Visser Assen/Sudosa-Desto had a very difficult time against Sliedrecht Sport on Wednesday. The team never reached the normal level and rightly lost 3-1, meaning that a place among the four best teams is far from a foregone conclusion.
For two sets, Sudosa-Desto struggled with itself. Offensively, the team had the greatest difficulty in scoring, while fittingly it struggled to stay upright. The normally most important points providers, Manon Torenbeek and Paula Boonstra, did not give up.
The players looked tense and the usual smile was missing. Sudosa-Desto struggled with itself. It was mainly a dogged fight to get into the match and that was not possible for a long time. Sliedrecht Sport took full advantage. Coach Mark Afman soon reverted to his bench players.
‘It just wasn’t good enough’
Maureen van der Woude remained standing for the entire match. “It just wasn’t good enough. We had the utmost difficulty to score. Sliedrecht did that a lot better.” The mid player, who is new at Sudosa-Desto, is one of the reasons that the Assen formation can really compete with the top teams this season.
Van der Woude, who is active in education, is of great value to the Afman team with her blocking and experience. However, she was also unable to turn the tide for a long time. Only with the arrival of playmaker Beau de Vries and Romee Veenstra and Lynn van Mill on the outside did Sudosa-Desto gain more control over the guests’ game.
The level on the Assen side slowly rose. Van Mill often scored through the hands of the blocker and Veenstra and De Vries also came in well. “We took the third set and should have won the fourth set as well.”
“We could have made it a lot easier for ourselves.”
“We are of course still in good shape to finish among the top four teams, but we could have made it a lot easier for ourselves by winning tonight. Now we have to do that against Zwolle on Saturday.”
The first four teams of the regular competition decide among themselves who will qualify directly for the semi-finals of the battle for the national championship. The first two teams are sure of that. While the other two teams get an extra chance against the best teams from the ‘losers pool’.
‘You get what you deserve’
Afman was very realistic after the defeat. ,,You get what you deserve. We started out too weak and played cowardly volleyball. That’s just not possible. Because of our substitutes we somehow get the third set. Then you hope that you can expand on that and gain at least one point from the match. But it just wasn’t good enough.”
Yet Afman is convinced that his team will qualify for the semi-finals for the battle for the national championship. ,,Sure. If we are unable to finish in the first four, we will take a detour. Then we finish fifth or sixth.”
Cup tournament
In addition to the competition, the volleyball players from Assen are also still in the cup tournament. Next Tuesday, Sudosa-Desto will play against the second team of Sliedrecht Sport. If they win, Apollo 8 from Borne will be the opponent and a historic cup final in Den Bosch will be close by.
Visser Assen/Sudosa-Desto-Sliedrecht Sport
Rash 1-3
Set positions 21-25, 18-25, 25-17, 22-25