NVL review (25th and 26th January) - Giants win key clash, Jaguars triumph in battle of unbeaten sides and Invicta's unbeaten record ended

While leaders Newcastle Knights have yet to lose a league game this season, the Giants are keeping close order behind them in second, having lost only one game themselves – to the North East side. 

After the Giants – who won promotion from Division 2 South last season – came from a set down to defeat Trinity (22-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-18), they remain nine points behind their rivals at the summit, but do have two games in hand. 

It means the showdown between the top two in the capital on Saturday 9th March looks increasingly important in deciding the destiny of the title and, with it, who clinches automatic promotion. 

Elsewhere, Leicester Athena Phoenix did their hopes of survival no harm whatsoever by seeing off the travelling Everton Belugas, meaning they are now level on points with the Liverpudlians. 

The hosts took the first set and though the Merseyside club drew level, the East Midlanders kept their cool to ensure a 25-17, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23 success. 

Three points behind Athena, but with a game in hand, are London Inter Crocs, who won a five-set thriller against a Richmond side whose chances of avoiding the drop are looking increasingly slim. 

Inter Crocs surged into a two-set lead, but the South West London side powered back to take the next two, setting up a final game decider. 

Crocs regained their composure and won it in comprehensive fashion, taking their record to 5-4 and keeping them very much in the hunt to stay up (25-20, 25-20, 20-25, 17-25, 15-8). 

There was also a welcome win for Stockport, who are in fourth place following a comeback win against bottom club Southampton. 

The South Coast outfit took a tight first 26-24, but the visitors took control thereafter reeling off the next three 25-15, 25-16, 25-20. 

In Division 2 North, the weekend could hardly have gone better for The Miners Doncaster as they took advantage of second-placed Manchester Marvels Mayhem’s inactivity to go five points clear at the top, albeit having played three more games. 

The South Yorkshire side beat Urmston Grammar 25-10, 25-21, 25-22 at the Campsmount Academy and were further boosted by third-placed Tamworth Spartans’ loss to Loughborough Students in straight sets (25-22, 25-17, 25-12) that leaves the uni side handily-placed in fourth. 

Newcastle Staffs also registered a welcome win in their quest to stay up as they completed a reverse sweep against a stunned Sheffield (16-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-20, 15-12). 

Both sides in the hunt for promotion from Division 2 East clinched the victories they needed to keep those hopes alive. 

Second-placed Northampton maintained their record on only having lost once this season as they proved too strong for Dartford Chargers (25-22, 25-19, 21-25, 26-24), while Richmond 2, in third, triumphed in four after dropping the first set against Herts (19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-18). 

Black Country secured a welcome first triumph of their league season as they won at home against fellow strugglers Cardiff Falcons (25-21, 25-14, 25-20) to lift themselves off the bottom. 

That is at the expense of Cheltenham and Gloucester, who could not make it two wins in a row as they went down to Oxford Eagles (25-9, 25-14, 28-26), who now have a four-point cushion between themselves in fourth and Cardiff in fifth. 

Two unbeaten sides came face to face in Division 3 North and it was Manchester Moss Side Jaguars who ended the day smiling after beating Leeds Gorse 3 in four (25-12, 25-13, 19-25, 25-16). 

A 13th win from 13th against Chester Amazons (24-26, 25-19, 25-17, 25-17) in the other match in their triangular leaves them 12 points clear at the top, while Leeds, who beat Chester (2025, 25-18, 25-19, 25-16) are clear in second.  

Leeds Gorse 2 moved up to fourth after 3-1 success over both Manchester Marvels Mystics and Newcastle Staffs 2, with the former beating the latter 3-2 in the third match of the traingular, effecting a reverse sweep to win 15-12 in the decider. 

Wombourne underlined their status as champions-elect in Division 3 Central by beating both their closest challengers in their weekend triangular. 

Second-placed Lincoln Cannons and third-placed Darkstar Derbyshire 2 were both overcome in four sets to move their perfect record onto 12 victories, while the two losing teams now both have 8-4 records after the Cannons won 3-0 to inflict a double defeat on Darkstar. 

They could yet be usurped by Rhinos Volleyball Cambridge, who are five points further back with two games in hand after victory in both of their home triangular matches.

They beat both Coventry and Warwick Riga 2 and Black Country to go to 7-3, while Riga went the distance to ensure that their fellow West Midlanders remain winless. 

The division’s third triangular saw Leicester Athena Nova come out on top against Nottingham Rockets (3-0) and Ashfield Vipers (3-1), though the Rockets are still the highest of the three in the table following a 3-1 success over the Vipers. 

In one of the tightest divisions in the whole of the NVL, only six points separates second from seventh in Division 3 South East. 

Worthing remain top of the pile with a 9-3 record and a five point-lead after beating Invicta 3-0. 

But they were defeated in straight sets by a Sussex Dolphins side who have only lost once, but have played far less games than all of their rivals and are likely to move up the table once they pull those games in. 

Tendring, in second, had a mixed triangular as they got the better of Ashcombe Dorking 3-0 but lost to Spelthorne Sharks 3-2, who also went the full five sets to win their third match in the series, moving them up to third. 

Dartford Warriors enjoyed a good weekend by winning both of their traingulars in contrasting circumstances. 

After coming back from a slow start to beat Richmond 3 in four sets, they played on an epic five-setter against Essex Ravens, winning the last 15-13 when it mattered most. 

Richmond remain rooted to the foot of the table after losing 3-1 to the Ravens. 

Reading Aces maintained their 100% record in Division 3 South West to regain top spot after getting the better of two of their closest rivals, defeating both Bedminster 2 and Bristol 2 in comfortable fashion, with the latter winning the third fixture in straight sets. 

Southampton 2 are now clear in second place after they notched triangular wins over a Portsmouth side just below them (3-2) and Plymouth UTV (3-0).

 Portsmouth’s 3-0 victory in the other match ensures they are third in the table. 

There was a welcome win for Weymouth at the 11th attempt as they overcame fellow strugglers Plymouth in five sets, coming back from 2-1 down to triumph 15-11 in the last. 

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It was business as usual for Men’s Division 1 pacesetters, with the four top five sides who played all coming out on top. 

Leeds Gorse played their first match if 2025 and, after an element of rustiness in dropping the first set against Tamworth Spartans, they powered to a 12th victory of the season (20-25, 25-13, 25-12, 25-20). 

Third-placed Bristol also eased to victory, only really being tested in the third set by London Baks before running out 25-16, 25-14, 27-25 winners. 

The capital side, meanwhile, are now in trouble at the wrong end of the table as a second defeat of the weekend at Exeter (25-23, 25-20, 20-25, 25-20) saw the West Country club leapfrog above them. 

The Baks are now third from bottom on 12 points and need to turn things around quickly if they are to haul themselves away from trouble. 

It was far from straightforward for Black Country at home to a Cambridge ARU who have demonstrated improved competitiveness of late. 

The West Midlanders trailed 1-0 and led 2-1 before eventually clinching a nerve-racking match in five (19-25, 25-18, 27-25, 19-25, 28-26) to stay five points off second with two games in hand. 

Newcastle Staffs are coming up on the rails after a slow start both in terms of their form and the number of matches they have played. 

Their latest maximum points haul came at Hull Thunder where they won out by a 3-1 scoreline (25-22, 17-25, 25-9, 25-15). 

A big test of their recent uptick in form will be when they take on Leeds in two weeks’ time. 

In Division 2 North, the top three sides all won, led by Manchester Marvels who won in three competitive sets at home to Wigan Seahawks, all by the same score (25-22, 25-22, 25-22). 

Second-placed Sheffield carried on their good run of form with a 25-16-25-11, 25-22 triumph at Newcastle Staffs 2, while Kings of Court Boston were too strong for bottom club Harrogate (25-17, 25-17, 25-13). 

Darkstar Derbyshire are tucked in just behind those three after a straight sets 25-20, 25-13, 25-16 success over Leeds Gorse 2. 

Coventry and Warwick Riga made the most of Rhinos Volleyball Cambridge not having a game by moving within two points of the leaders after a straight sets win over Cambridge. 

Already 2-0 down, the visitors had to concede the match early in the third because of injury (25-22, 25-17, 25-2). 

Norwich Spikers are just a solitary point further back with a game in hand after a solid 3-1 victory at MK City where they bounced back strongly after conceding the first set (19-25, 25-22, 27-25, 25-22). 

Level on points with the Norfolk side are Newmarket, who edged a closely-contested encounter at Northampton where three of the four sets were decided by just two points (25-23, 27-29, 25-21, 28-26). 

Wessex (second) and Southampton (third) both made up ground on leaders Richmond Bucks in Division 2 South with respective home victories. 

The former negotiated their match with Cardiff Panthers in expert fashion (25-21, 25-18, 25-22), while the latter won all three sets against Hounslow by the same, tight margin (25-23, 25-23, 25-23). 

Everton Dugongs had the measure of the top two sides in Division 3 North West and showed they could yet still figure in the promotion race. 

They have played half the number of matches of many of their rivals at this point but demonstrated their undoubted ability in beating Sheffield Springers in three (27-25, 27-25, 25-20) and then city rivals Liverpool in four (25-23, 25-21, 25-27, 25-22). 

Sheffield retained top spot by winning the third match 26-24, 25-18, 25-17 in what was a chastening afternoon for Liverpool. 

The result is that Manchester Moss Side have now leapfrogged above them into second after beating both Sheffield 2 (3-0) and York Vikings (3-1) at the Joseph Rowntree School. 

York recovered from dropping the first set to beat Sheffield 3-1 in the other match. 

In the division’s third triangular, Intervolley Manchester beat city rivals Manchester Marvels Marauders 3-0 and Urmston Grammar – who won the third match 3-1 – to go fourth. 

Nottingham Rockets bolstered their stranglehold on Division 3 Central with two more victories, including over second-placed Leicester. 

They edged to a 3-2 success over their East Midlands rivals – taking the decider 15-13 – and also beat Black Country 2 in four sets. Leicester beat Black Country 3-9 in the third match of the triangular. 

As a result, the Rockets are seven points clear at the summit, with Leicester a further six points clear of third. 

That position is now occupied by Chester after they clinched a 3-1 victory at fourth-placed Wombourne. 

Invicta lost their first Division 3 South East match of the season as they went down 3-1 to Dartford Crossers, but they retain a one point lead over the side who beat them with two games in hand. 

That was after Invicta and Dartford respectively beat Onyx (3-1 and 3-2) to keep the London club back in third. 

Behind that, things are really bunched up, and it was Urbond Portsmouth who profited most with back-to-back wins against Guildford International (3-2) and London Wildcats (2-0) at Ashcombe. 

The Wildcats stay bottom after Guildford also got the better of them in straight sets. 

Essex Estonians were involved in two five-setters at St John Payne School, edging out Worthing and then coming out on the wrong end of the result against Tendring. 

Bristol 2 moved themselves clear in second behind unbeaten leaders Oxford Bulls in Division 3 South West with contrasting triangular wins. 

They beat Southampton 2 in straight sets but needed to go all the way to get the job done against city rivals City of Bristol, eventually winning 15-5 in the decider. 

The South Coast side then beat City of Bristol in four extremely close sets.

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