JBT too good for Sandwick volleyers
TWO volleyball matches were played last weekend, with JBT I winning 3-0 against Sandwick I in the division one clash while Burra defeated Shetland Ladies 3-1 in the second division.
Division One
Sandwick I 0, JBT I 3
(13-25, 16-25, 16-25)
On paper JBT I were always going to be the favourite to win this fixture, and win it they did, but not as easily as they may have liked against a Sandwick I side who refused to cave in under pressure.
In set one it was JBT who settled quickest which enabled them to play the better three-touch volleyball of the two sides. Sandwick were unable to answer the stronger hitting ability of JBT and were lucky to salvage their 13 points from the first set.
Set two saw a much more determined Sandwick side come on to court. They still had a hard task in containing the greater variety of attacks from Kevin Jones and Donna Murray for JBT but they defended and scrambled the ball well to keep the game alive. Any hopes of snatching a setback, however, were dashed by some strong consistent serving from Mark Loynd for JBT that the Sandwick receive line could not control in the latter part of the set. JBT took set two by 25-16.
In the third set Sandwick made the stronger start, taking advantage of their opponents who were taking things a little too lightly and as a consequence found themselves trailing for the first time.
Success for Sandwick came mostly from the times that they were able to play simple volleyball which allowed them to form some meaningful offensive moves. A good first ball resulted in a simple high set to the outside position which often resulted in an effective hit, especially from Nicola Sinclair. Unfortunately Sandwick were unable to do this consistently enough and JBT were able to regroup and find their earlier form which enabled them to claim set three 25-16 and the match by three sets to nil.
MVPs for JBT were Donna Murray and Mark Loynd while best for Sandwick were Becky Peterson and Eric Peterson.
Division Two
Shetland Ladies 1, Burra 3
(16-25, 28-26, 10-25, 19-25)
Shetland Ladies Volleyball Club (SLVC) won the toss and served first. It was a fairly uneventful start with points being accumulated by both sides. However, a run of serves by Burra’s Gary Teale, combined with some errors by SLVC, allowed Burra to pull ahead to 12-5.
SLVC elected to take their second time-out at this point. After a bit of a pep talk a more settled SLVC regained serve with some excellent hitting by Valeska Voelschow. However, powerful serving by John Gray finished off the set at 25-16 to Burra.
As with set one, set two began slowly with the serve passing back and fore between the two teams and neither coming ahead much. There was some good blocking at the net by Burra and excellent setting by SLVC’s Louise Birnie and Becky Peterson.
Despite a spectacular mid-air pick up by Steven Henry, Burra seemed to lose a bit of focus in this set. This, and the steadying influence of SLVC’s Denise Morrison, allowed SLVC to creep slowly but relentlessly ahead. Service errors on both sides saw the score tie at 21-21. At this point we were treated to the best and longest rally of the game. The set finally finished at 28-26 to SLVC.
Powerful serving by Stacey Laurenson allowed Burra to come ahead early in this set. SLVC never seemed to find their true form and this, combined with some excellent setting by Joyce Adamson and back court cover by Kirsten Robertson, saw the set end quite quickly at 25-10 to Burra.
Set four again saw Burra draw ahead fairly early on. A well-timed timeout saw Burra lose the serve on return and a buoyed up SLVC looked ready to do battle once more. Excellent serving from SLVC’s Denise Morrison and good hitting by Vicki Henderson gave Burra some problems and allowed SLVC to close the gap.
A new match ball was called for at 19-15 when Gary Teale got the bonny new baa well and truly stuck in the roof. However, Burra proved to be the steadier team this time, finishing off the set, and match, at 25-19.
MVP for Shetland Ladies was Vicki Henderson while John Magnus Gray and Kirsten Robertson took the honours for Burra
Fixtures
Tonight: JBT I v Sandwick II at Sandwick games hall, 6.30pm (first referee Burra second referee JBT Juniors); Burra v JBT Juniors, 8.30pm (first referee JBT I second referee Sandwick II).
There are no matches at Clickimin.
