WEYMOUTH 3

LONDON GIANTS 2

WEYMOUTH Volleyball Club extended their National League Division One unbeaten record to five matches but only after an epic two-hour 3-2 win over London Giants at Redlands.

Before the match, Weymouth supporters had been very optimistic about this contest having seen Weymouth push Super League side Malory in the cup last week.

It looked like newly promoted London Giants, who had previously only won one match this season, would be much easier opposition but it did not prove that way.

Weymouth got off to a very slow start making uncharacteristic unforced errors and found themselves 6-2 behind but they gradually picked up their game and slowly pulled back the deficit to level the scores at 23-23.

READ MORE: Weymouth 0-3 Malory Eagles - report

Then came an extraordinary run of play with both sides having five set points before strong attacking from Giants saw them take the crucial point to win the set 31-29.

Coach Stuart Jeanes made a few tactical changes to the Weymouth system for the second set and this proved successful straight away as Weymouth’s middle attacks from Sam Groom and Seb Smith were able to get through Giants’ defence and Weymouth took the set 25-17.

In the third set, the sides matched each other point for point until 23-23 however this time some crucial power hits from Weymouth’s outside hitter Toddy Tofalau proved decisive and Weymouth took the set 25-23.

It looked like Weymouth should now go on to win but Giants had other ideas, came fighting back and put pressure on Weymouth’s defence.

This, combined with too many serving errors from Weymouth, allowed Giants to level the match taking the set 25-22.

For the decisive final set Weymouth seemed to sort their serving out to put more pressure on Giants and this, combined with excellent blocking from Tom Lycett, meant Weymouth took an early lead and never really let up.

A strong run of serving from Liam Tewkesbury then ended the match as Weymouth took the set 15-9.

Weymouth remain in second place in Division One and this Saturday they contest their last home match at Redlands before Christmas when they play Coventry (2.45pm).

Spectators are welcome and admission is free. Alternatively, the match will also be shown live on YouTube and can be watched by following Weymouth Volleyball Club on the site.