Vipers had a full squad apart from Nigel who was unavailable, although they did have a bit of a scare with Jimmy turning his ankle playing National League on the Saturday and was only confirmed to play just before the start!
Vipers started with Jimmy and Micky as passer hitters, Mark and Andy C through the middle, Damien opposite, Andy L setting and Richard Libero. The first set started really well for the Vipers with pressure being applied to Adur not allowing them to get a good pass in and open up their hitters. Vipers opened a good lead early on with all hitters, but especially Mark and Jimmy, being able to win points at ease. Adur did come back into the set but Vipers had a big enough lead to hold them off and won the set comfortably.
Set 2 saw the same lineup on court and saw the Vipers relax too much and in a contrast to the first set slipped to an early deficit with some poor passing and hitting errors. They did recover and start to up their performance but were always behind. Paul was introduced towards the end to try and change things and did well in a difficult situation. Matt L also made a very brief appearance to try and slow Adur's momentum. Vipers did fight well and came back strongly but narrowly lost the set. Highlights of the set were the runs of points won by pressure serving and strong blocking front court which were to prove key to winning the game.
Vipers again went with the same lineup for set 3 and started well as did Adur which meant the game was quiet even throughout the set. Vipers did up the intensity from set 2 which gave them the edge to push on and with strong serving and blocking again despite a few blocking errors managed to win the set. Again Jimmy was hitting well as was Damien who was coming back into the game.
Set 4 was close throughout until about 15 points where the Vipers opened up a lead again putting Adur under pressure with strong blocking/defence. Vipers pushed on despite a few nervous moments towards the end, as Adur came back, but managed to secure the game and set. All enjoyed the celebrations for what was a important match and a good win. Set 4 did also saw Micky with an awesome 1 on 1 block which he did seem to enjoy!
MVP went to Damien which was good as he picked him self up well and won good points with his attacking options.
Overall a good solid performance and a good win. Thanks also to those who came to support it was much appreciated.
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