In a bumper weekend of volleyball action for PMVC, 3 of our 4 regional teams were on the road.

PMVC Ladies travelled to Braunton School, Barnstaple, on a prestigious day for Ladies volleyball. The hosts, Beach Academy used their fixture as a Volleyball Day for Ghoncheh Ghavami. The event was to raise awareness to the British Iranian woman who has been imprisoned in Iran for wanting to watch a men’s volleyball game. The day was well attended and supported by the local community and the Beach Academy players had made banners with information for those in attendance towards the Amnesty International petition to free Ghoncheh Ghavami. (if you want to know more go to www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/Iran-free-Ghoncheh-jailed-wanting-watch-volleyball)

The new look PMVC Ladies were without 4 of their starting 6 players from last season and were handing debuts to 3 new players –

Beckie Middleton is a local teacher at Lipson Vale - she played whilst at school (Eggbuckland CC) and at University (Marjon), and is making her return to competitive volleyball.

Lourdes “Luli” Rechi is a talented 13 year old exchange student from Spain

And Jess Trigg - a multi talented sportwoman studying at Ivybridge CC and is a product of PMVC’s Tigers Development Squad.

Completing the lineup were Captain (and PMVC Chair) Kate Wilkins, Victoria Wilkins, Megan Leeds, Valeria Minaeva and Chelsea Mitchell. An exciting prospect is that 6 of the 8 players in the squad are under 18 and are still developing.

Mayflower started the defence of their SW League title against Bristol 3. Their opponents were well organised and high spirited but PMVC’s Valeria Minaeva showcased a masterclass of power hitting and accurate serving to steamroller the Bristol team picking up the MVP nomination in the process. PMVC won 3 sets to nil - 25-21, 25-15, 25-16. 

In the game against Beach Academy, PMVC found it difficult to counter the strength of their opponents’ attack. Academy were fielding two ex GB Beach players, Denise Austin and Lucy Boulton, and handed PMVC Ladies their first loss in the SW League for nearly 18 months despite some resilient and inspirational backcourt defence from Meg Leeds. Beach Academy won 25-13, 25-14, 25-13 with Junior setter Victoria Wilkins picking up the MVP.

Coach Steve Allen found positives despite the loss - the season has only just begun, and there is a lot of volleyball to be played yet. The debutants shone brightly and for a predominantly junior team, the rest of the season will see us improve with every game.

PMVC Pirates started their season in EDVA Division 1 with an emphatic win against Torexe Phantoms. 

Captain Rob Young took a humble squad of seven - Jake Allen-Gdanitz, Matt Rhymer, Steffen Shageer and debuting for PMVC’s EDVA Team, Tim Latcham, Fraser Smith and Pawel Religa. 

Despite being ahead for the majority of the first set, The Pirates let the lead slip due to a poor receive of serve as Torexe’s Nicki Batho guided her team to win the first set 25-23. The next sets was won comfortably as PMVC recaptured their rhythm but they were made to fight for the 3rd set and gain the edge on the Phantoms.

Eventually, with debutant Fraser Smith putting in a deserving MVP performance, PMVC routed their opponents in the remaining 2 sets clinching the win by 4 sets to 1 – 23-25, 25-10, 25-19, 25-12, 15-8.

Finally, PMVC Skills Group Drakes continued their campaign in EDVA Division 2 against Taunton Panthers.

Captain Dan Tapson took 6 players up to Taunton as much of the squad that dominated last week were either playing in SW League Action or were unavailable. Andy Chadwick, Luke Allen Gdanitz and Kyle White were back in action while Ben Head made his long awaited competitive return to PMVC colours since his ankle injury 2 years ago. Completing the lineup and making their debuts were Alipour Morteza and Claire Crowther.

Drakes started strongly and charged into a 6-1 lead in the first set. However, as would prove to be the defining factor in the match Panthers player coach ex England player Jurek Jankowski took control of his predominantly junior side. They took back control and won the set 25-14. The second set saw Jankowski have an altercation with the referee which saw him vent his frustration on Our Drakes. Coupled with some unforced service and rotation errors from PMVC, Taunton won the second 25-13. The remainder of the match saw Drakes rally against a side now growing with confidence. Luke Allen Gdanitz had a good attacking and defensive game as did Andy Chadwick gaining his second MVP nomination in as many games. Despite the late charge, PMVC Drakes lost 5-0 – 14-25, 13-25, 23-25, 18-25, 8-15. 

Captain Tapson was still upbeat despite the loss. “Sadly, we didn’t have a lot of options to change things around as we only took 6 players but its still early days. Jurek is a fantastic player and he was the difference between the teams. The main thing for me is that, everyone enjoyed the game and that’s why we are here. We will bounce back from this game and I’m itching to get back on court with them!”

Next weekend on Sunday 19th October, Skills Group Drakes are the only PMVC team in action as they have their return fixture against Exeter University 1 at Clifton Hill Leisure Centre, Exeter.