Mens SEVA Results

The Vipers went to the SEVA tournament missing Nigel and Mark through the middle and Paul through the outside. This left us with Andrew Crockett as our only middle hitter so we drafted in Dom from the Jets and Martin as general cover.

The first match saw us play eventual winners Dartford who, having played one game already, hit the ground running and got of to a strong start. With Damo playing through the middle and Martin opposite we could not afford time to get used to the new system and lost the first set badly. The second set saw the Vipers compete and there was only a point in it when the timed match ended.

It was Solent Uni next and this time we played Dom through the middle and Martin through the outside. The first set was close and the Vipers lost it by 6 points which meant we needed to be leading by more than 6 points when the final hooter went! With Andrew Crockett running short attacks every time it meant our outside attack only had one blocker and the game slowly turned. The match ended with Vipers well in the lead to secure our first win.

Next it was Mole Valley who had already beaten Oxford and this time Mickey returned to the outside and Dom remained through the middle. A "mistake" from the coach saw the Vipers playing an unfamiliar rotation, however this ended up being the best performance of the day and with a good first ball we were able to use all hitting options. The first set was taken with ease thanks to strong hitting from all and resulted in the coach sticking with his now "inspired" and deliberate changed rotation! The second set started as the first finished and with Dom joining Andrew in some great middle hitting and saw Mole Valley get closer before the Vipers closed out the second set.

The final match was against Oxford, but by now we were starting to run of of steam. We lost the first set, but pulled back the gap in the second before fading badly. We ended up 3rd on our pool and missed out on the semi by just 5 points. It was a good days volleyball with the highlights being the strong middle attack, an improving first pass and two great performances which see us heading for a new season with a few more options at our disposal.