WEYMOUTH 0

NOTTINGHAM UNIVERSITY 3

WEYMOUTH Beach Volleyball Club’s unbeaten four-match home run came to an end at Redlands Community Sports Hub when they were well beaten by Nottingham University 3-0.

This was a must-win match for Nottingham who were aiming to guarantee promotion with a win and also keep their championship chances alive, while Weymouth are now certain to finish mid-table in National League Division One, the second tier in English Volleyball. This will be Weymouth’s highest finish since the 1990s.

Weymouth came into the match having had mixed success the previous weekend in Lancashire when they had beaten Stockport 3-1 but lost to Manchester 3-1 and with a fully-fit squad they were hoping to be able to put the pressure on Nottingham.

READ MORE: Weymouth secure National League Division One status for 2022/23

However, Nottingham were also in fine form having recently won the British Universities Championship and had defeated league leaders Richmond last weekend.

In the first set it looked like Weymouth were capable of pushing Nottingham as the early points were traded back and forth.

Weymouth were using their serving very tactically, Stuart Jeanes being brought into the side exactly for his ability to go for specific areas on court rather than pure power and this was certainly putting pressure on Nottingham’s defence.

However, despite the high blocking of Weymouth through Valdis Baranovs and Archie Golding, Nottingham’s strong attack gave them the extra points they needed to take the set 25-22.

Nottingham University, who are almost a full-time squad training together most days of the week, began to assert command in the second set and led throughout the set, with Weymouth’s back court finding it hard to control the students’ power serves and therefore finding it difficult to establish a meaningful attack of their own. Nottingham took the set 25-19.

The third set showed why Nottingham are such a highly-rated side and should be able to hold their own in the National Super League next year.

Weymouth, despite bringing in Liam Tewkesbury and Ollie Smith to the side could not control Nottingham’s power serving and outside hitting and as a result struggled to get into the match and lost 25-14.

Ben Clayton was particularly impressive for the students and it showed why the England junior is so well regarded in this country at the moment.

At the end of the match, Nottingham celebrated their guaranteed promotion with their travelling fans.

Weymouth Beach finish their indoor season today (1.15pm) at Redlands, which the club are hoping is not their last ever match at the venue.

It will be another tough match for Weymouth as they host Essex who currently lie in third place. All supporters are very welcome.