
Clare Francis
NVL Ladies end season on a high
The ladies played Team Sunderland who are pushing to finish second in the league. It was always going to be a tough game but the girls had a goal to have beat everyone in the league once during the season save for league champions Sheffield.
The girls shot out the blocks immediately applying the pressure. Sunderland called a time out at 2-7 down but could not disrupt Clare's run of 6 serves as Riga took an 11-2 lead. From there Riga were in control with Julie and Enrica commanding the pass giving Clare options to find Alex and Sophie who hit clean winners. Excellent blocking from Mim and Sylwia kept up the pressure and Sunderland's second time out came at 8-22. Riga took the set 25-10.
Jon Chetham - Coach of the Year 2017!
Volleyball England awarded Jon Chetham the title of Coach of the Year 2017 at the National Cup Finals on Saturday. The Volleyball England annual awards include a number of categories and recognise the success of so many volunteers within the Sport of Volleyball. Coach of the Year is a hotly contested category and Jon fought off competition from over 20 other entries to take the title this year. He was presented with his award at the National Volleyball Cup Finals in Kettering on Saturday by Janet Inman. After receiving his award Jon then presented the winners medals and trophy to IBB Polonia who had just beaten Sheffield in a thrilling final.
CONGRATULATIONS JON!
Recreational sessions - goodbye Mumtaz
This week we sadly say Goodbye and Good Luck to Mumtaz who has been training with us at Bablake for the last 4 years as he moves on with work. It's been great having you Mumtaz and we hope to see you back on the court soon! A reminder Riga's recreational sessions continue every Thursday at Bablake school in Coventry from 6.30pm. Come long and get involved! #goriga
A Riga Winning weekend
This weekend saw Riga host four NVL games at Alan Higgs Centre. Saturday both teams played Darkstar Derbyshire and on Sunday Riga ladies played Tameside and Riga Men Sunderland City Predators. It was a weekend with all to play for at a crucial point in the season.
Men's NVL new kit!
The Mens National League team looking good in their new kit! A very generous donation from Club President Zano has enabled us to get the men a new kit in club colours! The men are also on the hunt for new players - see article below for more details. #goriga
West Midlands Ladies new kit
The West Midlands ladies looking good in their new kit! A very generous donation from Club President Zano has enabled us to get the ladies a new kit and so far it is proving lucky with the ladies beating Uni of Birmingham in it twice! #goriga
Women earn another trip to Durham after defeating Wombourne in the Cup
Riga ladies hosted Wombourne this weekend in the next round of the Volleyball England National Cup. Riga ladies got off to a non-steady start with a run of service errors in a row - fortunately mirrored by Wombourne! Eventually the ladies began to find their form. Pass from stand-in libero Jackie saw Sophie able to distribute the ball well with attacks from Bella and Marcela. Strong serving from Mim put Riga nicely ahead. A double substitution saw Clare and Alex join the fray at 23-14. Clare served two aces and then set to Alex to enable her to clinch the winning point - what a double substitution!
NVL 2016/7 fixtures - out now!
The league fixtures for the mens and ladies NVL teams are now finalised. You can see these by either viewing Clicking teams on the top menu, then NVL Men/Women and then fixtures and results or they are all included in the calendar which you can access via the top menu.
Get those dates in your diary - particularly the home fixtures where for the majority of fixtures the men and ladies play back to back giving you two great games to watch!
Mens and ladies training also restarts w/c 15 August as the teams prepare for the new season ahead. #letsgoRiga!
Your new Committee for 2016-7
This year's AGM was held on 30 July at Ginny's house. We were treated to a delicious homemade chilli and curry as well as a selection of pizzas! The sun shone beautifully over the meeting as the new committee were elected to take the Club forward into 2016/7.
Click read more below to see your new committee and for some pics of the fun on the day!
Riga summer tournament success at new venue
This year's Riga summer tournament was a success at its new venue at the University of Warwick. The sun shone as the team's battled it out for the coveted trophies!
Riga Marvels were the winners on the day. Great fun was had by all. Thanks to Chris and John for all their hard work organising the day. Looking forward to new year! Click read more below for the pictures from the day.