Volleyball Reports
November 25th 2014 – report from Mr John king Schools Volleyball: Senior A Boys: National League Drumshanbo Zoom to top 3 Drumshanbo Vocational school, after a first set drubbing from holders Brigids, rose to new heights to gain 3rd position in the years final league table. A shock first senior A win over a Loughrea school in 9 years has put them in the national senior A semi-final for the schools 20th time in 23 years. Moreover the win will give them huge confidence approaching that semi-final. Match 1: St.Brigids(holders) bt Drumshanbo 25-12 25-22 So far and yet so near Such is the resilience of this ever improving Drumshanbo team, that an outstanding first set from a Brigid’s team with European experience did nothing to daunt them as they led at many times in an exhilarating 2nd set. With the game poised delicately at 21-20 for Drumshanbo, an outstanding dump from Michael McCormack appeared to send the holders into disarray only for Drumshanbo players to think they had the point won. Shocked by their misjudgement they gave away an easy next point to allow Brigids to sneak to top of league.In the first set an error ridden Drumshanbo gave the holders an early lead and then Brigids gave a magnificent display of variety of attack that opened up a massive lead. But just at the end of the set Drumshanbo were beginning to read them.Brigids again opened strongly in the 2nd set but, set by Jordan Earley, Kevin Moran(Murhaun) spiked a winner and hit aces that turned the game in his favour. Brigids powered back to lead 15-12. Then a classic Alan McTigue to Earley to set up a Moran spike winner started a purple patch. McCormack’s block took the sting out of Brigids power. Drumshanbo won a huge rally at 15-17 and Owen Dolan dominated in defence and hit cracking aces. Drumshanbo led 21-20 but it was not to be. Match 2: Drumshanbo bt St Raphaels Loughrea 25-12 25-22 Drumshanbo avenge hardbreaking losses In 2 nail-biting tight All Ireland semi finals last year in senior and cadette Drumshanbo had Raphaels on the ropes but lost. After a resounding Drumshanbo first set win last Friday Raphaels duly battled to the end of 2nd set but the same Drumshanbo boys could now celebrate.Drumshanbo came into their final league matches looking less impressive than Elphin and then saw Elphin dropped all sets against the 2 Loughrea schools. But at 3-all in the first set, Drumshanbo just took off. Jacek Ozdobinski passed into Earley who set set up McTigue for a clean winner. Burning Dolan aces shot them 8-3 ahead. However Elphin had a similar lead in their match only to see Raphaels come back. There was a crucial 53 touch rally at 13-8 with Ozdobinski and Moran deeply involved. McTigue then killed them with an ace. In fact Drumshanbo errors prevented an even bigger win.From last year Drumshanbo knew Raphaels were not finished. The sides were level in the 2nd set 14 times with Raphaels leading most of the way up to 15. In fact only for 2 good service runs from Earley, Drumshanbo would have been well behind. Ozdobinski aces finally opened a gap, with Moran prominent in retrieving and attacking. Raphaels fought furiously but it took them 100 touches to break down the Drumshanbo defence for 2 points, the 2nd saving a match point. McCormack’s cover frustrated them and Drumshanbo gained a great victory. D’shanbo serves : Owen Dolan 14, Earley 9, McCormack 10, McTigue 11, Moran 14, Ozdobinski 10 Schools volleyball: All Ireland Junior A semi-final Drumshanbo’s flying start not enough to see them throughBy Fergal McWeeney Davis College Mallow beat DVS 25-16 12-25 25-18 A magnificent start for DVS in the all-Ireland semi-final against a mighty Mallow side wasn’t enough as the Cork giants responded in the second and third sets.It was looking to be a long day in Loughrea as this all Ireland semi final got underway. Both teams full of determination as a rally began at 0:1 which seemed like it would never end. The teams seemed evenly matched but, with two Luke Tuite serving and 3 great blocks from Cormac Griffin, Drumshanbo began to pull away. Drumshanbo were flawless in this set and rarely made mistakes only missing one serve in total. Mallow did come back to within one or two points at times but Drumshanbo were well able to deal with their power. Raymond Gallagher showed this with a superb dig at 13:16 and 2 great spikes further on. Drumshanbo remained in control and Luke Tuite finished the set out in style with a brilliant spike. It was a great display from both teams but Drumshanbo were dominant and Mallows mistakes really did cost them.In the second set Mallow took a page out of Drumshanbo’s book and they improved a lot. They had learned their lessons in the first set and were ready for everything Drumshanbo threw at them. Mallow sped into the lead and despite another long rally at 3:9 Mallow won that point which was just another boost for them. A great display of spiking and blocking from Luke Tuite and Fergal Gilmartin wasn’t enough to get the vital scores. Mallow were a lot better in this set and despite Thomas Mc Manus’s hard hitting and clever play from Kian Gibbons Drumshanbo just weren’t let do the things that came so easily to them in the first set. 12:25Both teams were determined to do well in this set as the winners would proceed to the final. Try as the might, it was not Drumshanbo’s day. Danny McLoughlin was started for this set and got a great block at the start. At 1:1 there was a 36 touch rally which Mallow won and began to slowly pull away. This was much the same story as the second set as Mallow demonstrated their power and class. At 22:12 things were looking grim for Drumshanbo but this is when they upped the tempo. This