In his 3rd season abroad in Europe, Vegas Ramblers Opposite Ryan Mather has been continuing his success from the 2021 NVA season by leading his new team Nordenskov UIF in the Danish Premier League. Previous to joining the Ramblers, Mather played in Finland in 2017/18 and Luxembourg in 2019/20. The reigning top-NVA Opposite now finds himself in Denmark, near the South-West coast in the small town of Nordenskov near the seaport town of Esbjerg. In previous years, the team has been home to other NVA Players, including previous Stunner’s Outside Hitter’s Chris Chapelle and Louis Richards and new Rambler’s addition, Setter Spencer Andrews.
Over the Christmas break, Ryan had this to say looking back on his year with Nordenskov…
“It has been a bit of a change coming from Los Angeles to Nordenskov. There are over 600 people that live in the town, which is a cool experience for me. Living in the middle of nowhere rather than a big metropolitan city in Southern California. That’s why I love playing overseas, one, the volleyball is awesome, but two, experiencing towns and areas I wouldn’t normally visit. It’s been a great time so far, and I’m excited to get into the 2nd half of the season” stated Mather.
So far this season, Ryan has led the league as the top scorer, currently leading the rankings in points per set ratio at 5.6 (235/42). Mather also led the league for the entire first half of the season as the top player in total points, just falling behind by 5 points as this article was being written, to last year’s top opposite, Varming Sigurd Neltoft. Varming managed to snag the lead, having played one more game than Mather since coming back from the break. Mather is still a top-ten player in other statistical categories as well, ranked; 5th for aces per set (17/42), 7th in attack efficiency (51%, 205/399), and 8th in total aces at 17, and can quickly retake the lead during his next match.
Nordenskov UIF will certainly need Ryan to maintain his form as they push to move up from 8th place and secure a better seed for the finals. There is plenty of volleyball left in the second half of the season and plenty of chances to catch Mather in action. You can show your support by watching matches live on Volleyball Denmark’s website by following the link below. Their next game is against the 7th place team DHV Odense on January 29th, 2022, at 2pm CET and 5am PST. Also, be sure to go give Ryan Mather (@rmather10) a follow on Instagram to get a behind-the-scenes look at his time in Nordenskov!
Volley Denmark Live Stream and Statistics Website
https://dvbf-web.dataproject.com/CompetitionHome.aspx?ID=118
-NVA Staff Writer