JBT outscore Sandwick in first division

LAST weekend’s volleyball matches saw JBT II inflict a straight sets defeat against Sandwick I in the first division, while in division two JBT Juniors beat DITT 3-1.

Division One

Sandwick I 0, JBT II 3
(14-25, 13-25, 25-27)

JBT were first to creep ahead but Sandwick fought back to within one point at 7-8 and the match remained point for point until JBT finally pulled ahead to 15-8, through a run of serves from Grant Polson. Sandwick fought hard but despite their best efforts were unable to break the defence and the set finished 25-14 to JBT.

Set two again started closely up to 5-5, when another run of JBT serves, this time from Ben Laurenson, allowed them to pull ahead. Becky Peterson continued to work hard for Sandwick and Euan Ellis showed great maturity trying to find holes in the JBT defence. For JBT Erica Leask served consistently well, allowing Ben Laurenson to set up the JBT attack, which was dominated by Ronnie Calderwood, and the set finished 25-13.

Sandwick took an early 6-1 lead in set three and good defending from Jimmy Morris helped them keep their noses in front. The strong serve of JBT, which was witnessed in the first two sets, had all but disappeared as serve after serve hit the net. JBT continued to defend well but the serving remained poor as Sandwick pulled further ahead to 24-15.

An all but impossible task faced Grant Polson as he stepped up to serve for JBT, but thankfully for them the consistent serve returned and it was now JBT putting point after point on the board.

With adrenaline high on both sides, Ryan Jamieson’s attack hit top form, forcing some excellent defending from Sandwick. JBT simply refused to admit defeat and they clawed back to 24-all before winning set three 27-25.

Most valuable players were Sandwick youngsters Becky Peterson and Euan Ellis. Ryan Jamieson and Erica Leask were voted best on the night for JBT II.

Division Two

JBT Juniors 3, DITT 1
(25-27, 25-23, 25-19, 25-22)

The teams matched each other point for point early on with strong hitting from Karl Sinclair of DITT and James Aitken of JBT Juniors. Eventually great defensive play from Joshua Morrison at the net put JBT one point away from victory but DITT took the score back to 24-24. Some unnecessary errors from JBT saw DITT take the first set 27-25.

JBT started the second set with strong attacking play through Joshua Morrison and took an early lead at 7-4. They extended the lead to 17-10, pushing the ball to the corners and making DITT work hard for every ball.

DITT took their first time out of the match to regroup, returning to the court and winning back the serve and taking the next three points. The new-found determination saw them claw back the points slowly to see them within one point of the Juniors, 23-22 with great work from Juergen Kurtz at the net for DITT. JBT were not going to let DITT take the set from them, however, as Haydn Thomason and Jordan Morrison secured the next two points to take the set 25-23.

With one set apiece there was all to play for. Set three was v ery close but JBT seemed to be growing in confidence and were slowly pulling away, the score standing at 15-7. Strong attacking play from DITT saw them close the gap slightly but the Juniors had created a comfortable lead and took the set 25-19.

DITT were determined to even the scores but the Juniors were getting into their stride now and again took an early lead in the fourth set, making some great pickups in the back court from some thundering hits from Sinclair. Some nicely placed tips allowed the Juniors to increase the gap to 17-10.

A run of good serves from Juniors’ Joshua Morrison extended the lead to 21-11 at which point DITT took a time out.

DITT made a great comeback from being 10 points down but the Juniors sealed the set in style with a well-placed volley into the back corner by Aitken finishing the set 25-22 to take the match.

MVPs for JBT Juniors were James Aitken and Joshua Morrison, while Valeska Voelschow and Karl Sinclair took the honours for DITT.

Fixtures
Tonight: Harry’s Hotspurs v Burra at Clickimin, 7pm (first referee LadyBoy Express, second referee JBT I); LadyBoy Express v JBT I at 9pm (first referee Harry’s Hotspurs, second referee Burra); Shetland Ladies v team to be arranged at Sandwick, 6.30pm (first referee Sandwick II, second referee Sandwick I); Sandwick II v Sandwick I at Sandwick, 8.30pm (first referee Shetland Ladies, second referee JBT juniors).