WEYMOUTH 1

STOCKPORT 3

WEYMOUTH Beach Volleyball Club fell to their second home defeat in National league Division One when they lost to Stockport 3-1 at Redlands.

This was a thrilling match which could have gone either way and showed that Weymouth can live at this level of volleyball, despite the loss.

Weymouth Beach went into the match without England junior Archie Golding, who sprained his ankle last weekend.

They included in their line-up new signing Mat Hunter from Wessex Volleyball Club who could add his experience of playing in the National Super League and being an England International beach volleyball player.

READ MORE: Weymouth 0-3 Richmond - match report

The match did not get off to the greatest start when the first serve had to be delayed for 15 minutes to accommodate the arrival of the Stockport side who had a difficult journey south through snowy conditions.

Once the match got under way the sides traded points throughout the first set but it was noticeable Weymouth’s service receive and blocking was much stronger than it had been the previous week, perhaps a reflection of the work that had been put in during training.

Despite this Stockport were able to exert control at the end of the set and pulled away to win it 25-17.

Weymouth got the second set off to a flying start with excellent hitting from Valdis Baranovs and Liam Tewkesbury in particular and tactical changes by coach Simon Golding gave them the edge over Stockport.

Weymouth led for most of the set but towards the end Stockport began to come back and Weymouth just managed to hang on for the 25-23 win.

Stockport’s outside hitters again began to dominate in the third set and Weymouth appeared to lose some concentration as Stockport took the lead.

Stephen Williamson and Ollie Smith were introduced to the match for Weymouth and this helped to stem the tide but unfortunately Stockport hung on for a 25-21 win.

The fourth set was an epic battle with both sides having spells of dominance but it was Stockport who seemed to be on course for victory leading 23-20.

However, Weymouth captain Ryan Stout's excellent setting meant that Stockport were struggling to block out the Weymouth attack.

Roared on by the home crowd, Weymouth were able to come back to level up at 23-23. There now followed a series of points with both teams having set points. Despite some amazing back court work from Weymouth at 28-27, Stockport were able to finish off the match with a decisive block.

Although Weymouth will be disappointed with the defeat they will be encouraged by how well they competed against the team in second place and it should give them confidence for matches to come.

This was Weymouth’s last home match before Christmas. They have an away double header in Nottingham on Saturday and then Richmond on Sunday.