The newly formed Volleyball England Junior National Beach Volleyball programme had it’s first international challenge in the form of the 2013 Northern European Volleyball Association (NEVZA) Under 19 Beach Volleyball Championships in Drammen, Norway between 13-15th August.
After a summer of preparation at both Volleyball England Beach Tour events and holding camps, England had representation in both the boys and girls events, with Will Hartnoll and Sam Allen, and Anaya Evans and Mille Constable representing respectively.
Girls – Millie Constable and Anaya Evans
The girls got off to a winning start beating Norway3 by 2 sets to 0 (21-15, 21-17). Spurred on by this early win the girls went confidently in to their second match against Sweden. Although a much closer match, the English pair still took a convincing 2-0 victory (22-20, 21-19). Their successes at this stage secured them a well deserved place in the semi-finals where they would face Norway1. The pair battled against the Norwegian first team, but were defeated by 2-0 (11-21, 7-21). In the subsequent bronze medal play off match the girls faced yet more Norwegian opposition in the form of Norway2. The first set saw Evans and Constable struggle and lose the set 6 points to 21. The girls weren’t dismayed by the first set result and dug in for the second set and managed to push the Norwegian team, despite losing the set taking it to a much closer 16-21.
Boys – Will Hartnoll and Sam Allen
In their first match of the championships the boys faced tough opposition in the form of Norway2. Despite a solid overall performance Hartnoll and Allen were unable to secure a victory losing the match 2-0 (14-21, 10-21). In their second game of the day the pair faced Norway1, the tournament’s best team. The boys played their best game of the day so far and despite initially leading in the first set at 18-16, the game concluded in the favour of Norway1 at 18-21 and 16-21. In their last opportunity to secure a place in the semi-finals the boys faced yet more Norwegian opposition in the form of Norway3. Despite yet more excellent play from the English pair they were unable to secure victory with sets of 12-21 and 13-21. In the fifth and sixth place playoff match the boys found form and pushed the team from Iceland to a three set match, Despite losing the first set 17-21, the boys battled back and took a convincing win in the second set at 21-11. Unfortunately the Icelandic team responded to this win and came back taking the third and final set 8-15.
Final rankings for the 2013 NEVZA U19 Beach Volleyball Championships were:
Results Girls
1. Iceland
2. Norway 1
3. Norway 2
4. England
5. Norway 3
6. Sweden
Results Boys
1. Norway 1
2. Sweden
3. Norway 2
4. Norway 3
5. Iceland
6. England
