Tendring Men New Forest

25-14, 25-22, 25-23

Report by Connor Bui
17th February 2018

The Tendring men drove down to New Forest for a big game against the second in the league. Tendring hit the ground running in the first set with great swings out of the middle from Jacob Jones and Alex Porter. Tendring pulled away in the first set thanks to consistent attacking from wing hitters Tomasz Morawski and Andrew Styan and blocking by captain Stuart Dove. Tendring finished the first set handily 25-15.

New Forest bounced back well in the second set with a 3-0 lead in the first few minutes. A serving run and excellent defensive work from Tomasz Morawski brought Tendring back into the lead. Block touches from Callum Sage and Jacob Jones and excellent tip coverage by Stuart Dove allowed Tendring to maintain a steady lead over New Forest after being behind in the beginning of the set. A service run from Alex Porter helped Tendring to pull away towards the end of the set and win 25-23.

New Forest once again came out swinging in the third set with aggressive attacks from the outside hitters. Consistent serve receive passing allowed Tendring setter Connor Bui to run the offence from all angles. Stuart Dove was instrumental in setting up a consistent block, and had multiple kills from the right side. Alex Porter was substituted on following an injury but quickly was a presence through the middle block and attack. Andrew Styan had multiple big swings through the outside helping Tendring to battle back against the strong New Forest Side. Substitution of Bastien Chabe-Ferret onto court towards the end of the set helped to push Tendring towards the win at 25-23.

This win maintains Tendring first seed in the South Division II and increases the winning streak to eleven games in the national league. The Tendring men continued their weekend playing Exeter Storm on Sunday February 18th.

MVP - #9 Connor Bui