National Junior Volleyball Championships - Round 2

Hi folks,

Our (Tendring Technology College) Under 18 Boys Volleyball team travelled to the Boswells School on Sunday 22nd January, to compete in Round 2 of the National Junior Volleyball Championships.

The competition started promptly at 11.00am with four teams competing for two places in the Quarter Finals. Playing in this round were Tendring, two teams from the Boswells School and a team from the Chadwell Heath Academy.

Our first match was against the Chadwell Heath Academy and after a slow start, Tendring found their rhythm with fantastic service pressure, strong defense and some brilliant attacking (46% kill ratio for the match). There were some standout performances throughout the match and all the boys were able to get some court time and make a big difference in the outcome. They sealed the victory comfortably winning two sets to nil.

Our second match was against Boswells 'A', the finalists from last years Under 18 competition. Most of the players playing for Boswells 'A' were known to us team as many of them had played in the same squads at the Inter-Regional Championships as well as for the National Under 17 and Under 19 teams.

With nothing to lose, Tendring started the match strongly. We traded points at the net with both teams attacking dwarfing everything else seen during the day. Huge hitting and blocking from both sides were the order of the day. We finished the set narrowly losing 25-22 but all of the boys were buzzing and left wanting more! Our attacking statistics were the highest ever recorded by this team with our hitters killing 15 balls from 24 attempts (a massive 62.5% kill ratio for the set).

The second set proved to be more difficult with Boswells 'A' turning up the pressure and establishing an early lead. We fought hard through the rest of the set but the closest we got to them in this set was 5 points. They were able to contain our hitters through constantly strong service pressure and block defense and this showed in our kill ration of 28% for the set. Boswells 'A' went on to win the set and the match two sets to nil.

Our final match was against Boswells 'B'. Having no significant break between the two matches, the boys did their best to rehydrate and refuel then got on with the task at hand. A win in this match would be enough to get through to the Quarter Finals. Tendring established a very strong lead early in the set through some very strong serving from James Baker. Boswells were able to exert a similar level of pressure on us with their serve and the scores drew level at 8 all. It was clear that the Boswells 'B' team were uncomfortable with the high block of the Tendring players at the net and they were forced to find alternative ways of beating us. They began to attack with a variety of shots from tips to roll shots. We made the appropriate adjustments to our defensive system and were able to recycle a lot more balls. The score was close through the match and unfortunately a string of errors by several Tendring players let the set slip away and Boswells 'B' were the winners.

This fueled our players in the second set and a massive service run from James Baker took Tendring out to a 10 points to 1 lead! The Boswells 'B' team were defending madly around their backcourt allowing only 10 kills from our 36 attempts. They were slowly able to chip away at the Tendring lead and drew level at 18 points. With our confidence shaken, the Tendring players found it hard to really go for their shots while the Boswells 'B' team were able to keep the pressure on us through their attacking. Unfortunately it was all a little too much for us and Boswells 'B' took the second set and the match.

The boys were devastated. Having played their best Volleyball in the previous match they were disappointed to have lost in the manner that they did. Three of the boys will be leaving College at the end of the year and this will be the end for them playing in Junior Volleyball Competitions.

What I can say is that I am very proud of the manner in which the boys conducted themselves in representing themselves and Tendring Technology College. The squad that travelled on Sunday 22nd January were:

• Sonny Chaney (captain)
• Jack Bruce
• Adam Richardson
• James Baker
• Mitchell Lawrence
• Tom Akiens
• Ben Ward-Cochrane
• Jack Panton
• Jonah Thomas

Liam Chinnery