Last Saturday Warwick Riga beat London Docklands, the current National cup holders, in an exciting match at St. Nicholas Sports Centre. Riga played their best volleyball of the season so far and it leaves them unbeaten after five matches. The only other undefeated team in the National Division One are the defending champions London Malory who will be visiting St. Nicholas Park next Saturday, 22 November.

Elliot: difficult serves

Riga started the match against London Docklands nervously and the visitors took an early lead in the set. The home team took a long time to get into the game and were still 11-14 down halfway through the set .It was from this point on that Riga started to settle in to an excellent rhythm & really turned the game round to sneak in front 19-17 aided by a number of difficult serves from Andy Elliott and Phil Wyles coupled with some super blocking by the whole team! The Warwick outfit maintained this excellent form to close out the first set by a three points margin (25-22).

In the second set Riga maintained the high level of volleyball and Docklands struggled to keep up with the tempo of the game. Riga played their best volleyball in this set and in particular the strong hitting from Andy Lynn and Kees de Hoogh caused the visitors problems. An early lead of 13-10 was extended to 20-14 and resulted in a very comfortable final score of 25-18.

Early in the third set London Docklands lost one of their main hitters due to a calf injury. After the injury break Riga had problems getting back into the game and allowed the London team a chance to take the initiative. The score stayed level throughout the set until 23-23 when the Riga team made two unforced mistakes and Docklands took the set (23-25).

Docklands obviously felt they had turned the match to their advantage and started the fourth set very decisively. Riga seemed to have lost their self-confidence and were trailing 9-13 when John Gilling came to serve. His jump serve combined with a couple of strong blocks from Andy Elliott turned the game around and gave Riga a 15-13 lead. Warwick were still two points ahead when Docklands collapsed under Phil Wyles serve and strong blocks on the net. The score line of 20-18 was quickly turned into the final score of 25-18.

Gilling: turned game with jump serves

Afterwards coach Tom Young was delighted with the match result and the way it had been achieved. "The matches against Docklands are always of the highest level as both teams play a very similar game. Last season we lost twice in the league and I’m delighted that we have reversed the result on this occasion", he said. "This was the perfect preparation for next week’s match against London Malory although my only complaint would be that the team relaxed in the third set and allowed Docklands back into the match" he added, "that could have cost us the game." "In the end I’m very pleased that we came back so convincingly in the last set and we can prepare ourselves for next week’s showdown against London Malory". The match against London Malory will be played at St. Nicholas Park on Saturday 22 November. Warm up will start at 6pm for a 6.30 start. Entrance is free and all are welcome to come and watch an attractive game of volleyball.