Glasgow Mets Volleyball Club

Cup weekend last week resulted in a free week for Mets II, but it was back to league action and a tough game against Dundee was on the cards for the second team. Dundee started the season strongly with 3 wins from 3, and Mets found themselves contending with a relegation battle after winning only 1 of their first 4 games; the last being in controversial circumstances against Glasgow rivals Su II. Mets were not at full strength with no middle hitters available resulting in Mets having to play with two setters and forcing them each to pass whilst on back court.

The 1st set was an even affair with both sides passing the lead between themselves early on. Some great hitting from Christoph was giving the depleted Mets side some confidence. Despite having no middle players, setter Scott Esslemont grabbed himself a block through middle to show that playing through middle was easy and Craig Girvan and Stevie Baird will not be missed too much. Dundee managed to stretch away in the middle of the set leading 12-15. Sloppy play from Mets did not allow them to close the gap and things erupted on court when there was a mix up in the passing unit as Gordon Laughland called to pass the serve and the libero Dom Sirant stepped in resulting in a collision. The on-court arguments resulted in Coach Fleming taking a time-out in order to try and calm things down as Mets II were becoming frustrated as the set began to slip away. Mets started to go for their shots and attempt to close the gap Dundee had created at 4 points. Through some great hitting by Christoph and smart play through the middle form Mark Hudson, Mets clawed it back to 19-20. Despite some great hitting by Greg Forrest and Christoph’s consistency Dundee managed to stretch to a 21-24 lead. Scott Montgomery played a delightful roll shot and then Dundee hit out closing the gap back to 23-24. A second ball attack from the Dundee setter caused Montgomery to stretch and hit the ball over libero Sirant’s head and unfortunately resulted in Dundee winning the first set 23-25.

For the fourth time this season Mets would have to fight back from losing the first set. It is well worth noting at this point that Mets have not won a match after losing the first set this season, but given how close the first set was with a depleted squad they had confidence that they could get themselves back into the match. Christoph was again the man putting points on the board for Mets with some great hitting. With Forrest chipping in with some good hits Mets forced their way into a 9-5 lead. Scott Montgomery found his rhythm and was hitting the ball well, and his and Mark Hudson’s blocking allowed Mets to stretch their lead further to 17-12. There was a resurgence from Dundee at this point as they executed a number of successful blocks, but a service error ended their run of point winning and the set was tight again at 18-16. An ace from Montgomery and errors galore from both sides meant at the business end of the set Mets led 22-19. Esslemont then produced another block through middle to close the gap on Stevie Baird of middle blocks for the season. This prompted cries from Coach Andy Fleming “that’s what happens when you can see”, which insiders advise was directed at Baird. Dundee then hit out and Hudson served an ace for Mets to take the second set 25-19.

The under strength Mets side were revitalised from winning a set against an unbeaten Dundee side, only the 4th set they have lost all season. Mets seemed anxious in trying to obtain a lead early in the third and this resulted in a few errors and Dundee stayed solid, and out of nothing Mets found themselves 6-11 down. Errors began creeping into Dundee’s serve and Christoph was finding a hole just about every time he was hitting. Mets cut the gap to 10-12 and sensed a chance to take the lead. Dundee started to capitalise on the lack of a middle player for Mets and ran middle whenever they could. They also upped their performance back court after Greg Forrest pounded the ball and thought he’d scored, a great up from Cook allowed Dundee a chance to hit, and they were able to kill it, 12-18 to Dundee. As the set seemed to be slipping away from Mets, Dundee No.9 Cook was causing even more damage and forced Coach Fleming into a time-out at 17-22. It seemed to work, as Mets fought their way back into the set thanks to some great hitting from Forrest and Christoph and the score was 22-23. A good hit from Dundee stopped the Mets comeback and Fleming took his final time-out of the set. A fantastic hit by Forrest wiping-off the block allowed Mets a chance to serve to stay in the set. However a strong hit from the Dundee off-setter meant Mets had yet again lost the set at the closest of margins. It meant that the last 5 sets Mets II have lost have been 23-25, including the 3 sets lost against Su II.

The loss of the third set seemed to sap all the confidence out of the Mets team as Dundee surged to a 0-5 lead at the start of the 4th. An early time-out didn’t improve matters for Mets, as they were struggling to find a way back in and found themselves 5-11 down before they knew it. Montgomery took matters into his own hands hitting off the block and then causing the Dundee passing unit all sorts of problems with his tough serving. Christoph continued with his fantastic hitting display and was joined by Hudson, as Mets managed to tie the set up at 14-14. A freak event then occurred as Hudson was waiting to serve but didn’t hear the whistle and exceeded the 6 seconds he had to serve. This appeared to cause Mets to push the self-destruct button, and Forrest and Monty began to pound the ball luckily in court as Mets managed to stick with Dundee. Arguments continued to disjoint the Mets side and Dundee began to take advantage of this and ran into an 18-23 lead. Mets began to look a beaten side at this point and the only point they got before losing the set was a service error from Dundee, final set score 19-25.

The 5th set was something the Mets side could perhaps have done without. There was some nice volleyball played but things erupted again after Hudson didn’t block to leave a free net and then served under-arm into the net. Montgomery received a yellow card for foul and abusive language, which Mets had had a team warning for previously. The chain of events resulted in a Mets lead of 4-3 turning into having to chase the set again from 4-5 down. The set remained tight the whole way through but Mets just couldn’t do enough to win the final set ultimately losing 13-15 and by 4 sets to 1.

Man of the Match - Christoph

Glasgow Mets II 1 – 4 Dundee (23-25, 25-19, 23-25, 19-25, 13-15)