FR vs. Croatia

Tonight the Front Range Volleyball Club traveled to the port city of Koper, Slovenia to play a match with the Croatian Junior National team (17 and 18 year olds).  The Croatian JNT traveled 3 hours to play against the U. S. club team, and the level of play was worth the drive. 

With solid blocking, setting, and antenna attacking, the Junior National team from Croatia brought a hard hitting and athletic style of play against the club team from the United States.

Starting for Front Range in the match were, Senior Left side hitter Karina Garlington, Senior Left side hitter Kristy Jaeckel, Senior Middle Blocker Katie Mills, Senior Middle Blocker Becci Burling, Senior Right side hitter Lindsey Licht, Junior Setter Jennah DeVries, and Junior Libero Amanda Arterburn.

Holding the Front Range team to a 28% side out efficiency (ranking how efficiently a team sides out), while siding out at sixty-five percent, the Croatians controlled play in the first set.  Lindsey Licht was the bright spot for Front Range scoring 3 points.  The Croatians won set #1 by a score of 25 – 16.

Set 2 started out better for Front Range and they held the lead late into the set.   With Karina Garlington able to generate 6 points and Licht scoring 5.5 points the Americans were able to side out at 54%.  The Croatians had balanced scoring in set 2, siding out at 63% and defeating Front Range 28 – 26.

Set 3 again saw the Americans with the lead until late in the game.  The set was dominated by the Right Side hitter (#6) for Croatia, she scored 8 points in set 3, and tallied 19 points in the match.  Kristy Jaeckel made her presence felt in set 3 by scoring 5 points, while Garlington chipped in 4 points and Licht 5.5. 

Siding out at 62% to Front Range’s 57%, the Americans fell to the Croatians by a score of 25-22.

The point scoring leaders for the Croatian Junior National team were:
# 6 Right Side = 19 points
# 5 Middle blocker = 13 points
# 15 Left Side hitter = 10 points

The point scoring leaders for Front Range were:
Lindsey Licht ( Right Side) = 14 points
Karina Garlington ( Left Side hitter) = 11 points
Kristy Jaeckel ( Left Side hitter) = 11 points

The match against Croatia capped off a unique tour in which Front Range competed against the German Youth National team (players 15 and 16 years old), the Czech Republic Youth National team, The Bavarian Select team, Slovenian Junior team, and an Austrian Club team.  Combined with remarkable sight-seeing in Germany, Austria and Italy, this tour through Europe was a cultural and competitive experience that was enjoyed by all of our travel party.