Sandwick win after losing first set to JBT
SANDWICK I edged out JBT II in volleyball’s Intersport Mixed League division one on Friday, while in the second division Burra had a more straightforward win over Shetland Ladies’ Volleyball Club.
Division One
JBT II 1, Sandwick I 3
(25-23, 15-25, 19-25, 18-25)
Sandwick took an early lead with good serving from Iain White, but JBT II were hot on their heels as the game was played point for point. Sandwick I proved to be the more organised team and edged ahead once more. JBT II tried to catch up, with new signing Brian Gray working hard.
Becky Peterson, Iain White and Sverre Riise worked well together at the net to maintain the lead for Sandwick I. JBT II were determined not to give up without a fight and once again it was point for point. At 24-23 an incredibly long rally ensued, both teams eager to win the point, but JBT held their position and took the first set 25-23.
Sandwick started strongly in the second set and took an early lead. At 12-5 JBT called a time out. This did not unsettle Sandwick as they sprinted ahead to 20-9, when JBT called a time out again to try and regain composure.
The team talk seemed to do the trick. They came back on court and Amy Sclater set to Kirsti Leask which helped them edge up the score to 14-21. It was too late though, as Nicola Sinclair motivated Sandwick I and they went on to win 25-15.
JBT II managed to get an early four-point lead in the third set. Sandwick were not far behind though and they upped the pace to take them ahead to 8-4. JBT II used their time out tactic again, which helped them regain service, but Sandwick weren’t having it and held their lead.
JBT II’s Grant Poleson was making some great moves diving for the ball to keep them in the game. He took the serve for his side and pulled his team ahead to lead 18-17. Sandwick I thwarted JBT II’s attempt, and with strong hits through Riise and fine serving from White they won 25-19.
In the fourth set JBT II again started well with powerful serving from Melissa Calderwood taking them to 8-3 which saw Sandwick I take their first time out of the match.
Sandwick I came back on court looking like more organised and worked their way to 8-7. Both teams were quite evenly matched at this stage and it was only at 13-13 when Sandwick notched it up a gear and took the lead.
JBT II started to play the same game which made Sandwick call a time out at 24-18. But Sandwick I came back to take the final point to win the set and the match 3-1.
Players of the match were Becky Peterson and Iain White for Sandwick I, and Grant Poleson and Kristi Leask for JBT II.
Division Two
Shetland Ladies Volleyball Club 0, Burra 3
(16-25, 19-25, 23-25)
Set one began with very even play with the lead passing with every shot. A good cross court hit by SLVC’s Monika Los followed by strong serving from Lindsay Manson suggested that the balance was tilting in favour of SLVC.
But strong serving from Burra’s Alan Skea and Joyce Adamson and good hitting from John Magnus Gray saw Burra establish a lead. This forced SLVC to take a time out at 18-12. Burra continued to build their lead with Paul Nicol lobbing the SLVC backcourt to take the score to 23-15 and regain the serve. Burra went on to take the first set 25-16.
Burra rushed to an early lead in the second set with Joyce Adamson’s serving helping to take it to 6-0. However, when serve passed to SLVC, Valeska Voelschow soon pulled back the score to 7-4. The game progressed fairly evenly with good serving by Nicol extending Burra’s lead to 13-7 when SLVC called a time out.
The time out allowed the women to re-group and Anne Mouat was notable in the defence. However, Burra showed their experience of playing together and combined well to take the score to 21-12.
SLVC were not giving up the fight and Nicola Sinclair made a number of strong hits. However, Rebecca Riley defended well and Burra went on to take the second set 25-19.
Set three began very evenly with the score tied at 6-6. SLVC had seemed to be handicapped by not having played together regularly and were finally gelling as a team. A good back set from Lindsay Manson and strong serving from Nicola Sinclair saw them establish a clear lead over Burra for the first time at 9-6. Despite unorthodox play from Voelschow, successfully using her knee to save a low ball, Burra won the next point with another well-placed shot by Nicol.
At this point both teams serves seemed to collapse and after winning long rallies to regain the serve both sides served into the net. The score was now 16 all.
Burra began inching ahead and with the score at 18-16 the women called a time out. Burra’s Kristan Robertson then had a good run of serves to take the score to 20-16 in Burra’s favour. A strong hit from Hazel Aitken won the serve back for SLVC and the women capitalised on this to put pressure on Burra and take the score to 23-22 in favour of Burra.
Burra called their first time out of the match to disrupt Los’ serve. This was unsuccessful but a crucial hit by Riley won Burra the serve back and they took their chance to win the final set 25-23.
MVPs for SLVC were Valeska Voelschow and Hazel Aitken and for Burra Paul Nicol and Joyce Adamson.
League tables can be viewed at www.shetlandvolleyball.com
Fixtures
Tonight – Clickimin Centre: DITT Globetrotters v JBT Juniors at 7pm (first referee Sandwick II, second referee JBT I); Sandwick II v JBT I at 9 pm (first referee DITT Globetrotters, second referee JBT Juniors) There are no matches at Sandwick.
