M1 succumbed to their second defeat of season
NVL Division 1, 04 November 2007
0-3 (21-25, 29-31, 18-25)
Match Report by Dan Turnbull
Riga succumbed to their second defeat of the season on Sunday to a strong Sheffield side, who from this display look realistic title challengers.
Sheffield took an early advantage in the first set, which was to prove crucial to the final outcome of set 1. With both teams impressive at the net, life was being made very difficult for the defences. Despite some highly dubious calls by the ref & line persons, which was to become a frequent frustration to both teams for the remainder of the match, Riga levelled the scores a number of times but never able to gain the advantage, ultimately loosing the set 21-25.
Riga were able to establish their middle attack early in the second set, which proved extremely beneficial throughout the set. As well as the continued impressive attacking from both teams the second set saw some extremely committed defensive play from Riga. Chasing down numerous balls along with full length ‘pancakes’ pick-ups. In spite of this it was Sheffield that found themselves leading as both team passed 20 points. Riga took the advantage with a block on a backcourt attack but despite a number of set points couldn’t convert. Sheffield took the set 31-29.
With the knowledge that they had come back to win from 2 sets down against Docklands, Riga looked to save the match in the third. With the third set continuing in the same vein as the previous 2 the scores remained close until the mid point of the set when Sheffield began pulling away. Unfortunately there was to be no fight back this time as Sheffield took the set and match 18-25.
MVP for Riga was awarded to Phil Wyles.
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