Season in Review

At the conclusion of the regular season matches, the top-8 teams head into the Swedish Championship Playoffs (Svensk Mästeskap Slutspel). Each of the three rounds are played best of five matches, alternating home- and away-games, hosted first by the highest regular-season seeded team. Engelholm finished the series undefeated, was given the first opportunity to select their quarterfinal opponent of teams finishing 5-8, and selected to play us. Hylte/Halmstad finished second and chose to play Sollentuna; 3rd-place Lindesberg selected Örebro and Katrineholm will play Svedala.

Before we head into playoffs, I'd like to take an opportunity to reflect on our achievements, and disappointments, that have taken place throughout this roller coaster season.

MATCHES OF THE YEAR

The best match of the season is, without a doubt, the 4-set victory over Lindesberg on January 24 in Gisle Sportcenter. The first meeting between our two squads was one-sided, heavily dominated by Lindesberg’s attack. With a solid month of matches under our belt, and the home-court advantage, we were ready and focused for redemption. The apex of the match came in the 4th set, when Lauren Rafdal’s 15th kill of the match tied us at 18-18. Our two teams traded points back-and-forth, with every GVK player scoring en route to the 26-24 victory, but it was a wide-attack by Lindesberg that eventually sealed the deal.

Elite Result: 24 Jan: Elite-team defeated 3rd-ranked Lindesberg 3-1 at home (25-21, 20-25, 25-20, 26-24)

While that upset marks our best match of the year, the most important match came against Engelholm on November 15. Despite losing the first two sets by large margins (11-25, 13-25), we fought back to give EVS their first set-loss of the season with a 28-26 win in the 3rd. The confidence gained from our performance fueled two-straight wins over RIG Falköping and KFUM Göteborg, and built a foundation that would be utilized as the season continued.

Elite Result: 15 Nov: GVK took one set, which was Engelholm's first set-loss (11-25, 13-25, 28-26, 15-25)

TEAM HIGHS 

Most Points Scored in 3-set Match 48 points vs RIG (2/14/15)
Most Points Scored in 4-set Match 61 points vs Lindesberg (1/24/15)
Most Points Scored in 5-set Match 71 points vs Örebro (12/13/14)

Most Kills in a 3-set Match 34 kills vs RIG (2/14/15)
Most Kills in a 4-set Match 48 kills vs Lindesberg (1/24/15)
Most Kills in a 5-set Match 50 kills vs Örebro (12/13/14)

Hitting Efficiency in a 3-set Match 27% vs RIG (2/14/15) and Svedala (1/10/15)
Hitting Efficiency in a 4-set Match 26% vs Lindesberg (1/24/15)
Hitting Efficiency in a 5-set Match 25% vs Örebro (12/13/14)

Most Aces in a 3-set Match 10 aces vs Göteborg (1/15/15)
Most Aces in a 4-set Match 17 aces vs RIG (11/22/14)
Most Aces in a 5-set Match 10 aces vs Sollentuna (12/20/14)

Serve Receive Efficiency in a 3-set Match 40% vs Svedala (1/10/15)
Serve Receive Efficiency in a 4-set Match 15% vs Lindesberg (1/24/15)
Serve Receive Efficiency in a 5-set Match 24% vs Örebro (12/13/14)

Most Blocks in a 3-set Match 11 blocks vs Göteborg (11/29/14)
Most Blocks in a 4-set Match 9 blocks (2x) vs RIG (11/22/14) and Svedala (12/20/14)
Most Blocks in a 5-set Match 14 blocks vs Örebro (12/13/14)

INDIVIDUAL HIGHS

Lauren Rafdal (left) Sanna Schultz (right)

Most Points Scored in 3-set Match 
Sanna Schultz, 16 points vs EVS 
Most Points Scored in 4-set Match 
Lauren Rafdal, 21 points vs ÖRE
Most Points Scored in 5-set Match 
Lauren Rafdal, 21 points vs ÖRE

Most Kills in a 3-set Match 
L. Rafdal & S. Schultz, 12 kills
Most Kills in a 4-set Match 
Lauren Rafdal, 20 kills vs ÖRE
Most Kills in a 5-set Match 
Lauren Rafdal, 18 kills vs ÖRE



Hitting Efficiency in a 3-set Match Lisa Tannerfalk 60% (6 kills) vs Hylte/Halmstad
Hitting Efficiency in a 4-set Match Lisa Tannerfalk 53% (8 kills) vs RIG Falköping
Hitting Efficiency in a 5-set Match Lisa Tannerfalk 37% (4 kills) vs KFUM Göteborg

Lisa Tannerfalk hit 22% on the season

Most Aces in a 3-set Match Lauren Rafdal, 5 aces vs KFUM Göteborg
Most Aces in a 4-set Match Mikaela Larsson, Emma Petersson & Sanna Schultz, 5 aces vs RIG
Most Aces in a 5-set Match Mikaela Larsson & Sanna Schultz, 3 aces vs Sollentuna

(L to R) Mikaela Larsson, Lauren Rafdal, Sanna Schultz, Emma Petersson

Serve Receive Efficiency in a 3-set Match Amanda Länkinen, 50% (4 matches)
Serve Receive Efficiency in a 4-set Match Sanna Schultz & Meghan Sherman, 20% vs RIG
Serve Receive Efficiency in a 5-set Match Amanda Länkinen, 46% vs Örebro

(L to R) Meghan Sherman, Amanda Länkinen, Sanna Schultz

Most Blocks in a 3-set Match Lisa Tannerfalk, 5 blocks vs KFUM Göteborg
Most Blocks in a 4-set Match Lisa Tannerfalk, 4 blocks vs RIG Falköping
Most Blocks in a 5-set Match Jollan Åkerlund, 6 blocks vs Örebro

Jollan Åkerlund (7) and Lisa Tannerfalk (9)