The Latvians are in this country to play in the Pan European Cup at Oxford and as a warm up for the tournament, they will play a friendly against the local side.
The Riga club was founded nearly 50 years ago by exiled Latvians seeking to make a new life for themselves in the new post war world.
Having undergone
many changes of home as well as name, the current club dates back some 25 years
and still contains a few old hands from those early years.
The match will give them an opportunity to see how the modern day Latvians
perform at a sport which they helped to bring to this country.
"It's an honour to play any national side," said captain Tom Young, "but
playing the Latvians has special significance for us."
"We hope to learn a lot from the match and it will be a great advert for
volleyball and Warwick."
Meanwhile Warwick Riga failed to complete the National League Division One
double over Whitefield Sportset when they lost 3-2 on Saturday in a close and
exciting match which gives the West Country outfit a stranglehold on the
Conference leadership.
Warwick's spate of bad luck started before the start with work commitments
robbing them of fireman Mike Percival, while a bout of gastro-enteritis forced
Simeon Nex to miss training.
However, Riga did field new signing Frenchman Pascal Cottet, whose registration
was sanctioned at the eleventh hour by the English Volleyball Association.
Riga started in ... good form and soon established a 12-4. lead thanks to some
fine serving from Simeon Nex and John Gilling combined with some loose net play
from Whitefield.
The visitors responded as the Warwick reception faltered but having stopped
that rot Riga's Ben Bunn and Simeon Nex proved decisive at the net to steer
Riga to a 15-11 set success.
The second and third sets once again showed Warwick's ability to lose
concentration at the wrong moments. Whitefield exploited the lapses to
devastating effect as they won 15-10 each time.
Riga, inspired by captain Tom Young and debutant Pascal Cottet, bounced back to
win the fourth set 15-9.
In the sudden death fifth set both sides had their moments but with the score
delicately poised at 10-10 the Warwick service reception wavered again and
Whitefield took advantage to clinch 15-10 victory.
"We had our chances to take the match but we just weren't consistent enough to
do it" said disappointed captain Tom Young after the game.
"Pascal had a great game and will be a valuable asset for us but we're just
thankful that the other
results are continuing to go for us".
