NVL Men - Stowmarket (A) Match Report 2009-10

Tendring V.C. 3 – 1 Stowmarket

25-22, 22-25, 25-13, 25-21

Report by Alex Porter

Tendring drop first set of the year.

After disposing of Oxford Students in the previous match, Tendring assumed that their next match against Stowmarket would be a normal run of the mill 3-0 victory, little did they know.

Just before the game began starting setter Nick Davies’s back started to play up. Before the Oxford game he’d complained about it feeling stiff but now he was in pain. Coach Alex Porter decided to replace Davies with Liam Chinnery, which would mean that the team would have to play without a libero. This was a risky decision because not only would the hitters have a different type of set but the passing and defence units would have a different line up and no one to organise them.

Set 1

Bearing all this in mind the first set started well. The team line up consisted of Chinnery, Widlarz, J. Everett, Dove, Masters and Chapman. Tendring took an early lead with good hitting from Chapman and Masters. Widlarz also go in on the action killing an attack on the second attempt. At 7-4 up it felt like it was going to be easy but sudden a run of very good defence by Stowmarket and a couple of cheeky balls by their outside hitters Stowmarket took the lead, 9-8. A fight broke out between the blockers and hitters, with Masters killing a ball followed by Stowmarket block him. Widlarz then killed a ball, followed by another block by Stowmarket. After a 30 second rally where both teams displayed some amazing defence Widlarz managed to put the ball on the floor with a gentle roll shot over the top of the block, 17-14. This forced Stowmarket to call a time out to try and regroup. Masters then hit off the block for a cheap point, Masters followed this up with two monster blocks. With Stowmarket looking desperate they volleyed a first ball back over to draw within one point, 21-20. Widlarz followed this up with a hit 10 bricks up the wall. Chinnery played the same game as Stowmarket and played the second ball over to give Tendring the lead again. The set was closed out by Tendring with two kills one from Dove and the other from Widlarz. 25-22

Set 2

Tendring started the second set with the same line, with coach Porter hoping they would learn from their mistakes and respect Stowmarket a bit more. J. Everett stated the cam really well with 2 kills and 2 kill blocks, giving Tendring a 5-0. Dove and Masters both had a kill each to bring the score up to 8-1. Widlarz then scored an ace to make it 9-1. Then the tables turned, for the next 16 points, both teams score a point each. At 16-8 Tendring were going through the motions and looked like they would win the set in a few minute. Porter swapped Ryan Everett for Chapman to give his a taste of the action but R. Everett never got to touch the ball. From 18-9 Tendring might as well have played with their arms behind their back, the team totally fell apart. Every one looked at each other hoping that the ball would. From 18-9 to 19-13 to 20-17 Tendring just didn’t engage, for the first time this season the team were out played. The score carried on 20-17 to 20-23, Tendring were on the verge of losing the first set of the season, to a team joint bottom of the league. Tendring tried to up their game but going from 1^st gear to 5^th in one move isn’t advisable and the Tendring looked scared to go for their shots. A block by Stowmarket put Tendring out of their misery, 22-25. Tendring had just lost their first set!

Set 3

After a few chairs being kicked and words shouted in frustration, the team needed a reality check. Porter pointed out that we hadn’t shown Stowmarket any respect and had just expected them to roll over for a 3-0 win. Davies was itching to get back on and promised to come off if his back hurt any more.

The team went back out onto court knowing that the pressure of not dropping a set all year had been lifted off their shoulders and boy did they perform. With Davies back in the setting roll the hitters we able to hit freely again.

Chapmen and J.Everett both go chancing to hit and for parts of the set they were both unstoppable. At 16-19 up, Tendring weren’t going to make the same mistake again and Dove smashed ball after ball onto the Stowmarket court. Masters also started to fire again with some wonderful hitting from the mid point of the set. To win the set Masters served straight to Hermus who shanked the ball up the wall. Tendring were back! 25-13

Set 4

With the troops now settled Chinnery came back on to set and done a fine job. Jones got involved in the game from the word go with some nice defence and middle hitting. Masters went on a run of four kills in a row taking Tendring to 18-15, Widlarz then produced a trademark power shot cross court to push the team even further in the lead. Dove managed to play defence then get his big frame up in time to hit and win a point on a 10 ball. To finish the game Masters show his experience with two wipe offs.

MVP: Liam Chinnery