Tendring Men 3 – 0 Exeter Storm
25-14, 25-17, 25-19
Report by Connor Bui
On November 25th 2017, the Tendring Men’s Division 2 team faced against the squad of Exeter Storm. Following their recent win last weekend over London Baks, the Tendring Men were looking to lengthen their winning streak to four matches in league play.
The first set began smoothly for Tendring thanks to consistent passing throughout the first set which allowed middle Alex Porter to rack up points for the Tendring men. The Exeter Storm blockers started keying on the other middle Jacob Jones causing a brief lull in energy on the Tendring side. However, after the first technical timeout, the Tendring men kicked into gear with a service run from setter Connor Bui. Tendring continued make headway with consistent attacks from opposite Stuart Dove and outside hitter Neil Masters. A double substitution of Andre Kaprol and Andrew Styan 25-14 allowed Tendring to win the first set 25-14.
The second set began a little more sluggishly for the Tendring men. The Exeter Storm squad worked hard to put pressure on the Tendring men leading the set up to 7-5. The two teams traded 2-3 point runs with the Exeter squad getting consistent block touches and making it difficult to score points for Tendring. Finally at 13 all, the Tendring men started to make headway from service runs by Connor Bui and Tomasz Morawski along with some successful defensive plays from Stuart Dove and Rees Warren. A final double substitution allowed Andre Kaprol and Andrew Styan to finish the set 25-17.
The third set once again commenced a little slowly for Tendring due to some aggressive serving and defense by Exeter Storm. Excellent defensive plays were made by Tendring’s Andre Kaprol and Rees Warren, but Exeter still led at the first technical. The Tendring men worked hard to establish Jacob Jones and Alex Porter through the middle, and aggressive swings from Tomasz Morawski and Andrew Styan and consistent passing by Neil Masters allowed Tendring to gain back the lead. Tendring led 16-15 at the second technical timeout and started to pull away thanks to a service run from Neil Masters. Alex Porter continued to score points at the net, and Stuart Dove finished the set with a cross court swing finishing the match at 25-19.
This puts the Tendring Men at 5th place in the league undefeated the first four league matches. Look out for the Tendring Men Shield Match next weekend at home against Onyx London. The next league matches will take place away on December 9th and 10th against City of Bristol and VC Bristol.
Match MVP Connor Bui