Taking part in Prague Rainbow Spring during the long weekend of May has become a tradition for Volup.  Last year all three teams representing Volup won their medals:  Gold ( A level), Silver ( B) and bronze (C). So this year we wanted to do better and win gold medals in all categories...

Volup A playing without one of its best players , Jarek, was about to fight for winning the tournament for the second consecutive year.  But it wasn't easy from the start -  with only 6 players to play and 3 middle players among them -  setting the team was harder than ever.

Only 6 teams applied for the A level and  they  were divided into 2 groups. Two teams winning each group qualified automatically to the semi-finals, and 4  teams from second and third place of each group would fight against each other for two left spots.  It wasn't difficult to see that losing all matches in the group stage wasn't closing any door  to the title! And in that moment no one could even imagine what a long way we would have to come this time...

First two matches were just nightmares. We were beaten by Zurich and Prague very easily. So we finished this group at the bottom of a table, and we didn't look like last year's winners at all. We were about to play quarter finals against the Tai players and loosing third match in a row would mean only one thing - a disaster.

But when we needed it the most we started playing our best - we won the first match and  advanced to the semi-finals!

In that stage we were about to face the team from Zurich that had crushed us just an hour ago...But this time we were a different team. We started strongly taking 7-1 lead after Tom's serve! It was a tough battle but we managed to win it 2-1 and after very poor start we found ourselves in the big final!

Once again we were playing against Prague, but this time we were much stronger! We won the first set easily.  In the second when our opponent had 4 set points at 24-20 we didn't give up. We managed to equal and then won next two points and the match 2-0!

Our victory was a big sensation, because we have come a long way from the bottom of the table to the top! We proved that we are still a team even when we are playing without one of the best players!

Volup B with a very good and strong team was hoping for gold too. The first match was about to start at 9, but the Volup warm up started at 8.55... The players weren't prepared enough but they managed to win the first match 25-24 against Dresden. When Volup started to speed up, no one was able to stop them, they crushed next two opponents: Prague (25-9) and Brussels (25-13)!  In the quarter final the team from London was putting a lot of pressure on our players. We won 15-10, 15-12 after two very tough sets.

In the semi final we faced our fellow team from Wroclaw. We were beaten by them in Volup Summer Cup 2009 so now we had a chance to equal the score. We won the first set 15-11 but in the second Wroclaw was just 2 points away from the tiebreak.  We decided to risk our serve and it really paid off! We won 4 consecutive points and the whole match 2-0! Our final opponent was representing Halle. After Volup A success everybody was waiting for second Gold medal. Unfortunately we have to wait till next year. Tutti Frutti was better in every element and we lost our powerful attack. We tried to change players and our tactics but it was just not enough -  we lost 11-15, 12-15. We promised ourselves that next year we will reach for Gold!

In the first stage Volup C was in the group 1 among four other teams: Prague, Gdynia, Wroclaw and Vienna. Everything was going great right from the start. We were playing concentrated and never letting go. We won all first stage matches and advanced with lots of confidence into top 4. In the semi final we played with team from Paris and still we continued our run winning easily 2-0. So the plan minimum was realised, but we wondered if we can do better...  Pink Dutch Boys Delf, the best team from 2^nd group, didn't lose a set on its way to the final, so it seemed to be a very tough final...

But we weren't going to let this match slip away - we played amazing leading from the start, even the last point (won by us)  which was very controversial , didn't stop as from happiness! !  For some players it was their debut, for some just one of many others, but everybody was celebrating this victory, which came out of the blue!  And we hope for more in the future...!

For the first time in the history we decided to put second team from Warsaw for the C level. At the start boys from new club Krakers from Cracow were about to join the new team called Warsaw Shadows.  But the closer the tournament was the more player's absence Warsaw Shadows had to deal with. In the end there were boys from Warsaw and some guys completed in Prague. Despite of this the atmosphere was very good and we also had a big support. Unfortunately we failed to advance to the semi-finals. We lost three matches but it was very close from winning them - maybe we just weren't lucky enough this time...We hope that there will always be a chance to go to any tournament with at least 4 teams from Volup...

And that's it. Prague Rainbow Spring Tournament is behind us. We thought that we weren't able to do better, but we did and that's something that no other team has ever done! Despite of the fact that Volup is a very young  club, we are very mature and strong! We hope we will prove it every time we'll go on any tournament in the world!