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Archeived news for 2002

Now I am back in Norway after a fantastic week in Brazil, Vitoria. I am very happy to announce our first victory in FIVB World Tour. Hilde and I have won matches in FIVB challenger tournaments before, but so far we have not been able to win in the World Tour. It has been some close matches but we have never been able to pull them in favour of us.

In Vitoria there were 52 teams participating where 20 of these were in the qualification playing for 8 spots in the main draw. Mari and I had a relatively low seed so we were among the eight teams that would have to play the first day. The other two Norwegian teams got a bye in the second round, while we were to play
against a relatively unknown team from Japan. This team had only played two World Tours before, but usually the teams from Japan are quite good, and travelling this far, we expected them to be quite good. We got a good start with a lot of serve aces so we managed to get an early lead and switched sides on 5-2. The Japanese team did not manage to get to net and that made us confident that we could win this match. It also made me very nervous and eager so we actually made some unusual mistakes but still it was enough to win 21-16 and 21-19. In the next match we met the second ranked team Bragado-Wood from USA. They have played together since 1995 and are a really good and experienced team. Our chances were low but still we went for it 100%. We played actually quite well in this match. They started serving on me and I had some strong attacks in the beginning so they switched their strategy and served Mari. Mari had a strong sideout play using the block so they were quite frustrated. We followed them to 9-9 but then my setting was not good enough. I was called a few times and Mari was
blocked down so we didn't manage to win the sideout. The next set started out bad USA got a big lead 8-2, but we managed to fight back in the middle of the set. I was a bit uncomfortable with my setting so Mari started to press the receives on the net so I could hit and it was quite successful so we held status quo the rest of the set but we did not manage to win points on our own serve. The set ended 21-15 and we actually got nice compliments from the American players for our play. This team actually ended 9th in the tournament. We were proud to se that we got as many points as some of the other great American players, which had lost to this team in the playoff. We ended 33rd which is my best result in World Tour this season, only one more win to get into the main draw and that must clearly be the goal for next season?..

Synnøve

Mari and I will go to the last World Tour this year in Vitoria. We will have to play the playoff this time against Byberg/Wiig. Our practice have been good and we are looking forward to this last tournament and a nice stay in beautiful Brazil. We leave tomorrow so we will have a few days there to practise before the tournament starts.

Synnøve

This weekend was the last tournament weekend in Ås, Norway. On Saturday I
(Synnøve) played a mix tournament (Coed) together with Morten and we won.
It was fun to play mix. I have never played mix before, and neither had Morten, so it was exciting to see how it would go playing agaist experienced mix players. Morten is a really good outdoor male player so many thought we would win this tournament - and we did....

On Sunday Hilde and I played the elite tournament. It was the last ranking tournament and there were 12 teams participating. We were divided into four pools. We won our pool and then met Bersås/Harder in the quarter finals. We won 2-0 and then we met Sunde/Løvik in the semi finals. Sunde /Løvik are two good indoor players and Sunde has actually played for the national team for several years. We were happy to win 2-0 and were then ready for the finals. In the finals we met Erlandsen/Øfstaas. They have played beach volleyball for many years and Marit Erlandsen won the National Championship in 1998 together with Gro S. Kateraas, after coming second the two previous years (1996-97). Marit Erlandsen is also what we can call a legend in Norwegian volleyball and she is a positive role model for many of today's players. Their routine and fighting spirit is really good and they won 2-0. The first set was quite clear. We had a really bad side-out trying to do extreme solutions. In the second set our play was better. The set was quite close but unfortunately we made some mistakes on serve while they got some aces - so they won 21-19. Anyway, this has been a great weekend for us. Oslo beach volleyball club had a price for the best overall team during the 9 tournaments that have been arranged, and we won - so now we can call ourselves "east-coast champions".

They also had a lottery were one of the female and one of the male players could win a travel check worth 5.000 NOK, and I (Synnøve) was lucky to win
this check. So this might cover a training camp somewhere in the beginning of the next season....

Now I am looking forward to go to Brazil to play the last world tour this year. Unfortunately Hilde can't go due to her economic and working situation. It is expensive to travel as much as we have done, and this year we have had no economic support except from the tournaments where we have won price money. Is there anyone out there with a lot of money??? I will go to Brazil together with Mari Evensen and we will have to play the country quota against Byberg/Wiig to get into the qualification.

Synnøve

This weekend we played the Norwegian Championship in Trondheim. We have
been looking forward to this tournament from the beginning of the season
because it is always fun to compete when all the best Norwegian teams are
present and fit for fight. The weather was perfect. It was warm and sunny
and the arrangement was well prepared. It was perfect to have the Norwegian
Championship in Trondheim just after the schools have started. There were
many happy and cheering spectators from Friday to Sunday.

There were 12 teams that had made it to the main draw. And these teams were
divided into four pools. There were two strong teams in our pool;
Evensen/Lekven and Dreyer/Ås. We did not know anything about Dreyer/Ås
except that Dreyer had a price for being the best woman player indoor last
season and that Ås is on the national team indoor. Dreyer/Ås started by
beating Evensen/Lekven in the first match 2-1. This meant that if we won
2-0 we would be guaranteed to advance to the quarter final, and so we did.
We got an early lead in the match without playing our best so we were quite
confident about our gameplan. We won the match 21-17 and 21-14.

The next match we played against Evensen/Lekven. They had to win to advance
to the quarter final, and we would only need one set to win our pool. I
think they were more eager than us to win so they won 21-15 and 22-20. This
meant that we were second in our pool behind Evensen/Lekven. We were happy
to meet Josefsen/Hansen in the quarter final. We have a good statistics
playing Josefsen in the Norwegian championship and we have played quite
even with them in Nisser and in Bergen. We have never succeeded fully with
our gameplan but this time we did. We lost the first set 21-15 after some
problems in reception but then we won the other two 21-16 and 15-12.

We were quite happy to advance to the semi finals. We played against
Håkedal/Tørlen. They have won all the Norwegian tournaments when
Glesnes/Maaseide has not been present so they are a really strong team.
Still we have also played even with them in Nisser and in Kristiansand. We
started quite good with a two point lead and managed to play even with them
until 17. Unfortunately we lost 21-18. In the second set both teams had
much more pressure on serve and I think we made at least 10 mistakes on
serve (which means we gave them 10 points) while they had a lot of aces.
They won the second set 21-14.

In the bronze finals we played Byberg/Wiig. We started again quite good and
were in the lead 6-1. But we made too many unforced errors and lost the set
21-19. The next set was also quite even in the beginning but we lost 21-17.
Overall we are happy to make it to the semi-finals and we enjoyed playing
the bronse finals at the main arena with a lot of spectators.

We continue to play really good in defense and we had a really good
side-out in this tournament. Still we make a few too many mistakes but we
have learned a lot this year and we will continue to improve. Next year we
will go even higher??

H&S

In the beginning of August we went to Osaka, Japan to play in the World Tour there. We were lucky to have a friend of Hilde (Takeshi, a colleague, who worked the same place as Hilde for 3 years) who lives in the suburbs to Osaka, and he was kind enough to let us stay in his apartment. We were very excited about this trip, both because of the exotic place (neither of us have ever been to Japan before), and because we both love sushi, but also because our play had steadily improved over the summer, and we were hoping for a good tournament. We left Norway on Monday morning, and arrived in Osaka the next morning. We were quite tired after the flight, but after settling in at a hotel (we stayed at a hotel near the airport and the venue the first night), we went down to the venue and tested out the sand. The meeting was that same afternoon and we were happy to learn that our first game was not until Thursday, which meant that we had one more day to adjust to the heat and to the time-difference and to get over the jet-lag. So we spent the next day at the venue (Tannowa beach) practicing with both the other Norwegian teams and a team from Sweden. That evening, we went to Takeshi's apartment and settled in there. We had an early game on Thursday morning (9 am) and had to spend approximately 2 hours on the commuter train from his apartment to get to the venue. But it was OK, since one should always get up at least 3 hours before the start of a match anyway, so we spent the time on the train to work on our game-plan and to prepare for the match. I forgot to mention the heat wave in Osaka! It was about 37 degrees Celsius, and with the humidity, it felt like over 40. But actually, neither Synnøve nor I were really bothered that much about the heat. In fact, we both love the sun and the heat (which you should do when you play beach volleyball!), but of course it is really important to drink enough to avoid getting dehydrated. Even when we started our game, at 9 am, it was already really hot, with the sun burning from a clear blue sky!

We were playing against New Zealand's first ranked team, a team that has done quite well and qualified for themain draw several times. However, we feel that this is a team that we have good chances to beat, so we had high hopes and a good fighting spirit for this match. And we played really well! Our side-outs were stable, with great hits and smart shots (especially Synnøve had a great variation on her side-out attacks!), and we won the first set quite confident 21-15. We have been practicing a lot on our setting lately, and it was really great to feel that the setting had improved so much, and we were now able to "play around" more with our attacks. The next set was really close, with both teams playing well and keeping most of the side-outs. The New Zealand team had increased their pressure on serve, and it paid off: they won the second set barely 21-19. We were a bit disappointed to have lost the second set. It was so close all the way, but we felt that we should have managed to end it in our favor. In the third set, the New Zealand team had the extra "edge" that was needed, and they increased their pressure on serve, and improved their own defense and side-out play. Then we had to increase the pressure as well, and started to do more extreme things in the shots and hits. We still played really well, but had some unfortunate "bad luck" with shots that were about 10 cm outside of the line.... We lost the last set 15-8, and walked off the court with a mixed feeling of being happy since we feel that we have really improved our play, but still disappointed since we lost a game that we had the best chance ever to win. But as someone said: first you loose 0-2, then you loose 1-2, and THEN you win 2-1, before you start winning 2-0. So we feel that we are well on our way to winning games against good international teams.

Also the rest of the stay was great! First we got to watch the other Norwegian teams play their matches, but unfortunately they both lost 2-0 and were out of the tournament just as fast as us. The next days we both practiced and watched a lot of good beach volleyball throughout the tournament, but what stands most out to me, is the dinners we had three nights we went out to eat with Takeshi. He first brought us to a really high-quality sushi-bar, and treated us with a dream of a meal with sashimi (raw see-food), sushi and different soups. It is impossible to explain how delicious it was! And what an experience for us to try all these new see-food dishes (like live lobster!!). We were totally astonished, and took LOTS of pictures of all the delicate food they brought out to us. Another evening he took us to another Japanese restaurant, where the chef even showed us how to make some of the different dishes! Great fun! We also went one day to the food market in Kyoto, and we had great fun walking around looking at the different food. He also took us sightseeing, and showed us both Kyoto and Nara, with temples, great view from a hill-side over Nara, and a final dinner at another traditional Japanese restaurant. I now know that I love Japanese cooking!

We had a great stay in Osaka, that was a mixture of a great beachvolleyball tournament (with good play and lots of practice) and tourist-vacation with sightseeing and great Japanese cooking. I (Hilde) also managed to add in some work. Since Takeshi now works in a laboratory in Osaka, he invited me to give a talk about my current work, and we also had some discussions over other work-related issues. This type of work is all just fun, and I would be more than happy to go back another time!

Hilde & Synnøve

This weekend we played the ranking tournament in Finstad, Eidsvoll. There were 6 teams participating in the womans elite-class, and these were divided into two pools. None of the best female teams were there so we were expected to win this tournament. We won our pool quite confident. And also the semi-finals and the finals was quite clear. The other teams got around 10 points maximum. Our play is getting better and better and especially when the sand is quite hard we have strong sideouts. We continue to play really good in defense that is why we manage to win so clearly.

H&S

Sorry that it has taken a while without reports on the results from
Karmøy and Rhodes. Usually we have someone to update the news for us while we are travelling but this time it was impossible. Anyway we are happy to say that we came second after a great tournament in Karmøy. The weather forecast had threatened with rain and cold weather, so we were prepared with raincoats and warm clothes. But no, we took of from Oslo in rain, but landed on Karmøy in great sunshine and beautiful weather. It's a really nice tournament they have here every year, with competitions in all classes, and the beach "Sandvesanden" is filled with beachvolleyball nets and happy players - and of course BBQ.

There were 8 teams participating in the womans elite-class, and these were divided into two pools. We won our pool quite confident. Although we still make a few too many mistakes, we played really good in defense in this tournament and therefore we managend to break the other teams' sideout and won the sets with a solid score. In the semi finals we played against Bjerkeset/Welle. This team has played beachvolleyball for a long time but we have never played them before so we where exited about this match. We started with a good pressure on serve and managed to get an early lead. We won 2-0.

In the finals we met Byberg/Wiig which is the second ranket team in Norway
after Glesnes / Maaseide. They beat us in Hammerfest and we wanted to get
our revenge. however, they had a good pressure on serve and made it difficult for us
to win the sideouts. We lost 2-0 but overall we are happy with this tournament. It is great to see that we now win the matches we are supposed to win beacuse last year we played more even with a lot of these teams.

We played all the matches on one day, because both Byberg/Wiig and we were going to Rhodes the next morning to play in the qualification to the World Tour there. So 5 matches in one day were a bit much, but it was necessary to get the tournament finished in time for our flights to Oslo and Rhodes. Thanks to Kristine (Wiig) who let us spend the night in her house - you are so nice. And also thanks to the taxi-driver the next morning, that "saved" us so that we didn't miss our flight (we didn't know that there was no busses going on Sunday mornings, so we had to take a taxi out to the airport...).

Well, we all made it to Rhodes, and came down to beautiful weather and great Greek food: Tzatziki, Greek salad, chicken souvlaki, and a "frappe" at the end. The tournament didn't start until Wednesday, so we had several nice days with practice. Unfortunately, it started to get quite windy by the time we should play our first game, and we met a Greek team that we had hoped to beat, but our play was set back in the quite heavy wind, and we didn't manage to pull it in. In the first set our sets were called several times so we had to bump set the rest of the match. We lost 2-0 and were quite disappointed. However, after that, we had several great sessions practicing with foreign teams and with two of the other Norwegian teams (Byberg/Wiig and Glesnes/Maaseide), We were happy that we played more even with Byberg/Wiig this time after losing the finals against them both in Hammerfest and in Karmøy, we managed to play well and won a set-21-19 and lost one 21-19. Again this shows that we have a great benefit from these stays abroad practicing with and watching great teams. It was also very fun to see the other Norwegian team Håkedal/Tørlen qualify for the main draw. There were a lot of Norwegian tourists cheering for the Norwegian teams, as well as watching great volleyball being played in Rhodes City.

Another two hectic weeks are over, and we are enjoying the warm summer weather here in Oslo. We came back to Norway (Oslo) on Sunday night (Monday morning) and we have both had a hectic week at work, trying to get everything ready before we go to Japan on Monday morning. But with the great weather that's been here in Oslo this week, we have had time for several good practice sessions with different teams, and we are constantly improving our play. A great step forward happened today, when we got some help from an American coach, John Eddo, who happens to be here on vacation. We are very grateful to all your input, drills, and good suggestions!!

H&S

This weekend we played a Norwegian ranking tournament in Hammerfest. We have now been there three years in a row, and we have always played in the finals. Last year we won this tournament. It is always fun to go to this tournament because the setting and organization of this tournament is just perfect. The people are very nice and the nature is beautiful with the midnight sun and reindeer walking in the streets.

There were six Norwegian teams this time and we were divided into two groups. We were in the group with Evensen/Lekven and Hansen/Karlsen. The first match was a really easy win against Lekven/Evensen because they never showed up and we won 2-0 (21-0, 21-0). The second match we also won quite confident 2-0 (21-13, 21-13). This meant that we won our group and we should play the semi finals against the second team in the other group: Narvesen-Molnes. We won 2-0 (21-6, 21-10). In the finals we met the second ranked Norwegian team Byberg/Wiig. The first set was quite close, but we made a few too any unforced errors and lost 21-18. In the second set they had a good pressure on serve and managed to take the lead 6-1. This was too much to catch up with and we lost the match 2-0.

Still we were happy to finish second in this tournament, and we won 6000 NOK, which is a great help to our travel budget since we pay all our expenses ourselves.

Next up is a Norwegian ranking tournament in Karmøy on Saturday, and on Sunday we go to the next world tour event in Rhodes.

H+S

Today we are happy to announce our new collaboration with Bollé, who is now sponsoring us with sunglasses. As you all know, sunglasses are an essential part of our equipment as beachvolleyball players, and we are very happy to have closed this deal with Bollé. They have several different styles of sunglasses, designed for different use, and the most important model for us playing beachvolleyball ( Parole model) comes with exchangeable glasses, so that we can use glasses suitable for different light conditions. Bollé is a brand that specializes in creating sunglasses designed for sport. They are already the sponsors of great beachvolleyball players like Kerri Pottharst (Olympic gold medallist from Australia) and Karch Kiraly (a legend in beachvolleyball), and beachvolleyball is one of their target sports, so check out their great sunglasses at their web site. (http://www.bolle.com/)

H & S

It has been some very busy days lately, and unfortunately we haven't had time to update our news until now.

First, we went to Ålesund in the western part of Norway to play a Norwegian ranking tournament. We managed to win the matches that we "should" win, but our play was not so good against two teams that we have to play our best to be able to win. After loosing 2-0 to Hakedal Tørlen in our group we had to play against the second ranked team Byberg/Wiig and we lost 2-0. We finished 3rd, "as expected". Anyway, the setting (and organization) of the tournament was really good, with helpful and friendly organizers, and we'd love to come back next year!

We then returned to Oslo and had a few days of really good practice, before we went to Kristiansand (in the south of Norway) to play the second Norwegian "City Tour". Here we finished 4th. We lost the semi finals against Hakedal/Tørlen 2-0. This team has won all Norwegian tournaments where Norway's first team Maaseide/Glesnes has participated so at the time they have the little extra. Our play was better and we lost 21-18 in the second set. We hope to get closer next time.

Now, we just came back from the third World Tour event of the year (which is still ongoing) in Stavanger, in the western part of Norway. Again, we feel that our play is improving, but unfortunately, it is now single elimination in the qualification tournament, and we met a strong Swedish team in our first match (Uddstahl-Warner) and lost 21-16, 21-18. We still have a way to go, but the clear improvements in our play - both defense, setting and smashing - is encouraging for further practice and play. We won most of our side-outs, but made a few more mistakes than the Swedish team. We also had a bit to many serv-errors, and then it is hard to catch up with the other team if they get a 1-2-point lead. Despite of the loss, it was a great experience to play on a "home-court" with so many people cheering for us! We played on the center-court and we really appreciate the cheering from the spectators. The weather was a bit cold with rain when we played, but with our excellent clothing sponsor (Röhnisch) we had great clothes to play in. Later the same day, the weather got warmer with sunshine, so overall, it wasn't too bad. For the rest of the tournament, it was rather "changing" weather, from hot and sunshine, to cold with heavy rain! But the great crowds of Stavanger did not let us down, they were filling the stands of the center-court, cheering for all the Norwegian teams! Now we are back in Oslo working and practicing, and looking forward to the next tournament next weekend (July 12th-14th) in Hammerfest: Arctic Open! Last year we won this tournament and we are looking forward to play there again.

H & S

We just came back from the second World Tour event of the year in Gstaad, Switzerland. Unfortunately, we - like all the other Norwegian (and Swedish) teams in the qualification - lost our first match, and with single elimination, we were out of the tournament. We are not happy with our play in that match, but we learned a lot about our own play, and expect to grow on this experience.

We are very happy to see that Glesnes-Maaseide, our Norwegian number 1 team (who is directly qualified for the Main draw), defended the Norwegian honor today by winning over the famous Brazilian team of Shelda and Adriana Behar!! We wish them all the best luck in the rest of the tournament, and we will follow them closely on the Internet! However, there is no time to lay back and rest; now we only have two days of practice here in Oslo, before we play our next tournament this weekend, a Norwegian Ranking tournament in Ålesund on the west coast. Then the weekend after, is a Norwegian "city tour" in Kristiansand, before the great event of this season: The World Tour in Stavanger!! There is so much to look forward to this summer, and a lot of new chances to play well!

S&H

After winning a close first set (22-20) against the Swedish team, we felt confident in our play and had good hopes for winning the match. Unfortunately, we started out a bit slow in the second set, and then we were really unlucky: We crashed into each other - head to head - and unfortunately we never got back into the match after that. Synnøve had played a ball in defense and was backing away from it, and I - standing behind her -moved forward to pass the ball. I had my eyes on the ball and didn't see her when she through herself backwards away from the ball. Her back-head hit me (smack) in the middle of my face, and we both went down for "a count". Felt like a knock out in the boxing ring. Well, we lost the match 1-2, and then the Swedish team had made it to the semi-finals, since they won against the Finish team earlier in the day. We then played our next match right away, and we managed to find back to our good play, and won 2-0 over the Finish team (can't remember the exact score, but we felt confident all the way). We ended 2.nd in our pool, and that means that we finished 5.th in the tournament. Tomorrow, Two Norwegian teams meet in the first semi-finals (Byberg/Wiig - Haakedal/-Tørlen), and two Swedish teams play in the second semi. So, either way, the finals tomorrow morning will be between Norway and Sweden.

Next, we go to Gstaad, Switzerland early on Monday morning, to play the second World Tour of the season. There are more than 80 teams in the qualification, and with only 8 teams that can qualify, it's going to be a though tournament. We hope to get some good matches, and are looking forward to the first joint men and women's World Tour of this year. And from now on, it's new tournaments every week. We are really looking forward to it!

H & S

Tomorrow we will play the Nordic Open at Rådhusplassen in Oslo. There are 12 teams in the main draw. The teams are divided into four groups. We will play against a Finnsih and a Swedish team. We do not know anything about them but we will watch them play against eachother in the first match. It is always fun to play against new teams so we are looking forward to it. It is also a good preparation for the next World Tour that will take place in Gstaad Switzerland on Tuesday.

H & S

Four Norwegian teams went to Madrid to play for three spots in the World Tour qualification. FIVB set up a 6 team bracket - so the third and the fourt ranked team had to play for one spot. Since we are ranket two we and Byberg/Wiig were directly qualified. Håkedal/Tørlen won a thriller of a match against Josefsen/Hansen 2-1 (15-13 in the last set).It was very unfortunate for the team that did not qualify. Josefsen/Hansen had acctually been told from our federation that it was not certain that we should play a national playoff - so they were really dissapointed. I also think they were quite confident that they would win the national playoff since these two teams have had better results in the two Norwegian tournaments than the two that were directly qualified. We were lucky..., although we have played even with two of these teams so we think we would have a fair chance anyway.

There were 55 teams qualified for the qualification. We were ranked 17 and got a buy in the first round. This meant that we woul only have to win too more matches to qualify for the main draw. We played against Austria and started really good and had a lead 7-3. We lead the set all the way til the end but lost 23-21. Like so many times before we start to play safely when we have a good lead. In the second set we also started out with a lead 7-3. This set was even until 16-16 but again we stopped playing ou best and lost 21-17. It was a close match and from time to time we played very good. We now see that it is possible to qualify on a good day.

The Norwegian teams placed as follows:
41st Byberg/Wiig
41st Shjerven/Øyra
57th Håkedal/Tørlen

H & S

It was fun to play in Bergen this weekend. All the best Norwegian female teams were there. From time to time our play was really good.

The first match was against a young and talented team that normally wins the Norwegian junior championships. This match was ours from the start and we won quite convenient 2-0

The second match was against the second ranked team in Norway. We played a very good match and were in the lead from the start. Unfortunately in the end of the set we started playing safely to avoid mistakes so they managed to catch back and we made a few unfortunate mistakes in the end of the set so they won 21-19. The second set was quite similar. We started with a lead but instead of keeping the good fighting spirit we slowed down to secure the set but then again we made it too easy for them and we made a lot of mistakes especially on serve. They won 2-0 but it was a very close match.

The next match was against Josefsen/Hansen. We played them last weekend and played quite even with them - so we had good hopes. Unfortunately we had a terrible first set making a lot of mistakes in reception and we gave up this set early. In the next set we started playing really good and we had a good lead just like last weekend but again we make it too easy in the end and they fought back and won 21-19.

Maaseide Glesnes won the finals against Hakedal/Tørlen. Josefsen/Hansen won the bronse finals against Byberg/Wiig. We ended fifth in this tournamant but except from Maaseide/Glesnes we are able to play quite event with the next three teams.

At our best we play really good and we have good hopes for our next tournament in Madrid. It will be a really tough tournament because first we will have to play a playoff against three other Norwegian teams. Three team will be able to play the qualification and 65 teams have signed up for the qualification. Only 8 teams will qualify for the main draw. We are looking forward to see how the Norwegian teams perform in this tournament.

H & S

The first tournament is over and we ended 4th. We started out playing against the best norwegian team Glesnes/Maaseide. We lost 21-10 and 21-18. In the first set we we didn't offer them any competition at all but in the next set we played with a little more enthusiasm. Hilde played great in defense!!!

The next match we played against Hoem/Evensen. They do not normally play together but both are good players and this was the most open match in our group. We won 2-1. The first set was quite strange because we had no enthusiasm and fighting spirit. We just tried to avoid mistakes but against this team we also have to put som pressure on them. In the next set we had this spirit and won quite clearly.

The third match was against for us an unknown team which haven't played many tournaments. We won 2-0 and ended up second in our group after Maaseide /Glesnes.

In the semi-finals we played agaist the number one from the other group Hakedal/Tørlen. This is a strong team with high ambitions and potential. They have spent a lot of time abroad this year just playing beachvolley. We started out with a lead and played even with them in the beginning of the first set but until around 16-17 points then we didn't manage to do the side-outs and they were ahead. In the second set we had problems making the side-outs from the beginning and we played really bad defence. We never managed to fight back.

In the bronse finals we met Josefsen/Hansen wich ended up second in their group after beeting the second ranked team in Norway Byberg/Wiig. In the first set we started out playing very good especially on serve at we had a great lead but lost 21-19. In the second set they played better and our play was messy. We didn't do the side-outs we should and lost quite clearly.

The final results in Nisser were as follows:
1st: Maaseide/Glesnes
2nd: Håkedal/Tørlen
3rd: Josefsen/Hansen
4th: Schjerven/Øyra
5th: Byberg/Wiig
5th: Evensen/Hoem
5th: Andersen/Rødland

It was a great experience but in this tournament our played differed from very good to extremely bad so we still have to work to become more stable. And when we play our best we should win a few more matches. We are looking forward to play Skansemyren open in Bergen next weekend.

Synnøve

Tomorrow is the first ranking tournament this season and we are really looking forward to it. It takes place in Treungen in Telemark and all the best Norwegian female teams are there. It will we fun to see how it goes. We will start the tournament playing the best Norwegian team Glesnes/Maaseide. They have had a great development the last few years and is of course clear favorites in this tournament, but there are many other teams that have stayed abroad practicing the last year and they will probably not give up their hopes at first.

We are also looking forward to see where we stand this year. Last weekend we played in Ljungby in Sweeden and we ended at third place in the first tournament. We lost against the first seeded sweedish team in the semi-finals after a very close match. Our play varied from very good to not so good. But it is fun to see that we are much more stable this year. Well, lets see how it goes in Nisser.

Synnøve

We are very sorry to those of you who regularly visit our homepage but we have had little to report on the last month. We have been practicing at Torshov and the weather here in Norway has been amasing beeing early spring, with heat records in april.

Now most scedules are ready for the coming season and we will play tournaments almost every weekend this summer. The Norwegian schedule is to be found on NVBF. The Danish tour is also ready, see DVBF. We hope to participate in a few of these Danish tournaments also this year because it is a great mix of beach competition and BBQ and fun. The Swedish calender is also available on SVBF. In fact the Swedish competitions are starting in one week from now and Hilde and I have signed up for two tournaments next weekend. It will be great to start to play matches beacuse that will be an important test for us. We believe we start at much higher level this year than we did last year and especcially our setting and defence have improved a lot.

Unfortunately we have had little time to work with sponsors and two of our sponsors from last year, Sunnfjord Energi and Roche has terminated the contract with us. We are working with some other contacts and some of them are quite promising, we'll see.

FIVB World Tour scedule is also ready and we are looking forward to participate in the first event in Madrid 5th of June. There are some new rules this years which means that only three Norwegian female teams can participate in the qualification. In Madrid four Norwegian qualifyer teams have signed up for this tournament so we have to start the tournament playing against the three other Norwegian teams. One team will have to leave Madrid before the tournament starts. We hope to qualify beacuse we learn a lot every time we get to play against good teams from other countries. During the tournaments last years we also practiced with many teams during the event so the trip to Madrid will be valuable regardless of the results.

Hilde - I love playng with you !!!!! And look forward to this season.....you are great !!!

Synnøve

Tenerife was a great week with a bit unstable weather but mostly it was sunny and warm. We had from four to two sessions every day. We practised with many good teams and we also had some technique sessions on our own. It was nice to practice outdoor again. The first day was a bit different but then we were getting used to the wind and the sun. We had a very good week and we believe we have made a lot of progress during this stay. Now we have actually been back in norway for a week and it is getting spring. It is a bit cold but it is possible to practise outdoor at Torshov. A few other teams have also started practising outdoor so the summer is getting closer and it will be much easier to practise more often.

H&S

We are now in the process of negotiating the collaboration with different sponsors for the coming season, and we are very happy to announce that our agreement with Rõhnisch has been renewed. Rõhnisch Sportswear has been our sponsor for clothing since last season, and they have excellent women's clothing that we are looking forward to promote for them. The clothes are perfect to wear for beach volleyball players, just check out their new collection for the Spring&Summer 2002 at their web-site (link).

H&S

After some back and forth about where to go during the Easter holidays to practice beach volleyball, we have decided to go to Tenerife. Many teams are spending time there to prepare for the coming season, among others the Norwegian National Team for women, Glesnes/Maaseide (although they are spending their Easter vacation elsewhere), and the two Men's National Teams, Kjemperud/Hoidalen and Maaseide/Horrem. We assume that their choice guarantees the quality of the conditions down there for practicing! :=) We hope to meet some of the other teams from Europe that we have met and practiced with during the different World Tour tournaments last season. We are really looking forward to getting outdoors in the sun (and the wind..) to play some beach volleyball again. For now, we continue our strength training and also practice in the indoor beach volleyball court in Akropolis, Drammen. We have our last match with the indoor volleyball team (Lier Elite) now on Sunday, and after that, we can focus 100% on beach volleyball.

H&S

It has been a while because we have not had much to report on since the World Tour in Brasil. As you might have seen, the FIVB calendar for Women is ready (see Activities) with 11 World Tours for women (and only 10 for Men!). And now, we are in the middle of our preparation for the coming beachvolleyball season. Until last Sunday (when Hilde twisted her ankle) we were having a good period with both practice on sand in Akropolis (in Drammen), practicing indoor volleyball with Lier, and following our program in strength training (resistance training). Now, Hilde have to take a break from the sand- and indoor practice, but we are "pumping up" on the strength training (thanks to Dariusz Marszalek for the strength program that we got in September!) and we are happy to notice great improvement every time we test ourselves (every 6th week)! It's fun to practice, when you see the improvement so clearly! We are also planning to go somewhere during the Easter holidays to practice beachvolleyball outdoors, and get a "head" start on the season! We hope to find a good place to practice where there are other teams to practice with. We'll come with more news when we know some more about the Easter holidays.

S&H

more news from 2001