its worth as they pressured the opposition attack into error twice to establish a 13-6 lead. But the set wasn’t to continue like the third, strong serving by the New Zealand team saw consecutive passing errors by the Australians closed the margin to 13-9. Two net touches by the Australians closed the gap even further as they appeared to go for too much on block. After calling their second time-out, despite leading 16-14, the Australian team settled and went about blocking with good position and timing – while not trying to do too much. This resulted in three consecutive blocks, two to Clewes and one to Peacock, which helped restore a healthy lead to the Australians at 19-15. A side-out kill to Lowe brought up match point at 24-19, which was taken with the first opportunity via a kill block to Winzar.
The Australian Youth Boys team will play the next two matches of the five-match series against New Zealand at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra (Tuesday / Wednesday), before travelling to Nowra for the final two matches of the series which wraps up on Friday.
Statistics
Attack – Team 46% kill 21% error (25%ke) Lowe 55% kill (20) 15% error, Clewes 83% kill (6) 0% error
Block – Team 17 kills, Clewes and Peacock 5 kills
Passing – Team 1.81 25% perfect 14% error, A. Hill 2.33 (15) 40% perfect 0% error
Serving – Team 1.97 3 aces 12 errors, A. Hill 2.41 (17), Winzar 2.27 (11); A. Hill, Peacock, Winzar 1 ace each
Best players – Peacock, Clewes, A. Hill, Lowe
