NVL review (12th and 13th October) - Aces off the mark after winning five-set thriller at ARU

The visitors edged the first two hard-fought sets 25-23, 25-22 and looked on course for a comfortable victory.

But a mammoth third set went the way of the hosts 33-31 and that breathed new life into their efforts.

 

They took the fourth set 25-22 and, at that point, seemed to have all the momentum, but the Aces had other ideas and raced to a 15-8 success in the deciding tie breaker.

That enabled London to bounce back positively from their opening game defeat to Leeds Gorse, who are the early pacesetters at the top with three wins from three.

Two other fixtures in the division took place on Saturday, with London Baks beating Tamworth Spartans in four very tight sets (25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23) at the Castle Green Sports Centre.

In the West Midlands, Black Country capitalised on edging a closely-contested first set 29-27 to also take the second by just two points (25-23) before making it more straightforward in the third (25-20) to round off a 3-0 win and start the season with maximum points.

In Division 2 South, Rickmond Bucks made it two wins from two as they were 3-1 victors at Wiltshire Mavericks, coming from a set down to record a 20-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-19 scoreline.

Wessex, meanwhile, got their campaign off to a flyer, beating Cardiff Panthers 25-21, 25-12, 25-19 in Wales.

Coventry and Warwick Riga have taken early leadership of Division 2 Central after defeating Loughborough Students 3-1 on their home court.

The 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-18 result leaves the students yet to register a point from their two matches, though it’s still very early days.

Just 14 miles separates Cambridge from Newmarket, so the trip home for the latter was short but sweet after they prevailed 25-17, 25-15, 26-24.

A very close and highly-entertaining match took place in Kent where hosts Dartford Crossers came back from two sets down to beat Wapping Wildcats in Division 3 South East.

The home side had agonisingly missed out as the Londoners had gone 2-0 up on the back of winning both sets by two points (25-23, 26-24).

But the Crossers knew they were still very much in the game and turned the tide by first levelling up the match with sets wins by 25-18 and 25-23 margins and then taking the tie-breaker 15-10.

Reading Aces beat Coventry and Warwick Riga 2 in straight sets (25-14, 25-21, 25-22) in the only game to be played so far in Divison 3 South West.

The weekend also saw the opening encounter in Women’s Division 1 where Leicester Athena Phoenix laid down an early marker by beating Coventry and Warwick Riga.

The side relegated from Super League last season started well enough to take the first set 25-21, but last season’s National Shield finalists hit back to reel off the next three 25-21, 25-18, 25-19.

Tamworth Spartans made it back-to back wins in Division 2 North to go top as they followed up their first game triumph over Loughborough Students by winning 3-1 at Urmston Grammar, bouncing back from dropping the first set to emerge 19-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-17 victors.

The two games played in Division 2 West contrasted greatly, with Bedminster winning relatively easily at Cheltenham and Gloucester in straight sets (25-13, 25-13, 25-19), while Cardiff Panthers had to go the distance to edge out Black Country (25-13, 25-20, 23-25, 21-25, 15-13) in a nailbiter.

Northampton are the early front runners in Division 2 East after winning on the road at Herts in a match that was much closer than the overall 3-1 scoreline suggested (27-25, 25-19, 12-25, 27-25).

Richmond 2 were also triumphant but had their moments or struggle in a five-set win over Cambridge (25-21, 6-25, 26-26, 18-25, 15-12).

Wombourne enjoyed the best of a Division 3 Central triangular fixture against Nottingham Rockets  and Black Country 2, winning those matches 3-0 and 3-1 respectively, while Rockets claimed the other game 3-1.

Invicta have joined Worthing and Sussex Dolphins in being victorious in their first two matches of the season in Division 3 South East, seeing off Ashcombe Dorking and Essex Ravens by the same 3-1 margin.

Ashcombe then prevailed 15-8 in a deciding fifth set at Maidstone Grammar School in the other match of the triangular.

Bristol 2 beat their close rivals City of Bristol 15-11 in a fifth set decider after both had won their other Division 3 South West triangular matches against newcomers Weymouth, by 3-0 and 3-1 margins respectively.

---

For all the NVL fixtures and results, click here.

Keep up to date with the NVL, Super League, Junior Grand Prix and Sitting Volleyball competitions via our social media channels Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X.