Riga vs Guildford

3 – 0 (25:13, 25:15, 25:17)

Match Report by John Gilling

Riga welcomed newly promoted Guildford to the Alan Higgs Centre. With the disappointment of last week’s defeat still in their veins, Riga were looking for a stronger performance to retain their position at the top of the league.

The first set saw a strong start by Riga from the service line with Phil Wyles putting his side ahead 4:0. The teams then traded points until Guildford fought back to 7:7. Chris Anderson(UK) stepped to the service line and made five consecutive serves briefly followed by another service session by John Gilling to push Riga 19:8 ahead. This set was dominated by some unreturnable serves from Riga who finished the set 25:13.

The start of the second set was similar to that of the first with another 4:0 start by Riga from the service line. With some effective hitting from their outside players and blocking from their middle, Guildford traded well but Riga still retained the lead at 12:10. This was followed by some spectacular defensive play by Dan Turnbull and fine distribution from setter Phil Wyles to create the middle and outside hitting opportunities that eventually saw Riga win the set 25:15.

Guildford started the third set with more promise and lead 8:6 with effective serving. There was a lapse in Riga’s passing unit allowing Guildford to stay close still leading 13:10. It was now Riga’s chance to turn the set around and with some excellent serving from Phil Wyles, Chris Anderson(NZ) and John Gilling ultimately concluded the set 25:17.

J. McAlpine was nominated the MVP for Guildford and Chris Anderson(UK) won the vote for Riga.

Riga played with more consistency than last week with an improvement mainly from the service line and the blocking unit. Guildford will need to raise their standard if they are to avoid relegation at the end of the season. Riga take their spirit, consistency and winning ways to an away match with Sheffield next week to play what will be a much tougher match.

Team
Anderson(NZ), Anderson(UK), De Hoogh, Gilling, Turnbull, Monti, Morawski, Molinari, Wyles(Captain), Young(Coach).