Richmond double up in opening Grand Prix of the U18 Super Series

The South West London club had, by their high standards, a disappointing Cup Finals Weekend in April, winning just one of the six age groups finals (U18 boys). 

But they laid down an early marker in the new 2024-25 season with a series of excellent performances at Grand Prix 1.

 

 

 

 

A draw took place to decide the initial fixtures in each section, with the teams ranked in the top four from last season being paired with one of the teams ranked fifth to eighth.  

Richmond A, ranked number one in the girls’ section, drew Westminster, ranked eighth, and the Dark Blues wasted no time in exerting their authority, winning the first set 25-8 and the second 25-11 to sweep through to the next round of the knockout format. 

Third-ranked Urmston Grammar A also progressed with relatively few problems, overcoming South Bucks A (ranked sixth) 25-13 25-20. 

Other highly-ranked teams, however, found the going much tougher, with second-ranked Boswells School, last season’s overall champions at this age group, losing 25-16, 25-22 to Leeds Gorse and fourth-ranked Black Country going down 25-23, 25-16 to Nottingham Rockets. 

The second round of matches saw each of the winners and losers take each other on and Richmond were once again composed to edge out a determined Rockets 25-23 in the first set before pulling away to win the second 25-15. 

Leeds Gorse then showed they are to set to be a force to be reckoned with this season as they followed their success over Boswells by also beating Urmston Grammar A 25-11, 25-18. 

In the other matches, Black Country dropped the first set against Westminster but bounced back to take a closely-contested match 22-25, 27-25, 15-11, while Boswells were too strong for South Bucks A, coming out on top 25-8, 25-19. 

The gold match, to see who would finish as the top team for the day, saw Richmond and Leeds Gorse put on a great show for the watching spectators. 

But it was the Londoners’ serving excellence, strong defence and power at the net that eventually saw them come through 25-20, 25-22. 

Nottingham Rockets were delighted to secure victory in the bronze match, defeating Urmston Grammar A 25-15, 25-20, to underline their potential. 

The battle for fifth and sixth saw Boswells overpower Back Country to triumph 25-17, 25-18 and, while already knowing they would be relegated to the Gold Pool for the Grand Prix 2 matches in November, both Westminster and South Bucks A fought gamely for seventh place before the latter prevailed 27-25, 25-17.

 In the boys’ competition, defending champions Richmond A powered out of the blocks to beat Willesden Titans (ranked eighth) 25-14, 25-17. 

Number one-ranked Newcastle Staffs, Cup Finalists last season, were pushed hard by Boswells School but came back from a set down to eventually win 23-25 25-23, 15-11 in a tight match. 

Third-ranked IBB Polonia were beaten 25-14, 25-19 by Urmston Grammar A (ranked sixth), while second-ranked Leeds Gorse Orange looked strong in seeing off the challenge of Exeter Storm (ranked fifth) 25-20, 25-17.  

The second round threw up a mouth-watering clash between Newcastle Staffs and Richmond A, which did not disappoint, going the full three sets. 

And it was the London side who eventually emerged victorious, 18-25, 25-23, 15-20, where a tight second set proved critical. 

Leeds Gorse were also winners, defeating Urmston Grammar 25-23, 25-17 as Boswell School and Exeter Storm were the two teams who lost their first matches to hit back with wins in their second (against Willesden Tigers 25-20, 20-25, 15-9 and against IBB Polonia 28-26, 24-26, 15-7 respectively). 

The gold match between Richmond A and Leeds Gorse produced a high standard of play and a fair amount of drama to go with it. 

The first set to and fro-ed all the way and both had set points before the team from the capital edged it 31-29. 

The second set proved to be a little easier for Richmond, but they were still made to work hard before taking it 25-21. 

The bronze medal fixture was won by Newcastle Staffs, who demonstrated their intent for future Grand Prix rounds by beating Urmston Grammar A 25-22, 25-23. 

Fitth and sixth was contested by Boswells School and Exeter and it was the former who did enough to clinch it 25-18, 25-17. 

The game between the already-relegated Willesden Titans and IBB Polonia saw the latter come through in three sets, prevailing 25-18, 15-25, 16-14 in one of the closest finishes of the weekend. 

Just as exciting was the the shoot-out to ascertain which Gold Pool teams would win promotion to the Super Series, with, for the girls, one pool being held at Ashcombe School and the other at Newcastle Staffs. 

Outside of the Super Series, all matches were played in the traditional group format, with all teams playing each other. 

In Surrey, it was Taunton who topped the pile to take their place in the top eight next time, which they did so without dropping a set. 

Their 25-13, 25-15 success over second-placed Wessex A proved pivotal, while Weymouth Ripples finished third and Ashcombe fourth. 

In Staffordshire, Malory Eagles sealed their promotion in equally emphatic fashion, also recording three victories from three. 

Their final game against second-placed Newcastle Staffs A saw them pushed the hardest before they won through by a 25-21, 25-12 margin. 

Urmston Grammar B finished third while Richmond B were fourth. 

The first of the boys’ gold pools was played at Black Country, where Liverpool took top spot ahead of hosts Black Country, Cherwell and Sheffield. 

Richmond hosted the second, where AST Academy stayed unbeaten to lead the way, not dropping a set. 

They came through some close sets, notably 28-26 against second-placed Richmond B and 29-27 against third-placed Deep Dish Crystal Palace, to complete the job. Dartford took fourth place. 

The girls’ silver pools were staged in Coventry and Worthing, with Ashfield Vipers winning the former and Willesden Divets the latter, both boasting unbeaten records. 

South Hants and Coventry hosted the boys’ silver pool and the first of those saw an extremely close finish in the race for top spot. 

South Hants, Dulwich and London Lynx Selby all won two and lost one of their matches, and had the same set difference, so it came down to points difference (23, compared to 21 and 19) to rank them in the order detailed here. 

The other pool was more straightforward, with Stockport winning all three matches to head up the table. 

Bronze pool winners in the boys’ competition were Wapping Wildcats A (in Wapping) while the results had still to be received from the pool in Nottingham. 

A host of other pools were also held around the country, both in the girls’ and boys’ sections. 

In the girls’ pools, the winners (and venues) included Urmston Grammar C (Wirral), Wirral (Wirral), MK City A (Coventry), Sheffield (Lincoln Cannons), Wessex B (South Hants), Richmond C (Richmond) and Dartford (South Hants). 

On the boys’ side, of the results received so far, winners (and venues) were VBDC (South Hants), South Bucks (Coventry), Newcastle Staffs B (Manchester Marvels) and Leeds Gorse Purple (Leeds Gorse). 

Volleyball England would like to congratulate all teams who have won promotion and thank all the venues, referees, coaches and officials who have made this weekend happen. 

Super Series images by Jon Cornish

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