MILTON KEYNES 2

WEYMOUTH 3

NATIONAL League Men’s Division Two South leaders Weymouth travelled to Milton Keynes and secured a nail-biting 3-2 victory.

However, Volleyball England have now suspended league action until Wednesday, May 20 leaving the Seasiders top with a 10-point gap to Richmond.

After a long journey, Weymouth got off to a sluggish start in the game.

Not playing at their best, they were still ahead of their opponents until midway through the set when a heavy jump serve proved too much to handle and Milton Keynes pulled back before taking the lead with a string of points.

Flustered by this, the away side could not pull back and went down 25-20.

Weymouth came out in the second set seemingly shellshocked by what had just happened.

Struggling to put any attacking plays together and making unforced errors on service saw them battling to keep up with the consistent home side. It did not look like it was going to be the Seasiders’ day as they lost the second set 25-19.

At the start of the third set, Weymouth switched to a different line-up.

Coach Stuart Jeanes had decided to have a reshuffle, bringing himself on and freeing up Valdis Baranovs to play through the middle with the aim of adding consistency and more attacking options to Weymouth’s play.

It proved to be an inspired decision as the energy on court instantly rose and the league leaders started to show why they were just that.

Determined not to be beaten, the Seasiders upped their game and finally started to play the volleyball they were capable of.

Liam Tewkesbury started to fire and regularly started to win vital points. A tight finish to this set cast the tone for the rest of the match.

Weymouth’s comeback had started as they took it 29-27.

Buoyed by their impressive play in the previous set, the travelling team now knew they could take another victory which previously had seemed a long way off.

Baranovs continued to trouble the opposition attacking through the middle. This, in turn, freed up the outside hitters to become more effective.

The two sides traded point after point with some long rallies testing the resolve of both teams.

Milton Keynes seemed to keep taking these longer rallies but this did not effect Weymouth’s mindset. Jeanes decided he could give no more after a run of serves making way for Ian Denslow.

Neither team were able to get a substantial lead and once again the set went to two clear points.

At 26-26, Tewkesbury decided to duck under a ball that he thought was travelling out of court. This error left Weymouth in a very precarious position – just one point from losing the match.

Unfazed, Sean Hendry passed the next serve perfectly onto setter Tom Allen’s head and followed it up by spiking the ball into the opposition’s court. Finally squaring the match up, the Seasiders took the set 30-28.

In the final set, the away team had all the momentum and this proved too much for Milton Keynes.

After a tight start, Tewkesbury went back to serve at 8-7. He served accurately and unforgivingly on one of the home team’s players and their attacking options were limited.

Backed up by unanswerable hitting from Hendry and relentless backcourt play from the rest of the team they took five points in a row to gain an unassailable lead.

Winning two more points, taking it to 15-8, Weymouth took an epic victory 3-2 in an unforgettable match.