WEYMOUTH have been crowned champions after sealing wins against Plymouth and the Beach Academy in the South West League.

The seasiders took to the court against Plymouth first and started well creating a five-point lead but controversy saw the Weymouth outfit give up a cluster of points reducing their lead to one.

A cool head was needed from setter Terry Oldrid and he made good decisions at crucial times to ensure the set did not get away from them.

The middles seemed to score at will against the Plymouth defence and coupled with some strong serving meant the away side closed out the set 25-21.

Weymouth made changes for the second set as Liam Tewkesbury came on and started particularly well.

With the scores at 20-20 it was imperative that Weymouth improved their first pass and libero Elliot Sawyer did well allowing the offence to function and opposite hitter Ryan Stout was Plymouth’s undoing as Weymouth took the set 25-22.

The pass was accurate for Weymouth in the third set and the attack worked well as they clinched the third set 25-16 and the match.

Weymouth were determined not to leave anything to chance as they faced the league’s Beach Academy side looking for the win to make them champions.

Club setters Carl Neal and Oldrid again shared the court time both establishing quick tempo attacks which split the opposition block leaving one on ones for outside spikers Sean Hendry, Tewkesbury and Ben Stokey as Weymouth took the first two sets by storm leaving the Beach Academy side struggling to score over 15 points (25-12, 25-15).

In the third set, coaches Jeanes and Hendry opted to put the opportunity in Neal’s hands to steer the team to its first league title.

A nine-point serving spree from Hendry gave Weymouth a comfortable lead allowing the side to loosen up and attack well.

Some impressive pick-ups from Sawyer and blocking from Mike Powell and Ian Denslow meant the young side were forced into hitting errors in the hope to challenge the defence of Weymouth.

Championship point soon arrived and, at the second time of asking, setter Neal sent the ball to Hendry who left nothing to chance and sent the now South West League champions together into a frenzy of celebrations (25-12).

Weymouth would like to thank their sponsors Aura Nightclub and Stressless Massage in their debut season.

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