WEYMOUTH BEACH 3

ESSEX BLAZE 1

WEYMOUTH Beach Volleyball Club earned their first victory of 2023 and stopped a run of four defeats by gaining vengeance on Essex Blaze with a 3-1 win at Redlands.

Blaze beat the Seasiders 3-2 last weekend but Weymouth came into the match on a more upbeat note with the return of injured pair Liam Tewkesbury and Matt Hunter to bring the squad back to full strength.

However, with neither player fully match-fit, both were left on the bench for the start of the contest.

The first set started very much as the match last weekend finished with the teams battling point-for-point throughout the set with some outstanding hitting from both.

READ MORE: Essex Blaze 3-2 Weymouth - match report

Weymouth edged ahead at 20-19 and then some powerful outside hitting from Valdis Baranovs and Zoltan Hegedus proved decisive and Weymouth took the opening set 25-21.

The second set started in a very similar fashion with these well-matched teams having to fight for every point.

Strong serving from Ryan Stout caused Essex all sorts of problems and Weymouth were able to pull out a healthy 17-12 lead and looked like they would take the set convincingly.

Yet Essex, led by Olympian and Great Britain veteran Nathan French, fought back hard and Weymouth just held on to take the set 25-23.

The third set saw the same pattern of scoring with little between the two teams until Weymouth took a 16-13 lead and looked to be heading toward a straight-sets win.

That was until Weymouth lost their rhythm and threw away the lead with a number of unforced errors, Essex going on to win the set 25-22.

Home coach Stuey Jeanes introduced Hunter back into the side in the fourth set and his experience and extra height seemed to prove decisive as Weymouth took a five-point lead.

This time they did not let it slip and ran away for a convincing 25-17 win to take the match.

Weymouth now lie third in National League Division One but the 12-team table is very evenly balanced so the Seasiders need to build on this win in the coming weeks.

Next up for Weymouth is an away trip to second-placed London Aces this weekend before they return home on Saturday, February 11 to play Manchester Marvels.