The first Southwest Counties Volleyball League games to be played in Jersey, at Haute Vallée on Saturday, resulted in the Island’s men’s squad winning twice.
Their 3-1, 3-0 wins against Yeovil and Exeter Torexe, respectively, means that they are now fourth in the table, with three matches to play.
‘We’ve to play both sides again, in two weeks time, so if we win both of them and then the third we should finish third,’ said captain Paul Adamson, adding that: ‘This was a really good, all-round team performance, and the guys gelled well.
Even when we lost points we didn’t let it affect us, and our pick-ups were good. This was a really rounded performance; we didn’t lose momentum when we made our changes and – home advantage really helps.
Meanwhile both visiting captains were impressed by the Island side, with Yeovil’s Jason Brinck saying: ‘Jersey played steadily throughout the day and I was impressed by their No 5 – a real big hitter.
For some reason we were nervous in the first game, won the second, could have won the third but easily lost the fourth.’ Meanwhile Andy Nicks, from Exeter Torexe – whose side also lost 3-0 to Yeovil – said: ‘Our squad wasn’t the usual one; we had three regular players out, including Kyle Avers who’s a big setter for us.
I thought we’d lose, but I also thought we’d take at least one set off Jersey.
‘Having said that, they’ll start as favourites when they come over to Exeter in a fortnight’s time.
But we’ll give them a good run for their money.’ Jersey tried different combinations of players during the matches as part of the preparation for next week’s inter-insular, as newcomer Daniel Grigoras, who has played at national level in his native Romania, had both opposition teams struggling with his powerful hits and clever tips.
Marcin Migas, Murray Dron and Dan Noding also provided strong hitting options, while there was good setting from Damian Spencer and Mick Toal.
‘It’s all been very satisfying in the run-up to next week’s inter-insular, at Fort Regent,’ said Adamson.
‘It’s also been good practice for this year’s Island Games.’ Scores: Yeovil bt Exeter Torexe 3:0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-18); Jersey bt Exeter Torexe 3:0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-20); Jersey bt Yeovil 3:1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-12, 25-13).
From: http://www.thisisjersey.com/latest/2007/04/16/island-volleyballers-make-the-most-of-home-advantage/
