Volleyball World Expo 13 - Everything Thread

[Hispinas]

Matchday 4-5 Results

Matchday 4

Pemecutan                     27  25  25
Darmen                        25  22  16

Ardengard                     19  25  14  25  15
Græntfjall                    25  23  25  12  11

Cassadaigua                   16  25  25  25
Sarzonia                      25  19  17  19

HUElavia                      25  25  25
Gatchingerrak Union           20  12  21

Commonwealth of Baker Park    25  25  25
Atheara                       23  19  11

United Adaikes                25  16  20  25  16
Bollonich                     20  25  25  18  18

Tables after MD4

    Group 2                       PLD  W  L  SW  SL     SQ   PW   PL     PQ  PTS
1   Cassadaigua                     4  4  0  12   2  6.000  336  273  1.231   12
2   HUElavia                        4  4  0  12   2  6.000  342  278  1.230   12
3   Græntfjall                      4  2  2   9   7  1.286  347  328  1.058    7
4   Pemecutan                       4  2  2   9   7  1.286  360  344  1.047    7
5   Commonwealth of Baker Park      3  2  1   7   3  2.333  225  203  1.108    6
6   Quebec and Shingoryeo           3  2  1   6   4  1.500  232  209  1.110    6
7   Ardengard                       4  2  2   8   9  0.889  336  348  0.966    6
8   Sarzonia                        4  2  2   7   8  0.875  325  324  1.003    5
9   United Adaikes                  3  1  2   5   7  0.714  251  256  0.980    4
10  Darmen                          3  1  2   4   7  0.571  232  251  0.924    3
11  Bollonich                       4  1  3   4  11  0.364  300  349  0.860    2
12  Atheara                         4  1  3   4  11  0.364  297  350  0.849    2
13  Gatchingerrak Union             4  0  4   3  12  0.250  286  356  0.803    0

Matchday 5

Atheara                       25  21  14  25  15
United Adaikes                22  25  25  23  11

Gatchingerrak Union           26  25  23  10  13
Commonwealth of Baker Park    24  11  25  25  15

Sarzonia                      25  23  25  26
HUElavia                      19  25  23  24

Græntfjall                    19  19  27  21
Cassadaigua                   25  25  25  25

Darmen                        26  20  25  25
Ardengard                     24  25  23  15

Quebec and Shingoryeo         19  25  25  25
Pemecutan                     25  20  17  11

Tables after MD5

    Group 2                       PLD  W  L  SW  SL     SQ   PW   PL     PQ  PTS
1   Cassadaigua                     5  5  0  15   3  5.000  436  359  1.214   15
2   HUElavia                        5  4  1  13   5  2.600  433  377  1.149   12
3   Quebec and Shingoryeo           4  3  1   9   5  1.800  326  282  1.156    9
4   Commonwealth of Baker Park      4  3  1  10   5  2.000  325  300  1.083    8
5   Sarzonia                        5  3  2  10   9  1.111  424  415  1.022    8
6   Græntfjall                      5  2  3  10  10  1.000  433  428  1.012    7
7   Pemecutan                       5  2  3  10  10  1.000  433  438  0.989    7
8   Darmen                          4  2  2   7   8  0.875  328  338  0.970    6
9   Ardengard                       5  2  3   9  12  0.750  423  444  0.953    6
10  United Adaikes                  4  1  3   7  10  0.700  357  356  1.003    5
11  Atheara                         5  2  3   7  13  0.538  397  456  0.871    4
12  Bollonich                       4  1  3   4  11  0.364  300  349  0.860    2
13  Gatchingerrak Union             5  0  5   5  15  0.333  383  456  0.840    1

[Hispinas]

Part 1

Map of Basko da Gama with Zitrikoak and Belusgorria

Zitrikoak and Belusgorria are two of the most restricted areas in Basko da Gama and in Hispinas, especially the southernmost part of it, where there are no permitted radio frequencies other than those used by the royal guards. Almost the entirety of the two towns are no-fly zones, with restricted airspace, and the land borders are heavily guarded. Rumor has it that the two towns are the base of the Hispino Military troops that are not under the direct jurisdiction of the Royal Guards. Most of the recruits of this division are men and women abandoned by their own families, sent to concentration camps for military enlistment, or those who voluntary turn themselves in, never to be seen again or to be recognized ever again.

Rumors have it that the enlisted personnel in this division are the ones sent to southern Filindostan for assisting the separatist movement that plans to secede the southern island of Kabunuklan from the four-island nation, but with the King's latest discreet announcement that support the KPWC forces in Nyowani Kitara, it is now believed that majority of the personnel deployed in San Mameng and the Kabunuklan outskirts have been pulled back to the border of Zitrikoak and Belusgorria, and planned to be redeployed to the warzone in western Pavola.

It was a clear, dark night in the two towns, when some military aircraft started to fly out of the hidden airbases, with a path that is mostly beyond the watchful eyes of Rushmori public radar, going to the areas of conflict in Nyowani Kitara. Unfortunately, some of these aircraft strayed to spaces it shouldn't fly over in Hispinas, and as a result, several fighter jets from the official Royal Guards were scrambled to 'intercept' the intruding aircraft, and attempted to shoot down those strayed aircraft, "but to no avail".

The next day, news were over Hispino media that unidentified aircraft were found in Hispino airspace, and the local military was not able to shoot them down, which gave fear and distrust to the Hispino defense on their incompetence, and over the Royal Castle where the King resides, he would have sighed with the fact that people are not happy not because of the decision he made on the Nyowani Kitara stand, but the concerns on how the Hispino defense mechanisms may have a bigger flaw.

[Mytanija]

HOOPS BOUNCE THROUGH LISANDER AND STRAYAROOS
MYTANIJA REMAIN UNDEFEATED BUT TOUGHER BATTLES LIE AHEAD

by Almedina Radovanovic

Being pushed to four sets by Lisander and StrayaRoos perhaps isn’t the exact preparation Radina Ristic had in mind ahead of Mytanija’s toughest double-header of the VWE group stage, with matches against Siovanija and Teusland; and Kohnhead back-to-back. It is the preparation her team got, however, with her charges needing to show some grit to come back from 1-0 down against Lisander and having to show renewed determination to finish StrayaRoos off after the debutants pulled the score back to 2-1 in that particular encounter. In the end it resulted in two wins for Mytanija, both by 3-1 score lines, with no harm done to the team’s title hopes:

“Sometimes these sort of matches help a team more than just going out and destroying every opponent that steps in your path. When we won the VWE we had set backs throughout the competition and we showed some real heart and ability to come through those situations, hopefully these difficult assignments help this group to do the same thing.” Ristic reasoned, the first line perhaps being a veiled shot at Siovanija and Teusland’s excellent start to the competition, the Goldhorns are 3-0 too but they haven’t dropped a set thus far in the competition following impressive performances against Kriegiersien, Natanians and Nosts; and Andoria. Ristic has never been afraid of entering into mind games with her rival coaches.

Mytanija will need a bit more than just mind games to defeat Siovanija and Teusland though and solid performances in spurts might give a bit of encouragement to the experienced coach. Mytanija were slow to get started against Lisander, only scoring 17 in the first set and losing it as a result. They did hit back quickly with excellent defensive performances in the second and fourth sets in particular (14 and 18 points conceded respectively). The presence of Kolar, Gemac and Kokot at the net really made things difficult for the Lisanderians and Mytanar supporters were given their first sight of Tea Knapic-Hren in the sacred green-and-white. The youngster was quick to acclimatise too, scoring 11 points across the final two sets of the match.

The team weren’t quite as slow to get off the mark against StrayaRoos, though the defence seemed to go missing in a helter-skelter third set which the minnows eventually won 27-25 (after Mytanija won the second set by the same score). A lockdown defensive performance in the opening set might have lulled the team into a false sense of security with a first-choice line-up limiting StrayaRoos to only 11 points and Ristic’s changes seemed to affect the team’s rhythm, although a second-string line-up did manage to see the game off without too much assistance from those that are widely regarded as starters for the big matches. The competitive nature of the match perhaps demonstrates just how deep the talent pool in multiversal volleyball is at the moment, with Mytanija having to work hard for the victory.

Those two matches were games Mytanija were expected to win, with all due respect to Lisander and StrayaRoos. The key battles in the group lie ahead with mouth-watering fixtures against Siovanija and Teusland; Kohnhead; Hispinas; and Chromatika still to come. Mytanija have to be pleased that they got one of their high-ranked opponents out of the way on the opening match day, seeing off Abanhfleft should give the team confidence and means one less top fifteen-ranked opponent on the schedule. We will know a lot more about Mytanija’s title chances following this next couple of matches. Two wins would send out a real signal of intent to the rest of the competition, splitting the matches wouldn’t be a bad showing at this stage of the tournament, whilst two defeats would likely lead to some early soul-searching in the world of Mytanar volleyball. It’s all to play for.

[Bollonich]

Volleyball World Expo 13 - Matchday 4 & 5

Matchday 4

StrayaRoos                   19  19  25  25  16
Abanhfleft                   25  25  22  18  14

Siovanija and Teusland       14  19  19
Mytanija                     25  25  25

Kohnhead                     25  25  25
Andoria                      18  17  18

Chromatika                   25  25  25
Natanians and Nosts          16  21  23

Brookstation                 18  21  18
Kriegiersien                 25  25  25

Hispinas                     23  25  25  22  15
14 Stars                     25  18  19  25   8

   Group 1 	            PLD	  W	L	SW	SL	SQ	PW	PL	PQ	PTS
1  Mytanija	            4	  4	0	12	4	3.000	372	308	1.208	11
2  Siovanija and Teusland   4	  3	1	9	3	3.000	277	227	1.220	9
3  Hispinas	            3	  3	0	9	3	3.000	274	237	1.156	8
4  Kohnhead	            4	  3	1	10	6	1.667	363	332	1.093	8
5  Kriegiersien	            4	  2	2	7	7	1.000	302	310	0.974	6
6  Chromatika	            4	  2	2	8	7	1.143	332	327	1.015	6
7  Natanians and Nosts	    4	  2	2	6	8	0.750	302	323	0.935	6
8  StrayaRoos	            4	  2	2	8	8	1.000	353	363	0.972	5
9  Abanhfleft	            3	  1	2	7	6	1.167	273	265	1.030	5
10 Brookstation	            3	  1	2	3	7	0.429	214	238	0.899	3
11 Lisander	            3	  1	2	4	8	0.500	244	262	0.931	2
12 14 Stars	            4	  0	4	6	12	0.500	360	408	0.882	2
13 Andoria	            4	  0	4	2	12	0.167	268	334	0.802	1

Matchday 5

Kriegiersien                 19  19  14
Hispinas                     25  25  25

Natanians and Nosts          24  25  26  25
Brookstation                 26  14  24  23

Andoria                      25  26  24  19  15
Chromatika                   18  24  26  25  11

Mytanija                     18  24  23
Kohnhead                     25  26  25

Abanhfleft                   25  26  12  21  10
Siovanija and Teusland       16  24  25  25  15

Lisander                     20  25  22
StrayaRoos                   25  27  25

   Group 1 	            PLD	  W	L	SW	SL	SQ	PW	PL	PQ	PTS
1  Kohnhead	            5	  4	1	13	6	2.167	439	397	1.106	11
2  Mytanija	            5	  4	1	12	7	1.714	437	384	1.138	11
3  Siovanija and Teusland   5	  4	1	12	5	2.400	382	321	1.190	11
4  Hispinas	            4	  4	0	12	3	4.000	349	289	1.208	11
5  Natanians and Nosts	    5	  3	2	9	9	1.000	402	410	0.980	9
6  StrayaRoos	            5	  3	2	11	8	1.375	430	430	1.000	8
7  Chromatika	            5	  2	3	10	10	1.000	436	436	1.000	7
8  Abanhfleft	            4	  1	3	9	9	1.000	367	370	0.992	6
9  Kriegiersien	            5	  2	3	7	10	0.700	354	385	0.919	6
10 Brookstation	            4	  1	3	4	10	0.400	301	338	0.891	3
11 Andoria	            5	  1	4	5	14	0.357	377	438	0.861	3
12 14 Stars	            4	  0	4	6	12	0.500	360	408	0.882	2
13 Lisander	            4	  1	3	4	11	0.364	311	339	0.917	2

[Sarzonia]

Kitt Bowser was staring toward the HUElavia side of the net feeling all kinds of weight on her shoulders.

Her Sarzonian national volleyball team were leading the fourth set against the top ranked defending champion Las Armarillas by one point. Since the sport's rules required a victory by two points, even though Sarzonia already had 25 points in the set, she was staring toward HUElavia feeling the fate of her team resting in her right hand.

They won't expect a jump serve, she thought. She figured the surprise change in tactic would give her and the Stars an upper hand over HUElavia, but the fact that she normally didn't employ that serve made her nervous. Don't mess this up. PLEASE, she thought. She drew in her breath, closed her eyes, exhaled, opened her eyes, then tossed the ball into the air. She then leapt, realised she'd mistimed her leap, then caught the ball. She looked on the verge of tears, so the reserve libero stepped back for a moment cradling the ball in her hands. She looked and saw blocker Larry Rogers walk toward her. She hadn't talked very much with Rogers since he was a normal starter; she was only in because nominal starting libero Ed Reynolds was being evaluated for a possible concussion.

Rogers made some casual transphobic jokes in the past, so Bowser was terrified to see the big, burly blocker walk toward her. However, Rogers put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's gonna be OK. We've got this," Rogers said. "Hey, you don't have to try the jump-serve. Just serve it normally. We've got your back." He quickly patted her on her right shoulder blade then ran back to his position. Outside hitter Dexter Jones looked back at her, smiled, and gave a thumbs up. Defensive specialist Chad Barnes pointed to her to signal encouragement.

Bowser knew the stakes. Serve this into the net, HUElavia draws the fourth set level and has the potential to serve out the fourth set and force a fifth set tiebreaker where anything could happen. Sarzonia had already suffered a deflating loss to fourth ranked Cassadaigua 3-1, dropping three straight sets after taking the first. A loss to top ranked HUElavia would likely knock the Stars out of knockout round contention entirely. Win this point, the Stars would win the set, and win the match with two consecutive set victories after losing the second set. Sarzonia had won the first set against HUElavia, but the pressure mounted after that since the Stars also did the same to the Fillies.

Just serve it normally. We've got your back. She remembered Rogers' words. She wasn't sure if he had her back about being transgender, but he hoped the rest of the team really did have her back, at least on court. She bounced the ball two, three, four times, then stared back across the net toward the HUElavians. She drew in her breath again and exhaled. She launched the ball high into the air with her right hand, then smacked it with all her might over the net. Rogers poised in a crouch, ready to leap up with his arms fully extended, then when he saw Melissa Puig try to direct the ball over the net toward the Sarzonian side of the court, he leapt. Puig acted as though she was unnerved by Rogers, slamming the ball into the net. She watched as teammate Luciana Cabral de Ávila frantically tried batting the ball over the net, but could only direct the ball to her right. Sarzonia earned the victory 26-24 in the fourth set and earned the upset over No. 1 HUElavia in four sets. The Stars celebrated at centre court as Las Armarillas players sullenly waited to shake hands with their Stars counterparts. Sarzonia improved to 3-2 with the victory, still on the outside looking in at the top four teams in Group 2 play, but now just percentage points (and a head-to-head result) behind Quebec and Shingoryeo for the fourth and final berth in the knockout rounds.

After the teams made it back to the dressing room and were getting ready to head back to their respective hotel rooms, Rogers walked up to Bowser.

"Hey, great job on that serve," he said. "By the way, I'm sorry about the jokes. I know they made you uncomfortable. I'm proud of you for stepping up tonight. You're awesome, Kitt. Never forget that."

The content of the jokes would be a matter of discussion for another day. But for right now, the Stars had a signature triumph for this World Expo. And hopefully, they'd have the building blocks for greater triumphs in the future.

[StrayaRoos]

Last Night The StrayaRoosian National Volleyball Team took 2 wins in the world expo group stage in Hispanas the first one against Lisander and then beat World No.8 Abanhfleft In 3 sets and currently sit 6th out of 13 on the table and possibly could make the Quarter-Finals if they continue but the team's 2 Victories Last Night were thanks to Reserve Libero Matt Jak who on multiple occasions said he didn't expect to play this VWE Because in the Triangular Enadian Cup First choice Libero Luca Kibo Was named player of the series and Won Several trophies in the QOVO.1 league in Quebec and Shingoryeo in his very short 4 year career so far in comparison Matt Jak only Played 3 matches in the Roosian Senior League Last season due to Injuries Sustained in an Car Crash that Killed 1 other person and was only selected by single handily winning the East District Titans The SNVL.1 and is the team Vice-Captain and has been since the Emus Failure To Qualify for VWE 12 as Previous Captain Jeff Kal gave up the sport to venture into Athletics where he broke the national record for the 100m sprint

StrayaRoos Squad For MD7
Eddie Lan,Hitter,Captain
Adam Joul,Hitter
Matt Jak,Libero,Vice Captain
Amelia Jal,Setter
Nicholas Kak,Hitter
Nicola Kai,Hitter
Substitutes
Luca Kibo,Libero
Tayla Lai,Setter
Oscar Naphat,Hitter

Schedule & Results
MD1:Loss
MD2:Win
MD3 Loss
MD4 Win
MD5 Win
MD6 Bye
MD7 VS Siovanija and Teusland
MD8 VS Kohnhead
MD9 VS Chromatika
MD10 VS Brookstation
MD11 VS Hispanas
MD12 VS The 14 Stars
MD13 VS Kriegiersien

[Quebec and Shingoryeo]

Volleyball World Expo XIII
Match Results
Preliminary - Group A


Match: GS-A | Date: 20.08.2051 | Spectators: 10,431
City: Maihar, Bollonich
Hall: The Jenner Stadium                                                                                                             
Start Time: 20:00 | End Time: 21:45 | Total: 1:45                                                                                                          


                                                        Match Results
                                                 Résultats du match / 경기결과
 
                            Code  Teams                      Sets  |    1    2    3    4    5      Total
                             DAR  Darmen                        1  |   11   19   25   18              73
                             QUE  Quebec and Shingoryeo         3  |   25   25   20   25              95
                                                     Set Duration  | 0:22 0:25 0:27 0:24            1:37
                                First Referee: Michael Wallinger (STL) | Second Referee: Hana Gosic (MYT)


                                      Line-Up       
No  Name                      POS  1  2  3  4  5  | T.                No  Name                 POS  1  2  3  4  5  | T.    
01  CONNELL Oswald              O  ■  ■  □        |  6                02  AHN Seung-Min (C)      O        □  ■     |  4
02  MCNIALL Zed                MB  ■  ■  ■  ■     |  6                03  LAPIERRE Zackaël       L  L  L  L        |   
03  Ó CUINN Huri               MB  ■  ■           |                   04  JEON Benedict          S  ■  ■  ■        |  2
04  GREER Teódulo              OH  ■  ■  ■  ■     | 14                07  Asparuhov Todor        O  ■  ■  ■        | 12
05  ALBRECHT Westley            L  L  L  L  L     |                   08  HORAKCOVA Natalia     OH  □        □     |  
06  CHEVALIER Anastacia        OH  ■  ■  ■        | 11                09  BYEON Jeong-Wook      MB  ■  ■  ■  ■     | 12
07  GABLER Nadine               S  ■  ■  ■  ■     |  2                10  YANG Soo-Gyeong       OH  ■  ■  ■  ■     | 16
08  PERRY Ilona                OH        □  ■     |  3                11  APLIN Benoit-Antoine  OH  ■  ■  ■  ■     | 15
09  PARIS Aurora                O        ■  ■     |  9                13  GYE Joo-Seong         MB     □           |  
10  READY Thore                MB        ■  ■     |  4                14  VERONNEAU Marine      MB  ■  ■  ■  ■     | 10
11  MULLER Petula              OH                 |                   16  JIN Chang-Wook         S        □  ■     |  1
12  ROBLES Pancho               S  □        □     |                   17  BAE Jong-Doo          OH     □  □        |

                                                       TEAM AND PLAYER PERFORMANCES                                    
 
Won | Total Atts | No. | Name                                  Scoring Skills          Won | Total Atts | No. | Name
 47          81                                                     Spike               46           75   
 12          22    04    GREER Teódulo                                                  13           24   10    YANG Soo-Gyeong
 10          26    06    CHEVALIER Anastacia                                            11           17   11    APLIN Benoit-Antoine          
  8          16    09    PARIS Aurora                                                    9           15   14    VERONNEAU Marine

  4          32                                                     Block               13           48             
  2          11    04    GREER Teódulo                                                   5           14   09    BYEON Jeong-Wook   
  1           7    02    MCNIALL Zed                                                     3            6   11    APLIN Benoit-Antoine
  1           4    08    PERRY Ilona                                                     2            8   07    ASPARUHOV Todor

  4          74                                                     Serve               12           94                                                  
  2          12    10    READY Thore                                                     4           18   07    ASPARUHOV Todor
  1           9    06    CHEVALIER Anastacia                                             3           13   10    YANG Soo-Gyeong
  1          10    09    PARIS Aurora                                                    1           12   11    APLIN Benoit-Antoine
 24                                                               Opp Error             17                          

 73         187                                                     Total               95          215             
 14          43      04  GREER Teódulo                           Best Scorer            16           50   10   YANG Soo-Gyeong

The Bounce - Your Quebecois Volleyball Magazine

QUE 3-1 PCU: Brief Review and Player Ratings

BAHNG SOO-HONG

Li Nadine-Erin PAGE - 7 - On most matches, there won't be much written on her, mostly because libero's one position where standing out never means. Unfortunately, Page did 'stand out' in today's match. Had a difficult time in defence with poorer-than-expected reception rate, but for most part held on. Got way better with service receptions after a brutal first set, and overhead sets stayed top-class all match long. Did well to keep the team together while Lexie Bayley's out, an important asset for this team with lots of young pins.

OH YANG Soo-Gyeong - 10 - Needless to say why. The very reason why the Grim Reapers didn't fall apart defensively when they looked poor for the first set and much of the second set. No 20+ point game for her this time, especially because of how much she is needed on back row defence, but that doesn't matter - Horakcova and Wesoloski-Okafor shared much of the burden on offence this time.

OH Natalia HORAKCOVA - 8 - The difference made on today's game, as opposed to the one versus Graintfjall, was the resurgence of Natalia Horakcova on pins. While she struggled to make an impact in the opener loss, where she was held to 7 points, Horakcova had a much easier time against a much shorter Pemecutan team, both through her powerful spikes on both left and right sides of the court, and strong serves that translated to unenforced errors. Thus, while she may have scored just 13, it felt as if she had scored 23, and there's no doubt that on a team not named the Grim Reapers or the Mytanars (mostly because of how good Tea Knapic-Hren is), she would be a surefire offensive option.

OH Helene NAULT-TENEROWITZ - 6 - Being selected from the list of alternates due to Alexanne Bayley's injury, Nault-Tenerowitz had a fairly straightforward task to serve as defensive relief when needed and succeeded in it. Was unable to contribute much, mostly due to her role as substitute during the first set, when the set had gone in the favour of Pemecutan, and the final set, when she entered at the 20-9 mark to give Yang Soo-Gyeong some rest.

S CHAE Sang-Heui - 9 - It is true that we do live in an age of underwhelming setters (for women's volley, men's has the opposite problem) in Quebec, but the team is still going to ride or die with Chae, who has debuted last cycle in the shadows of now-retired veteran Karina Benn Dernandez. While she has received lots of criticism and question marks after the opener, she came back and looked more than capable of winning matches for the Team Quebec. Focused, fierce and certainly with right distribution ratios of sets, it was Chae who determined the 4-set victory for the Grim Reapers who only got better over the course of the game. Now her goal has to be on getting to this level every time, and not just every other or third match.

S Marissa DONOVAN - 7 - Played adequately as backup setter to Chae, who had an excellent day. Did her best to provide different set plays into the squad when joined, and stayed mostly focused towards it. Did not have the best of occasions to analyse her performance - she took over for the first set that the Quebecois were well behind, and the fourth set when the score margin was more than enough for her to close the match. Kept the sets high and hittable, even if you could read the sets rightaway.

MB Marine VERONNEAU - 9 - Another very good game for her, as the mountain blocker herself quickly rebounded after a poor season opener where she was limited to 7 points. Dominant on blocks, registering 5 on her own after being limited to 1 on the Darmen game. While somewhat slow on her feet, Winnipeg Winterhawks captain's still known for her kills, scoring as many as 21 (on a day she scored 34) on a game 1 victory over Montreal Koreana on the QOVO.1 semifinals, and her A-quicks have been splendid all day long. Gives the Quebecois a powerful weapon.

MB Erin MACDONALD - 8 - It's not easy being the other middle blocker to the behemoth that is Marinne Veronneau, but the Swanguard Athletic centre is a good player who is key to any team that requires solid blocking ability. And in this game, where the biggest difference was on the height and the quality of the middle blockers, MacDonald's consistency certainly helped out as she scored 10 points, with 4 blocks and one service ace. Serves went in nicely, and was quick enough on her feet to score on A- or B-quicks.

RS Natalie WESOLOSKI-OKAFOR - 9 - If Wesoloski-Okafor may have been the worst player on the team's opener, there's no doubt that she was by far the best player on the team today. In what was a 'good day' for the 196cm opposite (huge differences exist between good and bad days for her, for those who have watched her play before), Natalie had an excellent performance, spiking dimes after dimes on out of service (OOS) situations where she, being one of the best opposites out there, made sure to crush it over the opposing blockers. 21 points also came with 2 service aces and 2 blocks, showing her all-around form when materialised.

Did not make the grade: OH Nancy KRIEF-LIVINGSTON - MB Ekaterina KAGANOVICH - RS Monika DUBROWSKA

Player of the Match: RS Natalie WESOLOSKI-OKAFOR

---

Volleyball World Expo XIII
Match Results
Preliminary - Group A


Match: GS-A | Date: 22.08.2051 | Spectators: 10,431
City: Maihar, Bollonich
Hall: The Jenner Stadium                                                                                                                     
Start Time: 14:00 | End Time: 16:00 | Total: 2:00



                                                       Match Results
                                                 Résultats du match / 경기결과
 
                            Code  Teams                      Sets  |    1    2    3    4    5      Total
                             QUE  Quebec and Shingoryeo         0  |   19   25   25   25              94
                             PCU  Pemecutan                     3  |   25   20   17   11              73
                                                     Set Duration  | 0:28 0:32 0:30  0:25           1:55
                              First Referee:  Justin Bridges (ETM) | Second Referee: Sabrina Soong (KWP)

                                      Line-Up       
No  Name                      POS  1  2  3  4  5  | T.                No  Name                       POS  1  2  3  4  5  | T.    
01  KAGANOVICH Ekaterina       MB     □  □  □     |                   01  PUTRI Lidya Nirmala          S                 |  
02  WESOLOSKI-OKAFOR Natalie   OS  ■  ■  ■  ■     | 21                02  PUTRI Koming Andita Putri    L  L  L  L  L     |
03  DONOVAN Marissa             S  □        □     |                   03  HARUM Diana                 MB  ■  ■  □  □     |  1
04  PAGE Nadine-Erin            L  L  L  L  L     |                   04  HANDAYANI Tanti             MB  ■  ■  ■  ■     |  6
07  MACDONALD Erin             MB  ■  ■  ■  ■     | 10                05  MAHAYANTI Kadek Dwi         WS  ■  ■  ■  ■     | 21
08  HORAKCOVA Natalia          WS  ■  ■  ■  ■     | 12                06  GANDARSIH Lidya             OS  ■  ■  ■  ■     | 11
09  CHAE Sang-Heui              S  ■  ■  ■  ■     |  2                09  SUARI Putu Ayu Diah         MB                 |  
10  YANG Soo-Gyeong            WS  ■  ■  ■  ■     | 14                11  KINANTI Sukma Ayu           OS                 |  
11  NAULT-TENEROWITZ Helene    WS  □        □     |                   12  LARASANTHI Kadek (C)         S  ■  ■  ■  ■     |  2
13  KRIEF-LIVINGSTON Nancy     WS           □     |  2                13  PURWASIH Dewi Putri          L                 |  
14  VERONNEAU Marine (C)       MB  ■  ■  ■  ■     | 14                14  LAKSMI Ayu                  MB  □  □  ■  ■     |  2
18  DUBROWSKA Monika           OS           □     |                   15  LATRI Luh Putu Gina         WS  ■  ■  ■  ■     | 14 

                                                       TEAM AND PLAYER PERFORMANCES                                    
 
Won | Total Atts | No. | Name                                 Scoring Skills         Won | Total Atts | No. | Name


 53          134  Total  Team                                                         52          161  Total  Team 
 17           44     02  WESOLOSKI-OKAFOR Natalie                                     19           54     05  MAHAYANTI Kadek Dwi
 13           33     02  YANG Soo-Gyeong                           Spike              15           37     15  LATRI Luh Putu Gina
 10           16     08  HORAKCOVA Natalia                                            11           34     06  GANDARSIH Lidya 

 15           75  Total  Team                                                          2           43  Total  Team
  5           16     14  VERONNEAU Marin                           Block               2            6    05  MAHAYANTI Kadek Dwi
  4           14     07  MACDONALD Erin    
  2           10     02  WESOLOSKI-OKAFOR Natalie                                     

  6           93  Total  Team                                                          3           74  Total  Team
  2           15     02  WESOLOSKI-OKAFOR Natalie                                      2           18    12  LARASANTHI Kadek
  1           17     10  YANG Soo-Gyeong                           Serve
  1           16     09  CHAE Sang-Heui

 17               Total  Team                                    Opp Error            16               Total  Team

 94          302  Total  Team                                      Total              73          278  Total  Team

 21           69     02  WESOLOSKI-OKAFOR Natalie               Best Scorer           21           82    05  MAHAYANTI Kadek Dwi

[Chromatika]

Chromatiks on Brink of Collapse

Despite splitting their last four matches 2-2, the Chromatik Volleyball Team remains at the brink of collapse after losing to Andoria in five sets in a match that the team had every chance to win, dropping them to a record of 2-3 and seven points (2-3 losses do count as 1 point).

Notably, Chromatika had a 11-8 lead in the final set before dropping seven points in a row, with three unforced errors and two hits that were barely out of bounds. It truly felt like nothing would go right for the Chromatiks as they lost all momentum and fell without being able to muster much of a comeback at all.

With plenty of high-profile matches left, being four points behind already is hardly the best for the squad, though Paul Granderson remains optimistic.

"These are the kinds of growing pains matches that we can expect to run into with such a young squad," Granderson admitted, "The kicker will be whether we can learn from our errors or not."

With Mytanija and Abanhfleft looming, the prospects aren't great.

[Atheara]

"Damn, that was a game. Now, what are our standings again? Oh, 2 - 3." These were the words of coach Lyna Grezna - Keylahaven after their match against the United Adaikes. Three losses in a row before breaking the lose streak (with those losses being against Cassadaigua, HUElavia, and Baker Park) was a must. When Athearans start to have a losing streak, they need to break it quickly or it will go on for a while until a change of pace is needed to start a breakthrough. "Everyone is doing their best so far. So, that's all i have to say. I am sure training went as planned, no?"

"Yes coach. Training went as planned." Leyna da Cresta replied to coach Lyna's question. "Alright, the rest of you can leave. Reyna, Karla, could you two stay for a second?" And as Lyna said that, Mira poked on Eliza's shoulders as the two were heading out, while Reyna and Karla decided to take their seats. "Now, i want to say to you two that you two have been performing greatly so far. But that's not the reason i wanted you to stay." After Lyna said that, Karla and Reyna were confused. "What do you mean coach? Is it about something we don't know anything about?" Karla asked.

"I know you two were gonna make out some time after that Ardengard game." Lyna says with a slight laugh. The two best friends blushed slightly and Reyna proceeded to ask "Wait, how do you know that?" Lyna just answers "I have my ways of knowing, but let's just say i have the power to do so." Karla then asked, "So, what do you want us to do about it? We were doing it since we were 19, and we both love it." "I think she is trying to say that we should make it public." Reyna says to Karla. "Now girls, i'm not trying to force you two, but think about it. What's the harm in making it public? Oh sure, critics saying shit and complaining, but apparently the AVC doesn't care."

Before Reyna or Karla could answer, Lyna also adds "Plus, you would be the first actual national team members of any sport in Atheara to actually be uh, gay. But, i don't mind personally. It's all up to you. You may be dismissed." And as Lyna said that, the two decided to look at eachother and say "Thank you" before leaving. "Oh those two... Well, let's hope my words give results." Lyna says to herself. She as the coach must manage with the players not only physically, but also mentally. Now, what's next?

Whilst the two friends, Karla asked Reyna "So, coach has her say now. What do you think about our relationship? I mean, for me, it's up to you, since i'm not so confident in myself. Afterall, remember what happened when i wa-" Before Karla could even finish her sentence, Reyna gave her a deep kiss, which lasted quite a bit. "Don't, you ever dare, remind me of that time. I don't want to nearly lose you a second time. And i want to say something." While Reyna was saying that, she was pushing Karla onto the wall. Then, Reyna whispered this to Karla's ear:

"I liked you, no, loved you at first sight. What happened at that day, i couldn't imagine it happening again. I said that, i love you more than as just a friend. So, with this i propose to you. Also, should we make it public to our people? To show that we don't care about it and others should do the same of what we would be doing? Just tell me your answer with one word."

"...Yes." That was Karla's answer to all of Reyna's questions. "Good, now, should we continue where we started off that time?" Reyna asks Karla once again. "Sure, why not i guess?" Karla answers her question. They both proceed to go back to their room. Meanwhile, Eliza actually saw what happened whilst she was buying a drink, but since she can't hear what the two said. And she thought "What the fuck did i just see? Should i tell them about it? Eh, i shouldn't. I'll let them be for now." Despite this, revelation, everyone is sure that everybody else has one thought.

It's time they try to start winning once again, no matter how hard it may be.

[Ardengard]

“Good job everyone. Well played.”
Ardengard had looked forward to this win. With that, they now had two wins out of four. It did well to boost the team’s morale too. Defensive specialist Kathleen Lester had had a good game after a while. She felt like celebrating it with her close friend.
“Hey Loslo, I heard about a bar near about this locality. Wanna grab a drink later?” Kathleen said.
“Sure, just wait up a bit. Lemme go to my room and change and I’ll be right down.”
“Same, I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

---

“So what’s this great place you know?”
“The Burrow, it’s not far from here.”
“And it’s legal right?”
“Have you lied about your age and are actually under eighteen?”
Loslo laughed. “No.”
“Then it is. Marijuana too.”
“As if you’re going to try that.”
Kathleen smiled, she knew her well. Ever since she had stood up for her, Kathleen felt secure around Loslo. She knew that she could trust her. Even when it was the biggest secret she had ever told anyone.

---

16 years ago

“Bye Sam. See you tomorrow. Loslo, walk me home?”
“Yeah coming.”
Loslo packed up her books, flung her bag over her shoulders and ran down the corridor to Kathleen. Chatting, they went down the stairs.
“You want to hear what happened in training yesterday?”
“What.”
“Ok so you know the boy Dilan? Well, he was late yesterday, so coach made him run around the court twenty times. He didn’t say anything at first, but after ten laps he stops, goes to coach and says ‘I’ve done ten could I do the rest later’. And coach was so furious, I mean, you should’ve seen his face. It lit up, it was so red. The rest of us were so scared I mean…”
Kathleen smiled, “Nice.”
Loslo looked at her friend for a while. She thought a bit and sit, “Kathleen, is everything alright?”
Kathleen started. “Yes of course, why?”
“No… I mean… you just haven’t been yourself lately. You didn’t turn up for volleyball training, you’ve hardly been present in class for a few weeks now and… you hardly speak at all anymore. I’m worried.”
There was silence for a while. Kathleen kept her head bowed down. This was somewhat reassuring to Loslo. She knew she was on the right track.
“You can open up to me you know. I’m there for you.”
Kathleen stopped. Loslo waited. She knew something was coming.
“Remember when we first met.”
“Of course.”
“My tenth birthday party, I had just moved here.”
“Yeah…”
“The reason I’d moved…”
Kathleen fell silent.
“Well, there isn’t really much to with that but it’s just that….”
“Kathleen you can tell me anything – whatever it is that’s on your mind.”
“Ok. Loslo, you’re the first person I’m saying this to.”
“Yes?”
“I’m bi.”

[Hispinas]

Matchday 6-7 Results

Matchday 6

Ardengard                     20  23  25  13
Quebec and Shingoryeo         25  25  23  25

Cassadaigua                   20  23  25  25  15
Darmen                        25  25  23  20   9

HUElavia                      25  20  25  25
Græntfjall                    19  25  17  22

Commonwealth of Baker Park    25  24  17  26  14
Sarzonia                      19  26  25  24  16

United Adaikes                25  23  25  25
Gatchingerrak Union           13  25  20  21

Bollonich                     14  25  26  18  12
Atheara                       25  21  24  25  15

Tables as of MD6

    Group 2                       PLD  W  L  SW  SL     SQ   PW   PL     PQ  PTS
1   Cassadaigua                     6  6  0  18   5  3.600  544  461  1.180   17
2   HUElavia                        6  5  1  16   6  2.667  528  460  1.148   15
3   Quebec and Shingoryeo           5  4  1  12   6  2.000  424  363  1.168   12
4   Sarzonia                        6  4  2  13  11  1.182  534  521  1.025   10
5   Commonwealth of Baker Park      5  3  2  12   8  1.500  431  410  1.051    9
6   United Adaikes                  5  2  3  10  11  0.909  455  435  1.046    8
7   Pemecutan                       5  2  3  10  10  1.000  433  438  0.989    7
8   Græntfjall                      6  2  4  11  13  0.846  516  523  0.987    7
9   Darmen                          5  2  3   9  11  0.818  430  446  0.964    7
10  Ardengard                       6  2  4  10  15  0.667  504  542  0.930    6
11  Atheara                         6  3  3  10  15  0.667  507  551  0.920    6
12  Bollonich                       5  1  4   6  14  0.429  395  459  0.861    3
13  Gatchingerrak Union             6  0  6   6  18  0.333  462  554  0.834    1

Matchday 7

Gatchingerrak Union           25  26  14  25
Bollonich                     21  24  25  12

Sarzonia                      27  21  25  25
United Adaikes                25  25  22  22

Græntfjall                    25  17  26  17  12
Commonwealth of Baker Park    17  25  24  25  15

Darmen                        25  11  23  13
HUElavia                      21  25  25  25

Quebec and Shingoryeo         20  21  26  22
Cassadaigua                   25  25  24  25

Pemecutan                     25  27  23  17
Ardengard                     13  29  25  25

Tables as of MD7

    Group 2                       PLD  W  L  SW  SL     SQ   PW   PL     PQ  PTS
1   Cassadaigua                     7  7  0  21   6  3.500  643  550  1.169   20
2   HUElavia                        7  6  1  19   7  2.714  624  532  1.173   18
3   Sarzonia                        7  5  2  16  12  1.333  632  615  1.028   13
4   Quebec and Shingoryeo           6  4  2  13   9  1.444  513  462  1.110   12
5   Commonwealth of Baker Park      6  4  2  15  10  1.500  537  507  1.059   11
6   Ardengard                       7  3  4  13  16  0.813  596  634  0.940    9
7   Græntfjall                      7  2  5  13  16  0.813  613  629  0.975    8
8   United Adaikes                  6  2  4  11  14  0.786  549  533  1.030    8
9   Pemecutan                       6  2  4  11  13  0.846  525  530  0.991    7
10  Darmen                          6  2  4  10  14  0.714  502  542  0.926    7
11  Atheara                         6  3  3  10  15  0.667  507  551  0.920    6
12  Gatchingerrak Union             7  1  6   9  19  0.474  552  636  0.868    4
13  Bollonich                       6  1  5   7  17  0.412  477  549  0.869    3

[Sarzonia]

Matchups between Sarzonia and Baker Park may not carry the same cachet of contests between Sarzonia and the likes of Delaclava or Banija in the sporting multiverse, but with the teams frequently lining up against each other in lacrosse and occasionally battling it out on the football pitch, any time the two countries face each other on various pitches, it has the opportunity to become an instant classic.

The battle between the Sarzonian national volleyball team and Baker Park's was no different. The Commonwealth took an early one-set lead, then watched Sarzonia rally to win the next two sets to put them on the brink of defeat, only to battle back again to win the fourth set and force a deciding fifth set. In that set, with Sarzonia clinging to a one-point lead, Baker Park libero Cindy Gregory lining up a jump serve hoping to catch the Stars napping, she threw the ball high into the air, leapt up and swatted it with all her might... right into the net. The Stars leapt together at centre court to celebrate the dramatic victory over the Commonwealth whilst the Baker Park players stood in silence.

There was no rest for the Stars, figuratively speaking, as they'd have another match the next night against United Adaikes, even though that match was against an unranked side, it would come before Sarzonia faced off against 17th ranked co-hosts Bollonich. That match would be followed by another two unranked opponents before a late bye. The Stars will close out against 14th ranked Græntfjall and unranked Darmen.

"I was pleased to see how we battled back," Stars manager Alan Ryan said of his team's victory over Baker Park. "I had to warn them about trap matches with their contest against United Adaikes, but they did pretty well. I still have some things I want to go over and work with them on, so it's kind of a win-win."

The Stars (5-2) brought themselves into knockout round position with their five-set victory over Baker Park, then strengthened their position with their four-set victory over United Adaikes. Sarzonia are now one point clear of Quebec and Shingoryeo, which lost a four-setter to top of table and fourth ranked Cassadaigua. The Quebecois will face No. 1 ranked defending champions HUElavia before a critical contest against Baker Park themselves.

"We don't have a lot of time left in the group stages," said libero Ed Reynolds, who was cleared from concussion protocols after the match against Baker Park. "We've got to stay focused if we want to get back to the knockout rounds."

[Mytanija]

“THIS IS THE MOST COMPETITIVE I’VE EVER SEEN IT” – GUSHTANOVA
STAR SPIKER PRAISES THE INTERNATIONAL VOLLEYBALL COMMUNITY FOR IMPROVEMENTS AROUND THE MULTIVERSE

by Almedina Radovanovic

As Mytanija dropped their first game of the VWE many pundits were remarking on just how tough the fight for a top four position looked like it was going to be in this edition of the tournament. In Group 1 there is only one unbeaten team remaining – the hosts Hispinas – but they have played a game less than the other three main contenders in the group and lesser lights such as StrayaRoos and Natanians and Nosts are chasing hard behind. Abanhfleft, a strong volleyball nation, are stuck in mid-table with a 1-3 record which makes Mytanija’s five-set victory look less impressive with every passing match. The ever-improving Chromatik national team sit at 2-3 too, a potential banana skin for any of the more storied volleyball nations who fail to take them seriously.

“It’s great for the game internationally to have so many strong teams competing, it’s one thing I like about this format. It’s very difficult to avoid tough games with such large groups, at some point you’re going to have to play a highly-ranked nation, there’s nowhere to hide. I think every competitor enjoys that sort of thing.” Mira Gushtanova, one of volleyball’s truly global stars, is never afraid of talking to the media. She’s not the most vocal on the court, preferring to let her play do the talking, but she has never been shy of letting the world know her opinions off the court. “I think developing teams will enjoy it too, they get opportunities to play against teams of differing standards so they can try things out before then getting a shot at the traditional success stories without those matches deciding their fate too much. It strikes a good balance.”

She might well be correct too, if you take StrayaRoos as an example they didn’t get off to the most auspicious start with Mytanija defeating them in the early stages of the group, but they now sit on a 3-2 record and in striking distance should any of the top four (Kohnhead, Mytanija, Siovanija and Teusland, Hispinas) slip-up over the coming weeks. Group 2 seems to be just as competitive outside of Cassadaigua – our Rushmori neighbours can boast a perfect record through seven games – with Quebec and Shingoryeo lying in 4th with a 4-2 record and Nyagũthiĩ Wanjirsdóttir’s Græntfjall down in 7th with a 2-5 record. It might be the most competitive international volleyball has ever been.

“Yeah and long may it continue.” Gushtanova says matter-of-factly. “This is the most competitive I’ve ever seen it and I think it’s great. Everybody wants a challenge, we want lots of good nations battling it out to prove that whoever wins is deserving of their status. A lot of credit has to go to the national set-ups in different countries doing what is necessary to improve the game, improving infrastructure and getting a bigger spotlight shone on the sport. We’re lucky in Mytanija, volleyball is one of the country’s favourite sports and we’re on TV regularly. Not everybody has that, so it’s a credit to the teams coming to the VWE and really challenging.”

Mytanija should be able to qualify from the group without issue, even with the rise of these developing volleyball nations. A 3-0 defeat to Kohnhead soured what was an excellent performance on both ends in the 3-0 victory over Siovanija and Teusland and it means that things are very level at the top of Group 1. Mytanija do not have their bye until the final match day of the group stage, so the team will want to stretch out a lead at the top of the group as soon as possible, matches against Chromatika and Brookstation in the next double-header certainly provide opportunities to do that.

“They are games we feel confident about, definitely, but we cannot underestimate either of these opponents. Chromatika seem to be improving each tournament and Brookstation are here to compete too, we have to get back to winning as soon as we can after the Kohnhead match. It was a disappointing result but sometimes sets can just go the way they went in that match, we pushed them really hard in the second and third but came out with nothing to show for it. Hopefully we can put it behind us with a win next time out.”

[Bollonich]

Volleyball World Expo 13 - Matchday 6 & 7

Matchday 6

Siovanija and Teusland       21  24  25  20
Lisander                     25  26  20  25

Kohnhead                     26  26  25
Abanhfleft                   24  24  16

Chromatika                   25  15  24
Mytanija                     27  25  26

Brookstation                 25  25  23  21  11
Andoria                      17  18  25  25  15

Hispinas                     25  25  25
Natanians and Nosts          23  20  17

14 Stars                     13  20   9
Kriegiersien                 25  25  25

   Group 1 	            PLD	  W	L	SW	SL	SQ	PW	PL	PQ	PTS
1  Kohnhead	            6	  5	1	16	6	2.667	516	461	1.119	14
2  Mytanija	            6	  5	1	15	7	2.143	515	448	1.150	14
3  Hispinas	            5	  5	0	15	3	5.000	424	349	1.215	14
4  Siovanija and Teusland   6	  4	2	13	8	1.625	472	417	1.132	11
5  Kriegiersien	            6	  3	3	10	10	1.000	429	427	1.005	9
6  Natanians and Nosts	    6	  3	3	9	12	0.750	462	485	0.953	9
7  StrayaRoos	            5	  3	2	11	8	1.375	430	430	1.000	8
8  Chromatika	            6	  2	4	10	13	0.769	500	514	0.973	7
9  Abanhfleft	            5	  1	4	9	12	0.750	431	447	0.964	6
10 Lisander	            5	  2	3	7	12	0.583	407	429	0.949	5
11 Andoria	            6	  2	4	8	16	0.500	477	543	0.878	5
12 Brookstation	            5	  1	4	6	13	0.462	406	438	0.927	4
13 14 Stars	            5	  0	5	6	15	0.400	402	483	0.832	2

Matchday 7

Natanians and Nosts          25  24  18  25  13
14 Stars                     17  26  25  12  15

Andoria                      24  21  21
Hispinas                     26  25  25

Mytanija                     19  25  25  25
Brookstation                 25  12  15  22

Abanhfleft                   25  25  25  20   6
Chromatika                   15  11  27  25  15

Lisander                     24  13  23
Kohnhead                     26  25  25

StrayaRoos                   12  25  19  25  16
Siovanija and Teusland       25  16  25  20  18

   Group 1 	            PLD	  W	L	SW	SL	SQ	PW	PL	PQ	PTS
1  Kohnhead	            7	  6	1	19	6	3.167	592	521	1.136	17
2  Mytanija	            7	  6	1	18	8	2.250	609	522	1.167	17
3  Hispinas	            6	  6	0	18	3	6.000	500	415	1.205	17
4  Siovanija and Teusland   7	  5	2	16	10	1.600	576	514	1.121	13
5  Natanians and Nosts	    7	  3	4	11	15	0.733	567	580	0.978	10
6  Kriegiersien	            6	  3	3	10	10	1.000	429	427	1.005	9
7  Chromatika	            7	  3	4	13	15	0.867	593	615	0.964	9
8  StrayaRoos	            6	  3	3	13	11	1.182	527	534	0.987	9
9  Abanhfleft	            6	  1	5	11	15	0.733	532	540	0.985	7
10 Lisander	            6	  2	4	7	15	0.467	467	505	0.925	5
11 Andoria	            7	  2	5	8	19	0.421	543	619	0.877	5
12 14 Stars	            6	  1	5	9	17	0.529	497	588	0.845	4
13 Brookstation	            6	  1	5	7	16	0.438	480	532	0.902	4

[StrayaRoos]

In an Thrilling 5 set match The Emus were handed their first defeat in 3 games by the United Republics of Siovanija and Teusland but their Prospects for the future are bright as they have 6 games left and are favoured by pundits in 4 of them and are among the surprise packages of the tournament with Many people saying they can beat no.2 seed Kohnhead (5-1) if they put out an first choice line up as teams like The 14 Stars (1-5) took them to 5 sets in their opening game while the Emus need to win 4 of the 6 games to qualify to the quarterfinals though Last night on SBC's Offsiders program, national coach Ryan Teal confirmed that the Emus would put out an full strength side for tonight's Games and is sending matt Jak home as he was selected to be the worldvision spokesperson with his brother

8 StrayaRoos 3-3

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

BP spikers halfway through Worlds
by Melanie Zeller, Special Correspondent
for The Times

Reporting from Fermont, Bollonich:

The National Volleyball Team are halfway through their guest residency here Fermont, where they are playing four matches in a row in Group 2 at the World Volleyball Expo; following a bye on the opening matchday, Baker Park have won four of the six contests while shuttling between the capital Vreton and Maihar.
The pair of matches at the Vreton Indoor Stadium have been the most significant wins so far in the competition; BP defeated the co-hosts in straight sets on the third matchday with probably their best performance, while they overcame the Gatchingerrak Union in one of the most talked about five set marathons so far in the VWE, coming from two sets and 17-21 down in the third to win 33 of the next 45 points to force a fifth set, where the Commonwealth prevailed 15-13.

Here in Fermont, the team have split a pair of five set matches--a defeat against an always tough Sarzonia, ranked 11th, followed by a win against 14th ranked Græntfjall--with two more names known to the home folks left to play at the 20,000 seat King's Dome, as Darmen and Quebec & Shingoreyo will face the BPNT.

Head Coach Doreen Patrick spoke about the results so far and her impressions of how the rest of the group stage might play out.

"We've not made it an issue, not brought it up because we don't use it as an excuse, but this team is in a transitional phase. Like the lacrosse (national team) setup went through, we are on a second generation of players who will carry on the tradition, but they need to learn to forge their own identity and learn how to dig deep using the experience they are gaining now. I've been really proud how we've come through three straight five setters, showed a lot of spirit and determination. The end of the Sarzonia match...Cindy (Gregory, in her first NT squad out of UBP) made one service error in the entire match, it just happened at the worst time. The rest of the team picked her up afterwards, and I think if you look at how she played against Græntfjall, she didn't dwell on it.
I think we are are a great position right now, not having to face the Dagans and HUElavia until the end; if we take care of business over the next four fixtures, everything will fall into place."

[United Adaikes]

Coach Glass not liking the less showing of tenacity during the crucial part of their games

In his latest media interview, he shared this with the press and looked to address it before their next games against Græntfjall and Darmen. "All of our losses are games I can say we could have won," Kennedy told the press. "We could've shown a higher level of yearning to get those wins," he continued. "All those losses ended with set points at 20 pluses. Even matchdays 4 and 5 are losses in matches that reached five sets, and we need to address those problems."

Though leading in the group standings, Graæntfjall is tied in points with the United Adaikes, only ahead with 2 set wins. United Adaikes will also try to capitalize Graæntfjall's 4-game losing streak. Darmen is also in 10th place in Group 2.

[Quebec and Shingoryeo]

OOC: This, of course, is just a parody of a RL song named I Hate Alabama. Don't be surprised a Tennessean Vols fan is singing it...

Morning Glory - Your Simple Nationwide Morning Newspaper

Country Trio 'Life In Technicolour' releases 'I Hate HUElavia', a Grim Reapers volley-bop ahead of top 5 showdown tomorrow

Nikifor Nikiforovich

VRETON, BOLLONICH -Tired of watching the Quebecois women's volleyball team losing to HUElavia every Volleyball World Expo? Life in Technicolour agrees with you after all these years, and they have a song for you to talk about it.

The trio of 25-year olds, Alann Marzana (guitar/lead vocal), Lyndsay Erro (bass/piano), Jamie Kearton (drum/chorus), are long high school friends from a rural Mertagne town. They recently released an extremely viral hit, 'I Hate HUElavia', last week, but for months the snippets of this song have been everywhere, mostly featuring the last 4 VWE losses suffered by the Quebecois women against the HUElavian adversaries.

'We aren't going to deny that HUElavia is currently ranked number one in international volleyball, don't get us wrong,' Marzana told Baegunara this morning on a phone interview, ahead of the Grim Reapers' match against HUElavia, the fourth consecutive world championship they will face each other. 'And it's certainly amusing that we, as fans of how Grim Reapers play, hear this song play in any Vreton pub, where we are at, thanks to our fans and the Grim Reapers' fans singing this bop.'

The 5th-ranked Quebecois' women's struggle against their top-ranked rival is a known fact, with all four losses having come in 4 or 5 sets, but on both group stages (VWE 10 and 12), and knockout rounds (VWE 11 second round and VWE 12 final).

'I hate HUElavia', a parody of the 2021 RL-states tune 'I Hate Alabama', is a true Grim Reapers' diss-track, love tune and a tailgate soundtrack that stays relatively true to the pop country genre that works well with indoor sports. For example, we have the following chorus:

'I hate HUElavia / I hate the Laser Yellow / I hate how they shout 'FORCA HUELAVIA!' when I wear my number ten jersey / And I love VAMOS but not that laughter / 'cause when I hear that all I see is the girl heading home / to the red-lighted frat-house / May come a sucker / But I hate HUElavia because we lost our hopes to mend'

Kearton said it took them and their friends some time to write this song after performing on the QOVO.1 men's All-Star game, but that it got easier after few tries.

'It's a tricky thing, because while we aren't really from Quebec, we have lived here for over seven years and have performed as country artists for about five of those years. And as three people who love this sport, we had to say 'why not write this song and just work around it, to see what we could come up with,' chuckled Kearton.

Once the song was written, everything was easier, as they went to a local indoor arena with a GoPro and got hold of producing a music video for this track, shot by Lyndsey Erro's mother who used to be a local beach volleyball referee for twenty years. After the music video was finished, and they sent it out to their record label, The Blue Pipers ltd, the song was kept on veils aside from snippets to be kept on the anticipation mode. Three months later, the song was released and the rest was history.

The Mount Ester University alumni said they are enjoying the reactions generated by friends made from their college days, as well as the other Grim Reapers and QOVO.1 team Bathurst Drillers' fans, and are happy to be here in Bollonich for the experience.

'We all love being here, that's for sure,' Marzana coughed, before continuing to speak, 'We are just that, surprisingly modest country trio from Mertagne who came here for school, but came to be a fan of the sport and have a career as country musicians. All our close friends back home, now that the country's out of isolation, are happy to share around and sending me videos of them dancing all over it.'

'Life in Technicolour', who will be releasing their 3rd album 'Fifty Shades of Frozen' has taken a month off from touring to watch the Volleyball World Expo 13, currently held here in Bollonich and Hispinas, but will be back in tour across Quebec and Mertagne this September.

[Hispinas]

Matchday 8-9 Results

Matchday 8

Cassadaigua                   25  19  19  17
Pemecutan                     19  25  25  25

HUElavia                      25  16  25  25
Quebec and Shingoryeo         22  25  19  23

Commonwealth of Baker Park    25  25  17  25
Darmen                        19  18  25  18

United Adaikes                25  20  25  18  15
Græntfjall                    23  25  20  25  12

Bollonich                     25  22  19  26  15
Sarzonia                      22  25  25  24  12

Atheara                       25  25  25  17  12
Gatchingerrak Union           23  23  27  25  15

Tables as of MD8

    Group 2                       PLD  W  L  SW  SL     SQ   PW   PL     PQ  PTS
1   HUElavia                        8  7  1  22   8  2.750  715  621  1.151   21
2   Cassadaigua                     8  7  1  22   9  2.444  723  644  1.123   20
3   Sarzonia                        8  5  3  18  15  1.200  740  722  1.025   14
4   Commonwealth of Baker Park      7  5  2  18  11  1.636  629  587  1.072   14
5   Quebec and Shingoryeo           7  4  3  14  12  1.167  602  553  1.089   12
6   Pemecutan                       7  3  4  14  14  1.000  619  610  1.015   10
7   United Adaikes                  7  3  4  14  16  0.875  652  638  1.022   10
8   Ardengard                       7  3  4  13  16  0.813  596  634  0.940    9
9   Græntfjall                      8  2  6  15  19  0.789  718  732  0.981    9
10  Atheara                         7  3  4  12  18  0.667  611  664  0.920    7
11  Darmen                          7  2  5  11  17  0.647  582  634  0.918    7
12  Gatchingerrak Union             8  2  6  12  21  0.571  665  740  0.899    6
13  Bollonich                       7  2  5  10  19  0.526  584  657  0.889    5

Matchday 9

Sarzonia                      21  25  27  25  15
Atheara                       25  22  29  23  13

Græntfjall                    25  14  20  25  15
Bollonich                     19  25  25  20  12

Darmen                        18  25  23  17
United Adaikes                25  23  25  25

Quebec and Shingoryeo         25  25  25
Commonwealth of Baker Park    15  20  21

Pemecutan                     25  18  13  17
HUElavia                      22  25  25  25

Ardengard                     18  22  21
Cassadaigua                   25  25  25

Tables as of MD9

    Group 2                       PLD  W  L  SW  SL     SQ   PW   PL     PQ  PTS
1   HUElavia                        9  8  1  25   9  2.778  812  694  1.170   24
2   Cassadaigua                     9  8  1  25   9  2.778  798  705  1.132   23
3   Sarzonia                        9  6  3  21  17  1.235  853  834  1.023   16
4   Quebec and Shingoryeo           8  5  3  17  12  1.417  677  609  1.112   15
5   Commonwealth of Baker Park      8  5  3  18  14  1.286  685  662  1.035   14
6   United Adaikes                  8  4  4  17  17  1.000  750  721  1.040   13
7   Græntfjall                      9  3  6  18  21  0.857  817  833  0.981   11
8   Pemecutan                       8  3  5  15  17  0.882  692  707  0.979   10
9   Ardengard                       8  3  5  13  19  0.684  657  709  0.927    9
10  Atheara                         8  3  5  14  21  0.667  723  777  0.931    8
11  Darmen                          8  2  6  12  20  0.600  665  732  0.908    7
12  Gatchingerrak Union             8  2  6  12  21  0.571  665  740  0.899    6
13  Bollonich                       8  2  6  12  22  0.545  685  756  0.906    6

[Bollonich]

Volleyball World Expo 13 - Matchday 8 & 9

Matchday 8

Kohnhead                     25  25  25
StrayaRoos                   22  23  23

Chromatika                   25  25  25
Lisander                     23  10  22

Brookstation                 25  25  13  18   8
Abanhfleft                   22  20  25  25  15

Hispinas                     22  20  22
Mytanija                     25  25  25

14 Stars                     25  15  14  15
Andoria                      21  25  25  25

Kriegiersien                 25  19  24  25  14
Natanians and Nosts          19  25  26  20  16

   Group 1 	           PLD	  W	L	SW	SL	SQ	PW	PL	PQ	PTS
1  Kohnhead	           8	  7	1	22	6	3.667	667	589	1.132	20
2  Mytanija	           8	  7	1	21	8	2.625	684	586	1.167	20
3  Hispinas	           7	  6	1	18	6	3.000	564	490	1.151	17
4  Siovanija and Teusland  7	  5	2	16	10	1.600	576	514	1.121	13
5  Chromatika	           8	  4	4	16	15	1.067	668	670	0.997	12
6  Natanians and Nosts	   8	  4	4	14	17	0.824	673	687	0.980	12
7  Kriegiersien	           7	  3	4	12	13	0.923	536	533	1.006	10
8  StrayaRoos	           7	  3	4	13	14	0.929	595	609	0.977	9
9  Abanhfleft	           7	  2	5	14	17	0.824	639	629	1.016	9
10 Andoria	           8	  3	5	11	20	0.550	639	688	0.929	8
11 Brookstation	           7	  1	6	9	19	0.474	569	639	0.890	5
12 Lisander	           7	  2	5	7	18	0.389	522	580	0.900	5
13 14 Stars	           7	  1	6	10	20	0.500	566	684	0.827	4

Matchday 9

Andoria                      28  25  18  21
Kriegiersien                 26  27  25  25

Mytanija                     19  23  18
14 Stars                     25  25  25

Abanhfleft                   22  25  26  22  15
Hispinas                     25  19  24  25  12

Lisander                     25  20  19  25  15
Brookstation                 20  25  25  20   9

StrayaRoos                   25  22  22  21
Chromatika                   19  25  25  25

Siovanija and Teusland       22  15  17
Kohnhead                     25  25  25

   Group 1 	           PLD	  W	L	SW	SL	SQ	PW	PL	PQ	PTS
1  Kohnhead	           9	  8	1	25	6	4.167	742	643	1.154	23
2  Mytanija	           9	  7	2	21	11	1.909	744	661	1.126	20
3  Hispinas	           8	  6	2	20	9	2.222	669	600	1.115	18
4  Chromatika	           9	  5	4	19	16	1.188	762	760	1.003	15
5  Siovanija and Teusland  8	  5	3	16	13	1.231	630	589	1.070	13
6  Kriegiersien	           8	  4	4	15	14	1.071	639	625	1.022	13
7  Natanians and Nosts	   8	  4	4	14	17	0.824	673	687	0.980	12
8  Abanhfleft	           8	  3	5	17	19	0.895	749	734	1.020	11
9  StrayaRoos	           8	  3	5	14	17	0.824	685	703	0.974	9
10 Andoria	           9	  3	6	12	23	0.522	731	791	0.924	8
11 14 Stars	           8	  2	6	13	20	0.650	641	744	0.862	7
12 Lisander	           8	  3	5	10	20	0.500	626	679	0.922	7
13 Brookstation	           8	  1	7	11	22	0.500	668	743	0.899	6

[Sarzonia]

It's easy to get ahead of yourself. If you've just accomplished a major task or earned an upset victory against an opponent with significantly higher pedigree than yours, it's easy to believe the press clippings, as it were, and not focus on an opponent you're expected to beat.

That was the case for the Sarzonian national volleyball team after its "embarrassing" five-set defeat to Bollonich. Sure, The Bollonichians entered the current 13th Volleyball World Expo as the 17th ranked team in the multiverse, but they were last among the 13 teams in the Group 2 table whilst the Stars were third and fighting to remain in knockout round position. Manager Alan Ryan was furious with his team after the defeat, and he closed the door to the team's dressing room to illustrate his point.

Granted, that was all he did. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't slam furniture to the ground or to the walls of the dressing room. He didn't put his hands on any of the players. All he said was, "I warned you about trap matches. This is what I meant." He looked out with a pained expression, which he hoped would convey the other emotion that was vying with pure rage for the dominant hand. Disappointment. The team, for all the team building exercises the assistants drew up and tried to employ to create a greater off-court bond amongst these players, was not quite jelling to the same extent as other teams did.

It's not that this particular team weren't used to playing together. This team certainly were. They'd competed in three of the previous four Volleyball World Expos, opting not to send a team to the edition in Taeshan. They'd been in the knockout rounds, advancing as far as the semifinals in Cassadaigua before finishing as pewter medalists. They'd sprung an upset over the top seeds as the No. 16 seeds in the 11th edition, and they just missed the knockouts in the 12th. So it wasn't for lack of familiarity with the players. They knew each other. They seemed to like each other. But they didn't exactly go out with each other on their own accord. They spent a lot of time with each other at the training facilities and at matches, but they didn't see fit to socialise outside the court. It wasn't like one of the teams Ryan was part of as an assistant manager that willingly spent nearly every waking moment together, that got drunk together at bars, that were there for each other in myriad ways. It didn't show up in the box scores, but in other ways it did. Those teams were successful. They played as a cohesive whole. They were good. You can tell they liked each other.

Ryan's choice to show with his eyes and his body language that he was disappointed, and the fact a couple of players picked up on his anger, were enough to motivate the team as they took care of business against unranked Atheara to defeat them in five-sets. The two teams traded set victories with Atheara claiming the lead after the first and third sets, respectively. The Stars battled back in the second and fourth sets to force a fifth and deciding set. Finally, it was up to libero Ed Reynolds, who opted not to try a leaping serve, choosing instead to float a serve to Atheara. Middle blocker Larry Rogers was able to slam the ball past his counterpart on the Athearan side of the net for the fifth set victory.

Sarzonia on paper may not look as impressive as any of the other teams currently in knockout round position, as even Baker Park's 17-12 set record surpasses the 21-17 mark the Stars have in theirs. On top of that, the point differential of plus-19 is by far the lowest of any team other than Group 1 fourth placed side Chromatica, which have a 19-16 set record and a plus-two point differential (762-760) to Sarzonia's 853-834. But if Sarzonia can qualify for the knockout rounds, none of that will matter.

"It's a brand new season when it's the knockout rounds," Ryan said. "We found that out first hand."

[Mytanija]

MIXED FORM IS WORRISOME, BUT TWO MORE WINS SHOULD DO IT
MYTANIJA UNEXPECTEDLY DROP MATCH TO 14 STARS FOLLOWING STRONG WIN OVER THE HOSTS

by Almedina Radovanovic

Mytanija’s form during this VWE has been less than perfect, although two defeats through nine matches does leave the team second in Group 1 and in a very strong position in terms of qualification to the knockout rounds. Kohnhead moved a game ahead to 8-1, holding both the tiebreaking head-to-head result and an extra win over Mytanija, following the national team’s unexpected defeat against 14 Stars. It was a disappointing turn of events following the team’s hard-fought straight sets win over the hosts, Hispinas. Mytanija needed all of their focus to hold their Rushmori rivals off in that encounter, but it seemed to leave the team short in the following game.

“I had to rotate the team for the second match in the double-header, it wasn’t our most consistent selection, a mix of players who don’t usually play too often together. It looked a bit disjointed out on the court and 14 Stars were well placed to take advantage, they were really solid in all phases of play. We can have no complaints, we also can’t have too many more matches like that during the rest of the competition.” Radina Ristic commented to the assorted media following the defeat.

She had sent out a strong line-up for the Hispinas match, but given the relatively close nature of all three sets she was also forced to call upon her reserves to come in and do a job and it seemed like the team expended a lot of energy and concentration on holding off Hispinas. The home crowd certainly gave the host nation a fantastic atmosphere to play in and Mytanija – whilst possessing a squad full of players used to that sort of environment – had to be dialled in 100% to ensure they didn’t lose another game to a potential rival. The team seemed to have put the disappointment of the Kohnhead match behind them with three straight wins, but then 14 Stars shot onto the scene.

Despite Tea Knapic-Hren’s best efforts (21 points, just slightly over a third of the team’s total offensive output), they couldn’t win even when playing poorly. That will disappoint the veterans who played in the VWE 11 triumph, they won that competition by coming through tough games with victories. It might tell us that this current group of players aren’t quite there yet, not at that level which championship teams operate at. Losing 11 sets through nine games might not sound too bad, but when you look at the likes of Kohnhead, HUElavia, Cassadaigua and Hispinas all limiting their losses to the single digits it does make you wonder if Mytanija might just be a little off the pace this time around.

They should at least be in the knockout rounds, with three matches to play Mytanija should safely qualify with two more victories, Siovanija and Teusland lie two games back with four to play and Mytanija hold the tiebreaking head-to-head result should it come down to the two teams being level on points. That does add an imperative for Mytanija to try and win their remaining games against Kriegiersien; Natanians and Nosts; and Andoria as impressively as possible. Straight sets 3-0 victories would seal the deal sooner and perhaps quell a few worries that are beginning to spread regarding the team. To their credit, they seem fully focused on the task at hand and whilst some are trying to game out the possibilities about seeding and who plays who that seems to be the furthest thing from their minds:

“I don’t think anyone on the team has thought about getting an easier match if we finish higher in the group.” Sara Gemac told Sportmag. “We want to win as many games as possible to show that we are the strongest team in world volleyball, we’ve got a reputation to uphold and a few of our players are coming here from the Olympics and they want to show that they’re still the best of the best too. We don’t mind who we play in the knockout stages, but we do know that we have to get there to play any of the teams people are talking about, so that’s our first priority. What comes afterwards is for us to worry about in the future.”

[Atheara]

About, during, and after the match...

With two losses to Gatchingerrak Union and Sarzonia, with both games having to do a fifth set decider, Atheara is starting to prove that they are a bit annoying to face. Though, a upper half finish is still possible, but won't be easy. As for the Sarzonia game, the player who decided it all was libero Ed Reynolds, who chose to float a serve to Atheara. Middle blocker Larry Rogers was able to slam the ball past his counterpart on the Athearan side of the net for the fifth set victory. This loss against Sarzonia had put Atheara with a decent 3 - 5 record, a decent record for anyone who is a first time participant in the Volleyball World Expo. Though, it wasn't the game that was the main focus for Athearans.

The focus was on the players. It seems as if they all were suddenly going along so well. Although this is expected, since they have to play together all the time, it seems as if everyone was just, clicking against eachother. There were few mistakes that were made, with most of them being minor ones. However, this isn't all what the players seem to attract in the game. When coach Lyna Grezna - Keylahaven made her usual substitutions (although, she did swap Reyova Reina in first), the team clicked better than usual. Was it something that's happening between the players? Did the coach rally up these 12 players? Or was it something else that, not even the players know of?

A pre-planned interview was hosted for the fans who watched the match. And it's surprising that Reyna and Karla would up and appear for the interview. But it was fine by them. There were so many questions asked, mostly about how the team is doing, opinions on their teammates, how in the world Eliza plays well despite being deaf, and more randomness that was added into the mix. But, there was, one sort of question that stood out to the (not yet official) couple. And, a question that would be answered immediately, is:

"You two have seemed to be closer than usual. Is... there anything going on behind the scenes, if i could kindly ask? Of course, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, it's your right to not answer."

Karla decides to answer "Yes, there are some things going on. We are mostly bonding between eachother, but that's not the important part." Karla blushes before she continues "As we want everyone to know, uh, we... are..." Before Karla could pass out or finish the sentence, Reyna decides to say "The two of us are dating. Simple as that." And after that, it was silence (except for one dude who decided to say "Wait what?" with the most confused face of his life). "Alright, i guess that does make sense. Anyway, let's continue with it, shall we?" One reporter asks.

After the interview...

"Damn, that interview was long." Reyna says to Karla, before someone saying "You two, wait!" It was Crisina and Eliza. "Is it true? That you both are, you know?" Crisina asks the two with her voice and signage so Eliza could understand. "Uh, yes, it's true. Anyway, what's wrong with you Crisina? I never see you run that fast before. Is it something you need?" Karla asks back, with signage and voice as well. "It's supposed to be time for training! Come one, we're running a bit late." Crisina says and leaves, with Eliza trailing her. "Let's go?" Reyna asks Karla. "Sure."

With the qualification stage nearing a close, it seems Atheara's best possible finish is a mid table finish. How will everyone do? No one knows, although... Their determination to not give up and continue to fight already exists strong within everyone. Hoping to get another victory and end the newly starting loss streak, was something the team had to do.

[Chromatika]

Siovanija and Teusland, Kohnhead to Decide Chromatik Fate

By defeating Lisander in straight sets and then StrayaRoos in four, Chromatika improved to 5-4 to have a shot at the VWE Quarterfinals.

Their next two matches will really decide it all - Siovanija and Teusland is a team that is in direct contention for the spot, and Kohnhead is at the top of the table.

With their outside hitters doing well and the Libero Captain coming through, the Chromatiks have done well enough to stay in the competition.

"We know we're good enough to hang with any side," reminded Paul Granderson, "We'll give it the good old college try."

[United Adaikes]

Adaikesians rack up points to strengthen position in the group stage, look to play harder in the following games to determine their final spot in the group stage table

The United Adaikes national volleyball team racked up 5 points in their previous two games, which are all wins, against Græntfjall (ranked number 14) and Darmen (unranked).

The United Adaikes-Græntfjall match saw a see-saw game ending in 5 sets, with the Adaikesians winning the 1st and 3rd set, Græntfjall winning the 2nd and 4th set, but the unranked nation getting the last set to win the match, 25-23, 20-25, 25-20, 18-25, 15-12.

United Adaikes' next game was against Darmen, a fellow unranked team. The Adaikesians played smoothly in the opening set, taking it 25-18. Darmen recovered in the following set, 23-25. Though they also tried to mount a comeback in the third set, United Adaikes clinched the set, 25-23, before comfortably taking the match with 25-17 in the fourth set.

The last four games of the Adaikesians will be crucial in determining their final standing in the group stage, and while pundits have mixed opinions if they can qualify in the knockout rounds, their next games will surely be a blast. The Adaikesians will be playing Quebec and Shingoryeo (ranked number 5) next, followed by Pemecutan (ranked number 12), Ardengard (unranked), and Cassadaigua (ranked number 4).