25 Mar 2025
U15 Junior Grand Prix review (22nd and 23rd March)
Neither of the two sides were top-ranked going into their series of matches, but rose to the occasion brilliantly to win all three matches and lift the winners’ trophies.
Guildford-based VBDC were ranked fourth in the national rankings, meaning they took on fifth-ranked AST Academy and started off with a comfortable straight sets win (25-17, 25-23) in the first round of matches in Kettering.
In the other games, third-ranked Wirral faced Richmond B, ranked sixth, and it was the latter who sealed a 25-21, 25-20 success.
Bristol, who were second in the rankings, took on London Giants, who were seventh and prevailed by a 25-19, 25-19 margin.
The semi-finals were contested by the sides who won their first round matches and saw VBDC upset Leeds Gorse Orange, who had been given a first round bye as the number one-ranked team, securing a 25-18, 25-20 triumph.
The other semi saw Richmond come through a tight first set to see of Bristol in straight sets (25-23, 25-19).
In the matches between the teams who initially lost, AST Academy bounced back to beat Wirral 2-0 (25-17, 25-13), while there was another straight sets win for AST against London Giants (25-23, 25-17).
The gold medal match was yet another match won in two sets, with Surrey’s VBDC getting the better of Richmond by a 25-22 margin.
The bronze medal match proved to be the only one of the day to go to three sets and saw Bristol secure the tie break emphatically against Leeds after sharing the first two sets (25-13, 23-25, 15-3).
The Silver Cup was played in South Hants and saw five teams battle it out in a group format, each playing each other once.
It proved to be an extremely close-run thing, with three teams all winning three matches and losing one to tie on points.
It was Weymouth Ripples who eventually finished top of the pile thanks to their superior points difference (+4) compared to The Boswells School (+3), who were second, and South Hants (+2), in third.
For the Ripples, it was a strong recovery after losing their opening match to South Hants in straight sets before hitting back to win their remaining three by the same margin.
In the battle for fourth and fifth spot, Richmond C edged out ENVC in a match that was balanced on a knife edge.
The Bronze Cup, hosted by Wapping Wildcats, saw Team SideOut emerge victorious from the four-strong pool with a 100% record.
Their closest encounter was their first one against Nottingham Rockets where they traded sets before edging the decider 15-13.
The Rockets responded well to their setback to beat Greenhouse Sports B and Wapping Wildcats B in straights sets, while the former of those two beaten sides beat the hosts to decide third and fourth.
For the clubs based in the north, Pool D saw hosts Manchester Marvels take on Hull Thunder and Urmston Grammar B.
It was the Humberside club who just held the edge, beating the Marvels 15-13 in a third set decider, while Manchester won a three-setter against Urmston in the other match.
The boys’ Gold Cup, hosted by London Lynx, was played over the same Super Series-style format as the girls.
As the number one team, the hosts received a bye in the first set of matches, leaving the other six teams to vie for semi-final spots.
Greenhouse, ranked third going in, were pushed hard in their opening match by sixth-ranked VBDC before coming through 26-24, 25-22.
Even tighter was a thriller between AST Academy and Wapping Wildcats, ranked fourth and fifth respectively.
Two of the sets went right to the wire, but it was AST who held their nerve to take it 25-21, 26-28, 16-14.
The club battle between Richmond B, ranked second, and Richmond C, who were seventh saw the Bs ease to a 25-11, 25-19 victory.
In the semi-finals, London Lynx were pushed all the way by AST an needed an extended tie-break before eventually pulling through (26-24, 15-25, 16-14).
It was the same two-point, last-set margin that decided the other last four match with Greenhouse edging out Richmond B (18-25, 25-22, 15-13) after coming from a set down.
The gold medal match was another topsy turvy affair with Greenhouse taking the first and deciding sets to win 2-1 (25-22, 19-25, 15-12).
There were no such problems for AST in the bronze match as they cantered to a 25-15, 25-11 triumph over Richmond B.
Action images by Jon Cornish
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