Boathouse volleyball roundup
National Volleyball League Division 3 North. Sunday 21 September 2008, Thornhill High School, Dewsbury
Boathouse vs York: 3 - 1 (18-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-19)
Boathouse vs University of Birmingham 2: 3 - 0 Forfeit
In their first National Volleyball League matches of the season, against newcomers to the National League York, Boathouse had a very hesitant start against the new team of their former captain Mike Turner and former Boathouse Premier league player Ed Humphries. But after losing the first set to their more focused opponents, Boathouse rallied and started playing together closer to their proper level, leaving no chance for York to snatch another set.
Boathouse started very slowly and let York apply pressure through strong serving, and despite a few points here and there never looked like they were in the game. This was most evident when a rotation fault could not be sorted out before being spotted by the referees and two time outs were called by captain Nick Farrar to check the correct rotation. Following that incident Boathouse started playing a bit better but York’s lead was too important by that point and the league new boys closed the set 25-18.
Second set saw the introduction of a new player for Boathouse, Mariusz Milewski. Strongly intent in not letting York capitalize on their first set, Boathouse tightened the play in all compartments of the game. Strong serving by Nick Farrar and Mo Bucksun, good ball distribution by setter Maythem Ali, consistent hitting and blocking saw Boathouse take an early lead and stay a few points ahead all through the set, which was closed at 25-17.
The same scenario happened in the following two sets, with every player from Boathouse playing seriously to ensure the hosts took the lead in each set and stayed ahead through consistent hitting and blocking. Wolfgang Schuessler, Zoltan Hegedus and Steve Kaye all played their part in the result.
The other two fixtures scheduled for that day sadly did not get played, as University of Birmingham 2 could not field a full team on the day and pulled out of the fixture 3 days before. Both York and Boathouse therefore got a 3-0 win by default. At this early stage of the season, it means that Boathouse are up to second place in Division 3 North. Competition in the group this year looks to be exciting, with the arrival of 4 new Yorkshire teams in Leeds, Leeds Carnegie, York and Barnsley.
Squad
Maythem Ali, Mo Bucksun, Nick Farrar, Zoltan Hegedus, David Hübner, Steve Kay, Wolfgang Schuessler, Mariusz Milewski, Laurent Zeiller.
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National Volleyball Cup
Saturday 27 September 2008, Didsbury Sports Centre, Manchester
Manchester vs Boathouse 3 - 0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-14)
Following their first National Volleyball League matches of the season, Boathouse were set to face much stronger opposition in the first round of the Volleyball National KO Cup, against National League Division 2 team, Manchester. Due to the game being played on a Saturday lunchtime and a couple of injuries, Boathouse could only come with a team of 6 players, which included, for his first ever competitive volleyball game, young polish player Matteusz Kapala. Due to their first choice setter, Maythem Ali, being injured, versatile player Laurent Zeiller took on the task.
Manchester, who also had a limited team of only 7 players including a libero, started with strong serves to take an early lead. Boathouse were struggling against the much more consistent Division 2 side, but once they took their bearings managed to match Manchester point for point later in the set, with some good defending and clever hitting by Mariusz Milewski, Mo Bucksun and David Huebner. However the harm was done and Boathouse never managed to close the gap that had opened at the beginning of the set.
The second set started much better for the visitors, however, Boathouse managing overall to stay level with their opponents through most of the set, none of the team able to pull away from the other. Boathouse played well, with Wolfgang Schuessler scoring a number of points through the middle and 19-year old Matt Kapala scoring a few strong hits from the wing. However, the experience of Manchester showed when they pulled away at 21 all, Boathouse suddenly unable to score and catch up with the higher-ranked team.
The third set started in the same fashion, with both teams trading points in the early stages of the third set. But Boathouse were deflated and started dropping the level a bit. Manchester realized it was time for the kill and used a couple of runs of difficult serves to quickly close the set 25-14 and the game 3-0.
Boathouse are therefore reversed in the National Shield competition. The experience of playing a team from the division above will hopefully help them when they face two of the stronger teams in their Division 3 league on 12th October in Leeds.