TEAM ESSEX 1 - 3 TENDRING MEN

22-25, 25-23, 13-25, 22-25

Report by Stuart Dove

This Sunday 14th January saw Tendring make the short trip to Chelmsford to take on local rivals Team Essex Estonians in a National League Division 2 South fixture.

Tendring was keen to maintain their unbeaten record and was full of confidence following an impressive victory against Southampton the day before in the National Shield.

The first set was a nervy encounter with both teams making several unforced errors. Tendring began to take control with some solid service pressure and excellent block defence and took the set 25-22
Team Essex Estonians came out fighting in the second set and Tendring consistently struggled to kill the ball following some excellent defensive work from the hosts. Estonians took the set 25-23.

Tendring went into the third set with a renewed focus and some powerful cross court hitting from Styan and Morawski allowed Tendring to race to an 8-3 lead at the first technical timeout. Continued service pressure and clever distribution from Bui helped Tendring comfortably win the set 25-13.

A resilient Team Essex made a strong start to the fourth set and with an excellent run of serves they quickly found themselves 8-4 up at the first technical timeout. Tendring raised their game significantly and quickly overturned the points deficit with some excellent attacking from Dove and Porter. Team Essex was unable to cope with the change of gear and the set went to Tendring 25-22.

Both teams deserve credit for a competitive game that was played in good spirit. It was particularly pleasing to see a number of England juniors get plenty of court time and this is yet further evidence of the excellent job both clubs are doing at developing volleyball in the region. The 3-1 victory leaves Tendring undefeated at the top of the league. They take on London Lynx 2 in a top of the table clash on Saturday 20th January at the University of East London.