Riga missed the opportunity to join London Malory and Sheffield at the top of the division last weekend, just losing out 2-3.
The first set was littered with Riga errors many of them coming from the service line, which meant that Riga had to rely on their side out game, to keep in touch with the giant team featuring 3 players over 6 feet 8 inches. Alas the consistency of the home team proved too much, edging out the set 28 – 26.
Riga learnt from the mistakes of the first set and improved their pressure from the service line, with make shift Libero for Malory, Andy Carr, struggling to give the Malory setter Dobell a consistent pass. Together with strong hitting from Chris (Kiwi) Anderson and Dan Turnbull, Riga were able to take the next two set comfortably, and had their eye on victory.
The never give up attitude of the Malory team however proved to be a powerful attribute, with some stunning defence and top quality hitting from the likes of Ivan Zamdriarou and 6 feet 10 giant Marcus Russell, meant that Malory took back control of the game and ultimately the victory. Riga, although disappointed with the loss, drew comfort from their own strong performance away from home, something Riga had been lacking in this seasons campaign. Riga now look forward to this weekends home match (Sat 6pm Alan Higgs centre, Coventry, free admission) against old rivals London Polonia, another strong London team, but have been under achieving this year.
MVP for Riga was Chris (Kiwi) Anderson and for Malory was Marcus Russell.
Riga Squad: Chris A (UK), Chris A (NZ), Kees, John, Dan, Phil W, Manuele, Luca, Tomasz
Coach: Tom Young
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