Naas Cobras Beat Santry in Historic Win

Naas Cobras Win Historic Victory over Santry 3-1
13-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-16

Naas Premier Volleyball Team have ended the first half of their season
on a major high after beating one of the top sides in the country.

The Cobras have had a rollercoaster season to date but are now back on
track after winning out against Dublin side Santry at the weekend.

It's the first time that Naas has ever beaten Santry who were firm
favourites to win this match.

At first, it looked like the Dublin side were heading for an easy
victory after beating Naas 25-13 in the first set.

But something changed for the better in Naas in the second set.

The Cobras have been training superbly for weeks now but that hasn’t
translated on court.

A golfing psychologist specialist had a few words with the girls
earlier in the week about learning to deal with mistakes and whatever
he said seemed to work in the second set.

All of a sudden a completely different Naas side was playing on court.

Their attack went into overdrive and Santry’s defense simply couldn’t
deal with it.

The power duo of Karen and Sarah Benn also blocked every ball sent
their way by Santry so the Dublin side struggled massively with their
attack.

This helped Naas win the second set 25-23.

The third set started badly for Naas and they went 6-1 down. But they
refused to be discouraged.

Phenomenal hitting by Lisa Rohan and Debbie Murray allowed the girls
back into the set.. The Cobras then scored
about 10 points in a row with no response from Santry .

They eventually closed out the third set 25-21.
.
Naas were now well and truly in their own grove and seemed untouchable
at this point. They played possibly their finest volleyball of the
season in the fourth set.

Wing player Sharon Lee excelled in defence alongside libero Emily
Ryan. While setter Kate Ryan kept Santry
guessing by constantly setting up different hitters for attack.

Santry were frustrated and confused at this point. The Dublin side
knew losing to Naas would seriously jeopordise their chance of winning
the league.

Their nerves showed with numerous errors which allowed Naas to close
out the set 25-16 and win the match.
An excited captain Claire Walsh said afterwards:

‘’This is one of the best days ever for the club. Everyone is so proud
of each other. We’ve been training so hard for this so it’s brilliant
to finally beat Santry.’’

Team: Claire Walsh (c ), Emily Ryan, Kate Ryan, Lisa Rohan, Debbie
Murray, Sharon Lee, Claire Treacy, Aoife Carroll, Karen Benn, Sarah
Benn, Stephanie Grogan