Eadaoin O'Flanagan (Mt. St. Michael SS, Claremorris)
Edel Nolan (Mt. St. Michael SS, Claremorris)
Fionnuala Nevin (St. Mary's College, Naas)
Galya Stanley (St. Brigid's SS, Callan)
Grainne McNieve (Mt. St. Michael SS, Claremorris)
Jennifer Corrigan (St. Mary's College, Naas)
Niamh O'Sullivan (St. Mary's College, Naas)
Orla Fitzpatrick (St. Mary's College, Naas)
Ruth Healy (St. Mary's College, Naas)
Shauna Parle (St. Brigid's SS, Callan)
Sinead Croghan (Mt. St. Michael SS, Claremorris)
Grainne Culliton - Coach
Day 1 - Fionnuala, Aisling C, Orla, Shauna, Chloe, Caileen
The junior and senior ladies squad had an early start in Dublin Airport Friday morning (28th) at 5:45. Once everyone had stocked up on magazines, we set off on their two hour flight to Franfurt, to catch a bus to Luxembourg.
After lunch, the junior squad trained for 2 hours. After a rest and light rest, the junior team played two matches against two teams from Echternach, both senior teams. The first match was narrowly lost 2-1, having lost set 1 by 2 points. This did nothing to dampen team spirits and we went on to play our second game, all guns blazing. This was a tougher team, with great attacks and hard serves. It was great experience to play against such a good team that beat us 2-0.
A very tired team left for the hostel for a good nights sleep. A very enjoyable time was had by all.
Day 2 - Eadaoin, Grainne, Ruth, Sinead, Gayla, Niamh
Another early start for the junior squad. After breakfast at 7:30, we headed for a 2 hour training session. Prior to training, we watched the senior team and their pre-match warmup which was a good learning experience. We did extensive training on blocking and diving before watching the final set of the seniors match. On return to the hostel, we had some "Schnitzel" for lunch and a well earned rest.
We then had a brilliant training session for a further 2.5 hours, involving cover drills and 3 on 3 game practice. Once we had showered, we met upstairs for team bonding sessions and work, before discussing with our coach the weekend itself and to reaffirm our goals going forward. We also could openly discuss development needs we would like worked on at trainings going forward.
The senior and junior coach went for a meal in an Italian restaurant with all coaches and the President of the VAI before retiring for the evening. Overall the day was a great experience for the team and it helped us to get on better as a group.
Day 3 - Edel, Jenny, Aishling G and Denise
We got up at 7.30 and got our breakfast.We were packed and ready to go from
the hostel at 9am.
Our match was at 10.30. The seniors played the first two sets and the juniors
played the second two sets. Fatigue got the better of us and we lost 2-0 to a junior German club team.
We had our lunch from one o'clock to two o'clock in the "Coque" restarant.
After lunch we got our tickets for the European finals and then went
into the arena for a look around.
Russia and Poland were the first teams to play in the 3rd. and 4th.place
playoff.This was an incredibly exciting match ,Russia ended up winners by 3 sets to 1 set.The next match
was the final of the European championships featuring Italy and Serbia.The level of volleyball was amazing
and everyone greatly enjoyed the match as it was a great experience,unfortunatly we had to leave
after the first set to to catch our plane.
Overall the weekend was really enjoyable and a great experience.
