Trinity Men’s Volleyball team couldn’t build on last week’s opening-day victory over Garda Volleyball as they fell to defeat yesterday against the Institute of Technology, Carlow in the Sports Hall.
A first set marred by confusion over the rotation of servers – Trinity forgot to rotate to the next server, which appeared to have an impact on their focus – went the way of the Carlow side, with Trinity making several unforced errors towards the end of the set in particular. Carlow clinched it by a 25-20 scoreline.
A disastrous start proved Trinity’s undoing in the second set, with the home side down by eight at one point. They fought back to close the gap, but it was a case of too little, too late, the damage already done as Carlow finished strongly to claim the set by the same 25-20 scoreline as in the previous one.
If Carlow’s players thought they were home and dry after claiming the first two sets, they were proven misguided in the third. A resurgent Trinity led by 10 points at one stage and the outcome was never in doubt. It finished 25-19 to the hosts, leaving it still all to play for as the sides entered the fourth set.
However, Carlow showed their class in the final quarter, illuminating what was in truth a scrappy game with some excellent play to establish a commanding lead early in the set. Carlow never looked back after this and strolled home to a 25-20 set victory and a comfortable overall win.
Trinity will no doubt point to their relative experience as a team when analysing yesterday’s performance, and it was certainly a factor in the defeat, with four of last year’s key players unavailable for the game. However, players will need to improve on the team’s numerous unforced net fouls as they seek to better last year’s league position. Trinity will look to bounce back from the defeat next weekend as they take on Aer Lingus in another home fixture.
