Scottish Cup 1st Round : GI (3) v Orkney (1)   (25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 25-18)

The list of GI walking wounded keeps growing. Diane is now out with a shoulder injury, Sharon hurt her hand at Uni but was able to play & to cap it off, Gill burst her ankle on Friday night. With Sinead on holiday, we had no recognised setter, Nixie stepped up to give it a go. Cerys was back and Benia made her first appearance for the club. Mags was expecting to line-judge, but ended up on the bench as emergency replacement.

Orkney had arrived safely after their long trip to Hillpark, so we were ready to go.

GI took the initiative, racing to an 8-2 lead with the attack being distributed well and keeping Orkney guessing. It looked good at this point, but with 3 girls playing for the first time this season and a couple of girls out of position it wasn't going to stay smooth. Orkney regrouped and took the initiative, clawing it back to 12-9. Our early burst was good enough to keep us in front. Considering the circumstances, there was some good volleyball from GI throughout, with Nixie, Benia and Hilda blocking the Orkney attack effectively and we closed out the Set 25-17.

At the start of the second set, Orkney matched us point for point, so much so we were 8-6 down at the first technical timeout. It wasn't fluent from us but we were hanging in. 2nd technical time-out and we were now 16-15 down. Some calming words from the coach and all of a sudden it clicked together as we edged in front and it was Orkney's turn to play catch up. We closed it out 25-17 to take a 2-0 lead.

Having recovered the set, we started the the third with some confidence, but Orkney came out from their team huddle and took the game to us. It was 8-3 to Orkney at the 1st technical time-out. Benia had some big hits, but somehow Orkney kept them up and visibly took heart that they recycled the ball. Things didn't improve until we were 14-22 down when Sharon served us back into contention and Nixie started finding Nicola regularly to find us 20-22 down. Orkney got the breakthrough they needed to steady their nerves, as we drew within striking distance. It was enough to see them take a thouroughly deserved 3rd set 25-21. Game on!

Food for thought and Mags came on to replace Cerys at middle. This was Mags' first foray at middle, but her defensive qualities helped stabilise the team in backcourt. It was nervy for us because Orkney knew they could take us, now being able to deal with our block. Orkney took an early 6-2 lead before Nicola stepped up and started causing their passing unit a few issues helping us to take an 8-7 lead into the 1st technical timeout. Orkney weren't done and kept the pressure to retake the initiative and keep the pressure on us. Nicola and Benia lead the GI attack as we kept in the game and just edged it 16-15 to the 2nd technical timeout. This was the critical phase in the game as Nicola continued an outsatnding set with some tough serving to take us to 22-16, when Orkney grounded a strong attack. It was up to us to keep our composure. Nicola and Benia continued hitting strongly and the game was finished 25-18 with an unstoppable hit down the line.

A good match of volleyball and considering the circumstances we manged to cope with the injuries. Good to see Benia finally play for the team and she helped stabilise the passing with the continued absence of a libero. Hilda continued building on her game and Nicola's hitting continues to improve.

This result ensures both GI and South Ayrshire make progress to the 4th round of the Cup.