- Caesareans go one better than 2014 to clinch all four inter-insular crowns.
- Ladies A pushed to five sets before Men’s A come back from a set down.
- Pictures from the weekend’s action below.
JERSEY secured a clean sweep of volleyball inter-insular honours at Fort Regent on Saturday, winning all four ties against Guernsey.
Having won three of the contests 12 months ago, the Island’s A and B sides would perhaps have been favourites to triumph once again. And, after the men’s and women’s Bs were guided to 3-0 victories by Mick Toal and Gemma Coles respectively (both with 26-24 third set successes), that expectation looked all the more justified.
Ladies B: Jersey 3-0 Guernsey (25-18, 25-10, 26-24).
Men’s B: Jersey 3-0 Guernsey (25-15, 25-13, 26-24).
Ladies A: Jersey 3-2 Guernsey (25-16, 24-26, 25-23, 17-25, 15-13).
Men’s A: Jersey 3-1 Guernsey (25-27, 25-22, 25-15, 25-19).
Guernsey tried their best to thwart the hosts’ hopes of domination, though, and took the Caesareans to five sets in the women’s A encounter before firing out of the blocks to claim the first game of the men’s A tie.
A relatively straight forward opening set from Jersey’s ladies (25-16) was followed by Guernsey’s first game of the day – a 26-24 triumph to level the scores.
The Reds bounced back after coming out on top in long rallies at 20-20 and then again at 22 apiece (with Ann Cadiou and Dominika Thomas hitting crucial points to put their side 2-1 up), but Guernsey resisted a repeat of last year’s 3-1 scoreline with a clinical display in the fourth (25-17) and gave themselves added confidence going into the decider.
However, with Deirdre de Rue on form and setting well, Jersey outlined their resilience as they clinched victory at 15-13 in the fifth, leaving coach Steve Rowe full of praise.
‘The first set was good and we played well … everything was going perfectly,’ said Rowe.
‘But then we relaxed too much and let them back into the game, and that gave them confidence.
‘Having trailed in the fifth set it was good to come back and win, and it gives us a boost ahead of the Island Games, we’ve just got to keep that momentum going.’
Jersey’s men, who were without coach Daniel Grigoras due to ferry cancellations, struggled to get going at the start of their match with Guernsey’s best, only taking the lead for the first time at 19-18 after being five behind early on. They weren’t able to hold on though, despite diving efforts of Tim Silvester, and had to dig deep to draw level with a 25-22 second set success.
A less competitive third followed (25-15), even though Jersey continued to find the net on serve, but the vocal visiting support saw their side slip to a 25-19 defeat in the fourth, with another misplaced serve, this time from the Sarnians, gifting the home side to victory.
‘The warm-up period tells you a lot about your opponents and from what we saw we knew Guernsey were up for the game,’ said men’s team manager Matthew Morel. ‘They seemed extremely focused on making a good, solid start and if I’m honest we had not fully settled into our rhythm … we were a little shell shocked at first.
‘The game was a great test for us. It showed our resilience and that our focused training and conditioning fitness sessions are paying off.’
Junior Chris de Rue was named the Men’s A man of the match.
Ladies A: Deirdre de Rue, Daniela Jakodova, Nicki Appleton, Laura Morel, Marta Kowalczewska, Dominika Thomas and Ann Cadiou. Ladies B: Paula Hindley, Laura Kangas, Renata Freitas, Luisa Abreau, Izabela Gawlicka, Gemma Coles and Kasia Witkowska. Men’s A: Chris De Rue, David Cox, Matthew Morel, Andre Fortunato, Leo Figueira, Tim Silvester, Paul Gartshore. Men’s B: Mick Toal, Ben Kemp, Stuart Black, Steve Clarke, Jordan Hampton, Paul Adamson.
