Fresh from their recent intervarsities tournament, Trinity Volleyball Club’s women’s and men’s teams both competed in National League games last weekend. The women’s team had a particularly busy schedule with two away games facing the Dalkey Devils and Mayo Volleyball Club.
Sitting at the top of the table in Division One of the National League and with two wins in two prior to the weekend, Trinity entered both games with confidence and assertion. The Dalkey Devils held a strong defence, knocking many unsuspecting rallies back onto Trinity’s court. Despite this, the team held up its own side with consistent scoring throughout all three sets, managing to prevail over Dalkey by three sets to none.
On Sunday, the women’s team travelled west to play against Mayo Volleyball Club. Now on a successful streak, the team were favourites to win but having to travel without their setter and team coach left a dent in the team’s self-assurance. Ruth Henley, team captain, stepped up to organise the team and middle player Heyley Chan took up the task of setting the match. Settled into the new team dynamic, Trinity comfortably took the first set 25–18 despite an injury to middle player Katie Ward.
The second set proved much more difficult, with Mayo stepping up their attack with strong middle and wing players. Trinity fell behind 16–21 with a struggling defence, but managed to bring it back spectacularly and finish the set 25–22. The final set showed the supremacy of the Trinity side. Strong serves, excellent backrow hittings from Stacey Nevin and overall team coherence were reflected in the 25–14 score line to Trinity. This extends the side’s 100 per cent run in the league to four games, reflected in the four-point gap between Trinity and second-placed Aer Lingus.
The men’s team competed against Polish Volleyball Club (VC) Galway in Oranmore on Sunday. Timing issues arose from the beginning with a delayed start to the game. Nevertheless, the side started the brighter of the two sides, taking the first two sets 25–18 and 25–19.
However, with the final train back to Dublin looming, the pressure to end the game quickly showed in the third set and the hosts managed to take the set 20–25. With the score showing 2–1 in Trinity’s favour, the team had to leave to avoid being stranded in Oranmore. Despite appealing for a replay, the side were today informed by the Volleyball Association of Ireland (VAI) that the remaining two sets in the game had been awarded to Polish VC, resulting in a 3–2 defeat. The result keeps Trinity rooted to the bottom of the table after four games.
