England Cadet Boys take Silver in Austria!

England Cadet Boys squad put in an impressive performance to take the silver medal at the Sparkassen-Rondo Cup 2012 competition, held in Austria.  

In a tough two days of competition England’s Cadet Boys pulled-off a clean sweep through the group stage with victories over Friedrichshafen, Tirol, VLW and Liceo Meda, without dropping a single set! The Boys then continued to show their form by comfortably beating Salzburg 2-0 in the semi-final! 

The final showdown saw the Cadet’s up against Austria’s National Academy team and defending champions, UVC Graz. In what was set to be an exciting game, never disappointed. After a hard fought battle and blow-for-blow game, Graz appeared triumphant, edging out the England team to take the match (2-1) and to be crowned Cup winners. 

Head Coach, Carol Gordon commented: “This was the culmination of almost 2 years with the squad and the players have made significant progress due not only to their commitment with the national squad but also with their School/Club/Academy training.

"As a Coach I want to be able to change things in the game and having a bench that are so easily interchangeable and able to cope with the pressure of coming onto serve (like Joel Roberts who helped us get into the semi final!!) or block is a fantastic feeling.

"They all did themselves and us very proud. Our hosts and the other teams were very complimentary about their performance and their behaviour. Tom Kettly as the main setter had a fantastic competition, and was named MVP of the tournament. All the players in the squad know what is expected of a National Team Athlete and despite their young years, they are a fabulous advert for the game.”

It was then the turn of England’s Cadet Girls to battle it out for the title in Austria. However they struggled to build on the Boy’s success, losing out in hard fought group that saw them drawn against the Cup’s finalists, Tirol and eventual tournament winners and home team SSK Feldkirch.

Cadet Boys Squad: Alexander Hutchinson, Thomas Ketley, Leon Davis - Chambers, Tobias French, James Baker, Ieuan Lamb, Mitchell Lawrence, Temesgen Samuel, Jake Leeks, Nathan Fullerton, Robert Poole, Joel Roberts.

Cadet Girls Squad: Jodie Amor, Olivia Beasley, Megan Cheaney, Mechell Daniel, Paige Fullerton, Samantha Latham-Talbot, Grace Lazard, Robyn Sayers, Sophie Szyszko, Molly Van Essen, Jo-Anne Wilson, Georgia Yellowley

Results:  
Boys: 2 pools of 5
(Group B)

Game 1: ENG v Friedrichshafen (ENG win 2-0)
Game 2: ENG v Tirol (ENG win 2-0)
Game 3: ENG v VLW (ENG win 2-0)
Game 4: ENG v Liceo Meda (ENG win 2-0)

Semi Final: ENG v Salzburg (2-0)
Final: ENG v Graz (Austria) (ENG lose 2-1)

Girls: 3 pools of 4
(Group A)

Game 1: ENG v Tirol (ENG lose 2-0)
Game 2: ENG v SSK Feldkirch (ENG Lose 2-1)
Game 3: ENG v St Valentin (ENG Win 2-0) 

9^th/10^th place positional playoff
ENG v VBC Rainkweil (ENG win 3-1)

*The Sparkassen-Rondo Cup is the largest international youth volleyball tournament held in Austria. The best junior and club teams, country selections and national teams from England, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Liechtenstein and Austria met for two-days of high calibre competition. This year’s event saw 12 girls and 10 boy’s teams compete for the medals.

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England Cadet Boys take Silver in Austria!