With six wins out of eight so far this season, the women’s team are currently in the top three in their division.
The men’s team are also at the top end of the table, having won five games out of the eight they have played to date.
Yesterday the ladies’ team beat Exeter Torexe 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-16) and Bristol 3-1 (23-25, 25-10, 25-19, 25-23) and the men defeated Bath University 3-0 (25-23, 25-14,25-14) and Wiltshire 3-0 (25-12, 25-8, 25-7), which prompted their president, Paul Adamson, to say: ‘The men played really well.
Marcin Migas showed his ability with some strong hitting, while Mick Toal was excellent in his role as setter.
‘We took over only a bare minimum of players, as did the ladies, but everyone played to their strengths.
They are aware that they are now looking towards the Island Games in Rhodes.
Fortunately there were no injuries.
Both the men’s and ladies’ teams had a bare number of six players with no reserves.
It’s a gamble, as one of the players could easily sustain an injury, but the cost of travelling away from the Island means that you can only use the players you’ve got.
‘Thankfully, the ones we took away with us all came good and we have moved up the table, although Plymouth are the team to beat because they have won every game they’ve played.
‘We have more difficult games to come in the new year, but that’s good for us as we build up towards the Island Games.’ The women had two tough encounters against Exeter Torexe and Bristol yesterday but in the end they won with surprising ease.
‘We played well as a team and varied our lines of attack,’ said veteran player Jo Dodsley.
‘We contained their attacking options and defended well and we played well together as a unit when it was our turn to serve.’ Alice Baxter added: ‘We won both games because we were much more positive than them.
This was a strong team with good co-ordination.
Nicky Appleton was our main setter, but it’s difficult to single out any one player – everyone played well.
We won both our games because we played as not so much as individuals, but more as a team.’ Men: Marcin Migas, Mick Toal, Paul Gartshore, Dan Noding, Lee Ingram, Paul Adamson.
Ladies: Ann Cadiou, Sally Hall, Alice Baxter, Jo Dodsley, Nicki Appleton, Gemma Coles.
