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U18 Last 8 review (15th March) - Richmond stunned twice on day for the underdogs
The South West London club’s A sides in both genders were ranked number one in the country going into Saturday’s event at the National Volleyball Centre in Kettering, and they both proceeded to win their respective pools with unbeaten record.
But both came unstuck in straight sets in the crucial semi-finals to northern-based teams that had finished runners-up in the other pool.
Leeds’ girls were joined in reaching the sport’s showpiece occasion their boys side, who pulled off their own shock of sorts in beating a Newcastle Staffs side that had won the previous two Super Series.
Completing the line-up finals line-up are The Boswells School, who were the only side ranked in the top two for their category to proceed on an unpredictable and exciting day of volleyball.
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Boys’ Pool A opened with eighth-ranked Stockport taking on fifth-ranked The Boswells School and it was the latter who ensured the form book prevailed, though they were made to work hard for their 25-16, 18-25, 15-11 success.
In a sign of what was to come, Richmond A were also forced to go to three to win their opener against fourth-ranked Leeds Gorse, fighting back from a set down and edging the second by just two points to eventually triumph 21-25, 26-24, 15-12.
The West Yorkshire side quickly bounced back as they stepped straight back on court to defeat Stockport.
It was anything but easy, however, as the sides exchanged sets before Leeds took a tense tie-break set by the slenderest of margins (22-25, 25-22, 16-14).
Richmond next made it two oput of two with the most convincing victory so far (25-12, 25-15) in beating Boswells, before clinching top spot in the group with another three setter, this time over Stockport (25-19, 19-25, 15-10), who can consider themselves unlucky to lose all three of their matches after going the distance.
That left a showdown between Leeds and Boswells, with the winner knowing they would make them semi-finals, while the loser would be out.
For only the second match in the pool, it was decided in straight sets, as those in purple were left celebrating a comfortable 25-12, 25-15 victory.
In Pool B, seventh-ranked Willesden Titans opened their account in the first match, winning a tight first set against sixth-ranked AST Academy that proved vital in their overall 29-27, 25-22 success.
The match between second-ranked Newcastle Staffs and third-ranked Urmston Grammar could hardly have been closer before the West Midlands side just had the edge in the decider (25-17, 23-25, 15-13).
There was no time for The Greater Manchester side to be disappointed, however, as they were straight back on court and they responded in style.
Getting the better of yet another tight set against Willesden, they went on to win the second too to record a 28-26, 25-13 victory.
Castle doubled up in their game with AST as they powered to a 25-21, 25-21 success over AST Academy to effectively book their semi-final spot, which was officially confirmed when they beat Willesden by a similar margin (25-21, 25-20).
The final match of the pool saw Urmston go in as favourites and they lived up to that billing in easing to a 25-17, 25-18 triumph.
The Last 4 matches promised plenty of drama and did not disappoint, as Richmond’s perfect run was shattered by a determined Urmston.
The underdogs rose to the occasion and were always in control in notching a 25-20, 25-20 win to follow their U16 side into a Cup Final.
The second semi-final was far closer and saw both teams giving their all in a bid to make it through.
Leeds took the first set against Staffs by just two points and, though Staffs battled back to level the match, the Yorkshire side still had something left in the tank to close it out (25-23, 20-25, 15-12).
Girls’ Pool A was dominated by Richmond A as they did not drop a set in finishing top of the pile, beating fourth-ranked Malory Eagles first up (25-21, 25-23) after Nottingham Rockets had opened proceedings by winning the tightest of matches against South Bucks A (25-23, 28-26).
Malory then won the battle of the teams who had been beaten in their first games, overcoming South Bucks with a degree of comfort (25-18, 25-9).
Richmond took a form control of the pool with an assured win over Nottingham (25-18, 25-15) and then made it three wins out of three with a straightforward success over South Bucks (25-17, 25-12).
Both Malory and Nottingham knew a win in the final match would be enough to see them through and it was the Londoners who got the job done with a 25-14, 25-18 triumph.
There was an excellent win for seventh-ranked Taunton in the first match of Pool B as they scrapped hard to come from a set down and edge out sixth-ranked Urmston Grammar in a decider (19-25, 25-16, 15-7).
Second-ranked The Boswells School’s first match against Leeds Gorse proved to be their most challenging of the day as both their first two sets were one by just two points and shared before they pulled away in the last (26-26, 23-25, 15-9).
All was not lost for Leeds as they returned to court immediately and this time were on the right end of a three-set match, coming from a set down to win 19-25, 25-15, 15-11 against Taunton.
Boswells then won their final two matches in quick succession to clinch their place at the summit, first seeing off the challenge of Urmston Grammar 25-23, 25-17 and then proving too strong for Taunton (25-18, 25-17).
Needing to win their final game to secure second spot, Leeds encountered a difficult start as they dropped the first set to Urmston.
But they then dug deep to beat secure the second set and carried that momentum into the third to register a 22-25, 25-21, 15-8 success.
Like the boys’ equivalents, the Last 4 matches did not go entirely to the expected script as Leeds, after going to three sets in all their pool matches, suddenly found an extra gear.
\they took full advantage to seal a 25-18, 25-22 triumph over Richmond and join their boys’ team – and U16 girls – at Cup Finals.
But there was no mistake from Boswells, who raced to the first set and eked out a closer second in a 25-8, 28-26 victory that gives them the chance to defend the title they won in this age group last year.
Images by Jon Cornish. A full set of images will be posted on Flickr later this week.
View all the Last 8 results on the Junior Competitions page by clicking here.
