Orange Angels U20 on the road again

This weekend, the Fiba U20 Women’s European Champion 2018 will take place in Sopron, Hungary. The Netherlands, also known as the Orange Angels, will compete in the A division again. Last year, they were ranked 13^th during the championships. What will the Angels achieve this year? They were classified in group D, competing against Belgium, Portugal and Spain.

New coach, (some) new players

According to the selection for this event, we are reunited with six players who played for the U20 last year: Laura Westerik, who got an average of 12,4 points and 7,4 rebounds. Ilse Kuijt, who made almost 36% of her threepointers. The now 17-year-old Mia Hordijk from Grasshoppers Katwijk and Katoo Koenen, Yfke Hoek and Noortje Driessen are also players from last year. Julia Jorritsma and Noëlle Droste came from last year’s U18 team, where they were ranked 11^th. Famke hermans, Rosalie Aandewiel, Milou Vennema and Lynn Tamis are the last four players of U20.

Changes in the coaching staff

Meindert van Veen was the head coach from last year’s event, where the Angels ,as said, were ranked 13^th. Van Veen will move on to the Angels U18, and Laki Lakner will take care of the U20 of this year. The Dutch / Croatian coach won in 2017 with his Landslake Lions in Landsmeer the championship of the Promotiedivisie. Also new in the coaching staff: Molly McDowell. Last year she was the head coach of U18. For this year she will be the assistant coach. Just like Lakner, McDowell knows what it is to become a champion in Landsmeer.

Preparation

The Angels played their first game in their own Sporthallen Zuid. The first opponent was Luxembourg, twice. In the first game, the Lions came up short by eight points: 60-68, but won the second game with 63-55. After Luxembourg, the Angels went to Sibenik to compete against Croatia. Just like the games against Luxembourg, the Angels won their second game against Croatia. Although they lost with 69-58 first, they won the second game with a bigger differential in the win against Croatia: 58-84.

The last stop for the Angels was in Ferrol, where they played three games. The first one was against the champion from last year and the last opponent in the group phase: Spain. In the first 20 minutes, Spain led by only seven points. But after halftime, Spain decided the game to win with 77-55. Against Serbia and Hungary, the Angels could not win as well. They have until 7 July to prepare themselves before playing the first game. U20 showed us many great performances before, so who knows what they are capable of!

Roster

– #0: Famke Hermans (Almonte)
– #4: Ilse Kuijt (Solar-systemen Grasshoppers)
– #5: Mia Hordijk (Solar-systemen Grasshoppers)
– #6: Noortje Driessen (Solar-systemen Grasshoppers)
– #7: Rosalie Aandewiel (Solar-systemen Grasshoppers)
– #8: Julia Jorritsma (CTO Amsterdam)
– #9: Milou Vennema (Landslake Lions)
– #10: Yfke Hoek (KEUS/Royal Eagles)
– #11: Laura Westerik (KEUS/Royal Eagles)
– #12: Katoo Koenen (Lekdetec.nl / CTO Amsterdam)
– #14: Lynn Tamis (Dozy BV Den Helder / CTO Amsterdam)
– #15: Noëlle Droste (Jolly Jumpers)

Staff:

Head coach: Laki Lakner

Assistant coach: Molly McDowell

Assistant coach: Thijs Volmer

Team manager: Leszek Rutkowski

Physiotherapist: Manual Fysion