A big 11 man squad arrived for Thursday 12th January as men’s 1 took on a young Nottingham Rockets side. The opening set began with myself (Jacob) setting, captain Tom at opposite, Marcin and Stent through the middle and Lewis and Ashath as outsides. We took an early lead thanks to a strong start and an inexperienced rockets side easing to the game. We raced into a 5 point lead and never looked back, thanks to some strong attacks early on, particularly from Tom through 10 and 2, who I personally believe was robbed of MVP. Lewis, Marcin, Stent and Ashath all swung well, with consistent passing making Jacob’s job pretty easy, as we learned even in January it’s always beach season. Changes then came, as Erick replaced Tom, Jake replaced Lewis after a particularly dodgy jump serve, and James entered in place of Stent. The subs hit the ground running and attacked well, putting the pressure on Rockets. The gap grew and grew as the set went on, and we cruised to taking the first set 25-11. 

The second set saw more changes, as we lined up with Jacob staying on as setter, Liam as opposite, James and Stent as middles and Lewis and Jake as outsides. Again, a strong start meant we had the momentum throughout, despite the young Rockets applying some pressure on serve, some nice side out volleyball meant we were in control. A highlight in this set came from Jake, as the ginger assassin buried 2 ‘41’ sets in consecutive points, as we continued to apply pressure. Changes came again, including el capitano in to set, and Fraser in through the middle. Tom was making good choices and bringing all of his hitting options in to the game, especially getting the middles going and generating some really nice attacks. Despite a run of serves from the Rockets threatening to get them back into the set, any hope of that was crushed and we pulled away to win that set comfortably, 25-15.

The final set was…shall we say experimental. Liam was setting with Jacob at opposite, Stent and Marcin were playing middle and Fraser and Ashath played outside. The phrase ‘more by luck than judgement’ springs to mind. A few runs of serves from Liam and Ashath meant that we started strong, and we raced ahead. Rockets grew into this one though, as they provided some fight of their own. We scrambled well to earn some scrappy points, as Liam picked his hitters out well. Changes then came, as Tom came on at middle, Lewis came on to set. Yes, Lewis to set. And James came on as outside, and I’m sure he enjoyed it more than Lewis enjoyed his passing. Lewis, to his credit, did set well, allowing James and Fraser to swing from the wing. Fraser’s run of serves towards the end put the set to bed, with Rockets struggling to apply pressure. The less said about Jacob’s jump serve attempt on set point the better, but eventually we closed out the third and final set 25-17. 

Overall, a young opposition provided a different kind of challenge, and we came through it with flying colours, with the result never looking in doubt, and another 3-0 victory coming our way