Competition: Whitefield Tournament, Men's Premier Division Date: Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd July 2006 Venue: Bath SC Final Result: 3-0 Win against White Eagles (25-17, 25-23, 25-14) Headline: Docklands make it four in a row Author: Andy Hopper
London Docklands have secured their fourth win in a row at the prestigious Whitefield International Volleyball Tournament in Bath. After winning five matches to reach an all London final, Docklands overcame White Eagles in three sets.
On Saturday Docklands comfortably won their pool with four 2-0 victories. However, the day did not start as well as expected after Docklands needed to recover from 23-24 down to win the first set against their eventual final opponents. With Docklands fielding three guest players the team needed time to gel but with Club Captain Danny Primus pulling the strings as setter, his side started to play more confidently. Docklands old boy Danny Weemes, selected for Great Britain during the week, was slowly starting to find his rhythm and despatched two consecutive kills. Weemes has played semi-professionally in Sweden for the last two seasons and his Latvian team mate Aldis Jaundzeikars was another guest player and his strong net game was beginning to have a major influence on the match. It was his block that sealed Docklands first set win 25-24. A disheartened White Eagles struggled to get a foot hold in the second set as Docklands powered away to a 25-18 second set win.
Docklands next faced fellow Division 1 side Newcastle Staffs. Neil Masters, providing a solid platform in the libero position, was clearly enjoying taking on his old team and with guest Ben Wilkinson now setting, Docklands offensive game was too quick for an out of sorts Staffs team. Docklands ran out winners 2-0 (25-19 and 25-18) to take the lead in pool A. Docklands followed this up with an easy 2-0 win (25-20 and 25-19) against Belgian team Ham to set-up a crucial match against National League rivals Warwick Riga. Docklands won their last two encounters with Riga but the midlands team always provide Docklands with tough opposition. However, with Weemes and Alex Porter establishing daunting blocks on both wings Riga struggled to find a way through. Efe Eruero, rested in the Ham match, was back to his aggressive best and Boris Halatchev was matching him with some crucial blocks. Docklands secured a 25-21 first set win and with a series of bizarre refereeing decisions disrupting the flow of the game in set two, it was Docklands who dealt best with the stuttering nature of the match. They again won 25-21 to seal top position in their pool and set-up a semi final against the second team in pool B, ULU.
With two regular ULU players in their squad (Halatchev and Albrecht Glitz) Docklands had some inside knowledge on their semi final opponents. However, their involvement also gave the student team an added incentive to do well. They managed to keep a pace with Docklands and gained a critical two point lead mid way through the set that they didn't relinquish, finally winning the first set 25-22. Coach Andy Hopper introduced Martin Blake and Mohammed Sliti at the start of the second set to freshen up Docklands' attack. Blake duly obliged with a couple of deft kills and a demoralising block on the ULU outside hitter. Sliti also played his part as Docklands took a five point lead at 17-12. Despite a late fight back by ULU, Docklands held on to win 25-22. The third and final set was a nervous affair with both sides making unforced errors. Neither team was able to open up a significant lead but two wild swings in a row by the student team gifted Docklands a slender advantage which they held on to win 15-12. White Eagles then beat Cambridge in the other semi final to set-up a rematch with Docklands.
Docklands made a poor start to the final with errors presenting White Eagles with a 3-0 lead. However, Docklands managed to establish their sideout game and with blocks by Halatchev and Weemes they clawed their way back into the set. Then a run of eight serves from Eruero caused confusion in the White Eagles passing unit and as White Eagles setter Dimitri Robay tried all of his hitters the pressure on his team mates seemed to be too much as they made error after error or could not find a way past some formidable Docklands' blocks. In the end Docklands coasted to a 25-17 first set win.
Docklands maintained their dominance at the start of the second set as the crowd of around 300 seemed to lose interest as White Eagles struggled to match their division 1 opponents. It took a dramatic pick-up by Glitz in a long rally that Docklands ultimately lost to get the spectators attention but by then Docklands were already 11-5 up. However, a run of tricky float serves by Robay brought his team back into the match as Hopper was forced to call his first time out at 11-9. A kill by Weemes halted White Eagles' recovery and a Wilkinson service run restored Docklands six point advantage. However, White Eagles did not give up and when Robay served again he caused more problems in the Docklands passing unit forcing another Docklands time out at 23-23. Docklands finally showed their experience by closing out the set in two short rallies as a kill by Glitz sealed a 25-23 second set win.
White Eagles were unable to come back as Docklands began to play more freely. Two blocks each by Wilkinson and Halatchev seemed to deflate the White Eagles attackers. Halatchev piled on more misery with two aces that put Docklands 15-8 up. It was finally left to Primus, on as a serving replacement for Weemes, to roll back the years and produce a back court attack that sailed off the White Eagles block to win the set 25-14.
After captain Halatchev collected the trophy he said, "That was a great win at the end of a brilliant weekend. I haven't enjoyed a tournament like that for many years and the team spirit was fantastic. I hope we can build on this for next season." Weemes was presented with the man of the match award and added, "I can't wait till next year so we can make it five in a row."
Primus again completed an impressive double after he also coached his women's team to the indoor title for the second year in a row. The former EVA coach of the year (twice) commented, "I always enjoy this tournament and the last two years have been amazing. I enjoy the coaching side but getting back on court after a long injury lay-off was a big relief and I can't wait for the new season to begin."
See photos
from the weekend here.