Aylesbury Vale Volleyball Club

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Match Report: Volleyers v Vikings, Away 15th October 2006

0-3 loss: 9-25, 16-25, 14-25

Team : Paul Jeffrey, Sara Clark (captain), Phil Mould, Ivan Dunleavy, Jon Glenn, Sid Joshi, Kevin Pistak, Ed Ailsby; Coach: Jeremy Clark.

Officials: Pete Smith (referee), Dave Ramsay (second referee) & Rebecca Little (scorer).

Aylesbury Vale Volleyball Club's second string Vale Volleyers made first team Vale Vikings work hard for a 3-0 win (25-9, 25-16, 25-14) in the intra-club derby match in the Herts League at Sportspace Berkhamsted. A predictable result, but Volleyers put Vikings under pressure at times although not consistently enough to overcome Vikings' overall power advantage.

Siding out on Vikings' first serve allied with good blocking from middle Ivan Dunleavy gave Volleyers' an initial psychological advantage. However Volleyers' passing unit struggled against Vikings' strong service especially from close season signing Artur Figlarski and conceded runs of points in a 9-25 first game loss. Volleyers rallied in the second game against a slightly complacent Vikings although Roger Gudge, Chris Seal and new recruit Emanuele Mazzotta were spiking strongly. With a great defensive save by Kevin Pistak and a stunning attack by outside hitter Sid Joshi, Volleyers battled for points, but Vikings served their way out of trouble to a 25-16 second game win. The third game was a similar story, Volleyers battling hard but the passing unit struggling, this time against strong serving from Vikings' Suzanne Kruize. With a poor first ball, the Volleyers' setters struggled to manufacture attacking options consistently for their offence. The final point summed up the match - a stupendous defensive pick-up by new boy Ed Ailsby which Volleyers could not keep alive, losing the game 25-14 and the match 3-0. Ivan Dunleavy was nominated most valuable player for his strong blocking.

Set 1 rotation (1 to 6): Kevin (OH), Paul (S), Ivan (MB), Ed (OH), Sara (S), Phil (MB).

Set 2 rotation (1 to 6): Kevin (OH), Paul (S), Ivan (MB), Sid (OH), Jon (S), Phil (MB).

Set 3 rotation (1 to 6): Ed (OH), Sara (S), Ivan (MB), Sid (OH), Jon (S), Phil (MB).

See also the Vikings' match report and the merged press release.

Nigel/Jem.