National Cup semi-final review: Another shot at glory for Durham, Polonia and Malory

Durham Palatinates and Team Sideout Polonia (women) and Malory Eagles (men) will all be back in the familiar surroundings of the National Volleyball Centre in Kettering for the annual showpiece, held this year on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st April. 

They will be joined by Durham Palatinates men, who prevented a clean sweep of returnees by beating Essex Rebels in their semi-final. 

You can secure tickets for what promises to be an exciting Cup Finals Weekend – which will also feature Sitting Volleyball, U18, U16 and U15 finals – by clicking here.

Women’s National Cup holders Durham Palatinates are unbeaten in the MAAREE Women’s Super League and took another step towards completing a ‘double double’ with a hard-earned victory over Essex Rebels. 

The hosts came out strongly at the Graham Sports Centre to take the first set 25-20, but Essex won a tight second 26-24 to level things up. 

During the third set Camryn Carfino went down injured, so the North East side had to rally behind each other and dig in deep.  

Both sets were close, but the reigning champions were able to close out both 25-21, 25-22 giving them another shot at more silverware.

To win it, they will have to overcome the team they beat last season in Team SideOut Polonia, who were pushed all the way by a Malory Eagles side who have recently climbed to second in the Super League table. 

A see-saw affair at UEL SportsDock saw Team Sideout win the first and fourth sets 25-14, 25-20, while the visitors clinched the second and third sets 25-15, 25-21. 

Not surprisingly, the tie break was a hard-fought affair and saw Polonia emerge as 15-12 winners to spark jubilant celebrations. 

In the men’s National Cup, holders Malory Eagles had cruised through their previous rounds in the competition in straight sets, but were not given such an easy ride by the University of Nottingham, who were seeking a place in a first final. 

The home side started well enough at Ernest Bevin College, pushing their way through the first set to take it 25-18. 

But Nottingham then found something extra, not only edging a tight second set 26-24, but following it up by taking the third as well, 25-14. 

That, however, did not signify a definitive momentum shift as back came the Eagles to square the match at 2-2 with a 25-22 fourth set win and then clinch the tie break 15-12 to break the students’ hearts. 

The other semi-final was far more straightforward for Durham against Essex Rebels, who went into the match as the second and fourth place teams respectively in the Super League table. 

While both have ongoing eyes on a Final 4 place, there was no distracting the Palatinates in what proved to be a successful bid to join their women’s team in a National Cup final. 

The hardest set turned out to be first, where they squeaked through 25-23, but they found things got slightly easier from then on, as 25-16, 25-18 second and third set wins saw them progress in straight sets. 

All Durham v Essex pics by Jon Cornish

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