WEYMOUTH BEACH IN SHIELD DEFEAT

Weymouth Beach Volleyball Club Indoor team were narrowly defeated 3-1 ( 25-27, 13-25,25-16, 22-25) in their first match of the year on Saturday. They were playing in the last 16 of The National Shield Knock Out competition against London Aces who currently lie 4th in the National League Division One which is a Division higher than Weymouth.

There was nothing to choose between the two sides in the first set with each team struggling to gain any sort of advantage and both teams had narrow leads throughout the set. Weymouth had a point for the set when they led 25-24 but a powerful attack by Aces saved the set and then a couple of sloppy points from Weymouth allowed Aces to take the set 27-25.

Weymouth seemed to take the disappointment of losing the First set into the Second Set and London Aces pulled away to gain an early lead after a number of errors from Weymouth. With Ian Denslow and Elliott Sawyer both out of the match through injury Weymouth were restricted with any changes to personnel they could make which made it even harder for them to get back into the set and very quickly Aces led 17-8. Weymouth called a time out and introduced Stephen Williamson on court to make his debut but despite this they were unable to pull the set back and lost 25-13 to go 2-0 behind.

The Third set saw Weymouth start much better with a greatly improved Service receive which allowed them to attack more powerfully particularly through Valdis Baranovs ,Sean Hendry and Tom Allen. Weymouth were able to remain on top throughout the set and dominated their higher rated opponents taking the set 25-16.

The fourth set returned to each side going point for point and there being little between the two sides. However towards the end of the set Aces showed their greater experience making very few errors and forcing Weymouth to having to win every point. A couple of unforced errors from Weymouth was all it took for Aces to pull away to win 25-22.

Weymouth now travel to Richmond next Saturday for a match which could help determine the 2nd Division title with Weymouth currently on top and Richmond lying second. Weymouth will be training hard to ensure they can cut out the defensive errors they made against Aces. Ian Denslow should be able to return to the squad but it looks unlikely that Elliott Sawyer will be fit in time for this crucial game