A thrilling weekend of volleyball saw Team Northumbria men remain undefeated at the top of the table after winning a challenging game against current champions IBB Polonia at Sport Central on Saturday.
TN men took the first two sets with ease but had to work for the win after dropping the third set 25-20 to the visitors.
“We went out with a specific game plan and it worked for the first two sets comfortably,” said head coach David Goodchild.
“Our plan was to win the width and we scored it down the line all the time with Adam Bradbury, Dan Starkey and Liam Jenkinson
“When we tried to change our offense plan, it took us a little time to get to grips with it in the third set.
“Our serve receive unit didn’t function as well and we made too many serving errors. It was that which cost us the set.”
The fourth set saw TN and Polonia neck-and-neck until 10-10 but the home side quickly hit the burner and sent Polonia packing.
“We went back out with a specific plan to start forcing the middle and the back court,” added Goodchild.
“We did that until they changed and then we finished the set off magnificently with our serving pressure and our attacking down the aerials.
“All in all, they are the champions of the cup and the league and we beat them 3-1. We should have beat them 3-0 in my opinion but it’s credit to and testimony to the lads who have been working really hard in training.”
Sunday saw TN’s men and women both playing against BU Wessex. Both sides won in straight sets although the women’s team appeared to have a tougher time.
“There were a lot of ups and downs to the game,” admitted Goodchild. “We got challenged in the second set (27-25) and it was nice to bounce back.
“Some of the things that came off today were really good and we clearly have areas to develop. We’ve identified what we need to do and these will be incorporated this week in practice.”
As for the men’s game, Goodchild had nothing but praise for the whole team, highlighting the performances of Daniel Sach - who is away playing for the England U19’s for the next seven days - and captain Adam Bradbury.
“It’s as good as I’ve seen from a Northumbria men’s team,” he added. “The willingness to learn and get better and really play at the highest level possible is evidenced across the team.”
Natalie Martin
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