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Photos: Emilien Tortel
York men’s volleyball 1sts remain without a point at the bottom of the BUCS Northern 2B division after suffering a straight sets defeat at home to Leeds 1sts.
After winning the first two sets comfortably, 25-17 and 25-19, Leeds were taken to the wire in the third by a rejuvenated York. Eventually, though, the away side came back from 19-14 down to take the set 26-24, a Savvis Anthis spike sealing the points for the away side.
Anthis proved key for Leeds throughout, often popping up at key moments with his powerful spikes, whilst the third set efforts of York’s Chris Stent and Mark Woodward weren’t quite enough to steer the men in black and gold towards victory.
Stent produced an ace to send York to an early 4-2 lead in the opening set, but seven Leeds points on the bounce set the tone for the rest of the set, with the men in green taking the momentum and never letting it slip.
Some good blocking from York’s Sven Sabas kept his side in touch, but Anthis hit back for Leeds, and a strong spike from Ed Cave, followed by an excellent block minutes later, propelled them into a 20-14 lead.
York were struggling to set up good spiking opportunities, whilst they looked nervous at times in defence, a lack of communication costing them on more than one occasion.
Leeds closed out the set with ease, with York captain Panayiotis Nearchou serving out to give the away side a 25-17 victory.
Similar to the first, York started the second set on top, a Nearchou spike taking them to a 5-2 lead, but once again Leeds regained control of the match, and a mix-up in the York defence allowed Anthis to put his side 9-8 up.
They stretched their lead out to 19-12, but an improved York were determined not to let the set slip easily. Stent and Woodward both scored with spikes and Krzyszycha produced an ace but it was not enough to stop Leeds taking the set 25-19.
It looked as if York were heading towards a heavy defeat in the final set, as they found themselves 4-0 down within minutes, but some great play from Woodward and Sabus ensured they brought it back to 10-10.
Woodward then spiked the home side into the lead, and the gap was increased when Sabus finished from a Rory Kelly one-handed set and Stent produced two powerful spikes.
They went 19-14 up through Stent after Kelly made a spectacular save, but Leeds showed the quality of the first two sets at bring the scores back to 20-20.
A huge effort from Woodward saw him win three vital late points for York, but Leeds kept in touch despite desperate attempts from Ryan Grey and Rory Kelly to keep their spikes at bay.
Leeds edged into a 25-24 lead, and fittingly, a strong Anthis strike gave the away side the narrowest of third set victories, and the 3-0 win overall, with York understandably gutted at letting their lead slip.
“We didn’t play that well,” reflected York captain Nearchou. “The whole season has been catastrophic. They were a good opponent but we didn’t play our best. We came close in the third set so that was disappointing. We need to work had in training to improve and hopefully we’ll play better next year.”