Volleyball: Weymouth stun Cardiff Celts for comeback win

Weymouth make a remarkable comeback to claim 3-2 victory over Cardiff Celts.

Sunday afternoon saw Weymouth Beach Volleyball Club face Cardiff Celts in the 2nd round of the Indoor National Cup.

In front of a decent crowd, Weymouth were hoping to showcase their skills against a higher calibre side. Unfortunately, the home side did not get off to the best of starts, looking nervous, and quickly found themselves 2 sets down (22-25, 19-25). In both sets, the Seasiders got off to a slow start and – despite fighting their way back later in the set – were unable to claw back Cardiff’s early lead.

With nothing left to lose going into the 3rd set Weymouth decided to make a few changes. For the first time in the match the team took the lead in a set, gaining a 3 point lead at the mid-way stage. At this point it appeared the pressure had been lifted on the team and they started to play with a curtain amount of freedom. The passing unit of Tewkesbury, Hendry and Sawyer gave the team more options in attack, which in turned weakened the away sides block defence. Weymouth continued to pull away and went on to take the set 25-20.

The forth set followed in a similar vein. Again, Weymouth started to develop a lead and Cardiff had to fight hard to bring it back. It was obvious the home side had gained confidence from their performance in the previous set and believed a comeback was possible. The team were buoyed by an aggressive middle hit from Sam Groom and a succession of impressive back court pick-ups from Mike Powell. Going on to win the set 25-22 and bring the match back to all square at 2 sets all.

Weymouth, on a high from winning the previous two sets, now felt Cardiff were there for the taking. Clearly, the crowd felt that way too as the decibel level rose in the Sports hall. The Seasiders took full advantage of this and the away sides apparent downward spiral, coming out hard in the final set. They raced to a 6-2 lead with tidy passing and impressive spiking from all areas of the court. From here there was no looking back and Weymouth cruised to an impressive 15-7 victory, winning the match 3-2.

The home side could not quite comprehend what they had just achieved as players flooded the court in celebration. Beating a team 2 divisions higher than themselves and setting up a mouthwatering 3rd round tie against local rivals Wessex VC.

Weymouth are back in action this Sunday at Redlands (11am) in the National League as the come up against London Baks and Surrey Spikers.