Riga men progressed to the third round of the English Volleyball Association’s Knock Out Cup after a 3-0 win in Reading against Thames Valley Jets. The Jets play in the third division and have not lost any league matches so far this season. The Warwick team had a few absentees in outside hitters Andy Lynn and Kees de Hoogh, setter Phil Hudson whilst libero Matt Howe had just returned after an ankle injury so coach & former captain, Tom Young, returned from semi retirement to play the game as an outside hitter.
Anderson: starting role
In the first set Riga took the initiative right from the start and had created a large lead by the middle of the set. Chris Anderson who was handed a starting role was hitting extremely well on the outside and the Jets were pressurised in to a number of unforced errors which lead to the first set being very comfortably won by Riga, 25–14.
The second set saw Riga drop their level of play and Thames Valley Jets started to take the initiative. The home team became more determined and took a four points lead halfway through the set. The Riga team was making too many mistakes and relatively easy hits were not defended at all well and this enabled the Jets to take a 22-19 lead. A hastily called time out had the desired affect & re-focused the top flight teams attentions with a much better block & defensive set up, coupled with some excellent serving under pressure from Tom Spijkers the Riga boys swept through the set to take it 25–22.
Spijkers: excellent serving under pressure
Having lost the second set after a convincing lead, the Jets were not able to get back into the match in the third set. The Riga team established a large lead early in the set which carried them through to the end of the match without any serious problems winning the third & final set 25 – 19.
Tom Young was afterwards quite happy with the overall performance. "These games are normally more difficult for us. Two of our main hitters were missing today but we still managed to control most of the match" he said, "I am particularly pleased with Chris Anderson’s game and today he showed that if he carries on progressing as he has over the last two months that he can replace any of the other hitters." "We now have three big matches coming up which will have a major impact on the first half of the season" he added, "and today we showed that we have a strong squad which maintains its game when other players are missing or have a bad day."
The Warwick Riga men’s team will play London Docklands and London Malory at St. Nicholas Park on Saturday 15 November and 22 November, respectively. London Docklands won the KO cup last season whilst London Malory finished top in the national league. Warm up will start at 6pm for a 6.30 start for both matches. These will be entertaining matches at the highest level of volleyball in England, entry is free and spectators are welcome to come along and support the Warwick team.