York Men’s Volleyball firsts went down 3-1 against a Manchester side who were powerful in both defence and attack.
Following their 3-1 victory over new boys Manchester 2nds at the end of last month, York were unable to produce the same result when met they their first team.
The first set was a bit of a sloppy affair to begin with. Several serves from both sides went long, yet noticeably early on Captain Chris Stent produced a great point-winning block and Sven Sabas a thumping spike after being set up by Tom Brackpool. However, York were soon under the cosh, a combination of well placed serves, powerful slams and committed blocks allowing Manchester to pull out a commanding lead. A thunderous spike from Jonas Pollex and a strong point-winning block from Sabas came a little too late and Manchester took the set 25-13.
The second set started off very much like the first with many serves either going long or into the net. Pollex again produced a fantastic spike early on but Manchester once again began to assert their dominance serving well and spiking clinically. They took the set 25-14 despite successful spikes from Stent and Panayiotis Nearchou.
York needed to wake up and show the opposition that they were not a pushover and in the third set it became apparent to Manchester that they had a game on their hands. Brutal spikes and crucial blocks by Pollex, Sabas Stent were accompanied by industrious blocks from Brackpool, Michael Ealenianos and Harry Pampiglione and York ran out victors 25-21.
However, in the fourth set, York’s poor positioning and placement early on allowed Manchester to pull out an early lead. Despite a number of spectacular spikes from Pollex, York were unable to compete with the power, placement and positioning of the opposition, losing the set 14-25 and consequently the match.
After a disappointing start, York finally found their feet in the third set but were unable to compete with the opposition in the fourth. Captain Chris Stent stated post match that: ‘the team played well in patches but lacked aggression in the first two sets’. He went on to say that: ‘the team had not played well enough’ but that they would ‘pick it up.’ The performance in the third set demonstrates that York have the ability to compete with the best, they just have to perform like that for the whole game.