Brentwood Men Edge Hussars in Five Set Thriller
Hussars VC 2 – 3 Brentwood VC (20-25, 25-19, 19-25, 25-22, 11-15)
Essex Volleyball League – Men’s Division
CHELMSFORD, ESSEX – The two unbeaten titans of the Essex Men’s League clashed last Friday night at St John Payne School in Chelmsford, with our boys coming away with a hard fought 3-2 victory. In their first seasons of Essex competition, Hussars had so far swept all before them, coming into the game with an identical record to Brentwood at 5-0. What followed over the next two hours was a twisting tale of spectacular volleyball, punctuated with brilliance on both sides from what are certainly the two best teams in the division.
Quick Start!
Brentwood were out of the blocks fast and by the middle of the first set had built a commanding lead. They weathered a Hussars fightback to win the set 25-20 behind some powerful hitting from Tom Ellis and smart defence across the back row. Hussars roared back into the match in the second set, starting fast and ending clinically behind the big hitting of opposite Markienicz. The match was level.
In set three coach Fenech adjusted the rotation, Tony Clark went in to setter and Andy Tuck came on as an outside hitter. Brentwood began to fight and scrap for every point, outworking their opponents and overcoming errors. This was most apparent with our middles, who provided some crucial, out-of-this-world pickups when the point seemed dead. Brentwood led again by two sets to one.
Back In It!
However, the game would turn in the fourth set. Some strong blocking from the Hussars middle hitters began to blunt the Brentwood attack. This coupled with some tiredness and adjustments to playing personnel taking a little while to settle allowed Hussars to pull level. The game was going to a deciding set.
Nervy Finish…
In the decider, Brentwood flew out of the blocks. Strong serving from Clark and top front court play from Sanders and Fenech pushed Brentwood into an 8-4 lead at the changeover. However, Hussars weren’t beaten yet. Strong serving cut Brentwood’s lead to one point, up stepped libero Rees Warren with a perfect pass under pressure, Brentwood kept the point alive and Lewis Fenech killed the point with a roof block. Next point, Hussars set middle only to be roof blocked again by middle Alex Chinery. Finally on match point, Lewis came up big again, hitting through the Hussars block to win the game for Brentwood.
The men’s team stay unbeaten and must now be seen as favourites for a first Essex League title in five seasons. With four games to go, the next match is away against Southend on Sunday 24th February.