Men's NVL Firsts Vs. Newcastle (Staffs) II
Sunday 25th February 2007
After a magnificent victory over Boathouse, we knew from the beginning that Newcastle Staffs 2 were the weaker side. This gave us the perfect opportunity to play around with our fringe players and show what strength in depth we have. Pete remained on court as first choice setter, with Sascha and Ronald outside, Fred and Wiktor as middle, and Graham on as Opposite.
UoB started strong, racking up a huge lead of 16-7 very fast. The Newcastle Staffs side were very young and still learning their trade, but with massive smashes from Sascha and good spikes from Ronald and Graham, Staffs were playing with their heads down. UoB were far too strong from the outset, and with Christian and Kieron replacing Pete and Fred, the team ran away with a big first set win.
The second set gave the coach a chance to play around with the bench again and this time gave the middle duty to BUSA players James and Kieron, with Graham, Wiktor, and Ronald taking up wing hitting duty. Pete remained as setter for the time being. Good serving by all players, but namely Kieron gave UoB a big lead again. Pete was given a deserved rest by being replaced by Christian. Christian took up the reigns as on-court setter and helped continue the onslaught by setting up big hits from our wing players. The second set was UoBs.
The third set started the same as it finished from the second, but with Ronald being replaced by the big hitting Sascha. UoB maintained the excellent play with Sascha, being set by his fellow countryman Christian, spiking "for fun". The young Staffs side were looking visibly concerned at Sascha's power. UoB won the third set in just over 15 minutes and took the match 3-0; a very convincing display from UoB's squad.
Match Facts
Competition: EVA National League Division IIIN.
Played: Away.
Result: Won 3-0.
Set Scores: 13-25, 14-25, 11-25.