Back to .500 with win over Skobakken

Friday November 28th we played Skobakken in Arhus. They were in last place with a record of 0-7 which can be a dangerous situation going into their gym. I commented earlier that they were a young team, however this time around they had picked up a new older setter which made them much more stable. They also play pretty impressive defense. Balls just seem to bounce up off of them. We got out to a 5-0 lead in the first set and played somewhat consistent ball. After 4 or 5 questionable referee calls (keep in mind with rally point that is an 8-10 point swing) we found ourselves locked at 24. They ended up blocking me (my only offensive error on the night) at 24-25 and won the set. We rebounded and took the next three sets and won the match 3-1. Some things to note about the match. You have to bring your A game to every match. We beat the number 1 team last week and were pushed by the last place team this week. Another thing is getting used to the refereeing.. If you're reading this in Canada, wow you have it sooo well. Instead of focusing on making the in or out or touch calls, most of the referees are trying to make zaney calls. For example, in the 4th set at 22-21 for us, they went back to serve and it was quite noisy in the gym. The server did not hear the whistle and looked at the referee for confirmation. The ref stood there and you could feel him counting, almost hoping he wouldn't serve in time so that he could make that call. After the 8 second call, a player kicked the ball and the ref gave him a yellow card (and a point) making the score 24-21 and in essence ending the game. It wasn't really how the game should have ended but 2points is 2points in a tight playoff race. Next we play Aalborg on Thursday, a team that dominated us the first time around. But boy are we feeling ready this time!