U18 Junior Grand Prix round 2 review (8th and 9th November)

The U18 Girls division consisted of 13 pools hosted by different teams. 

Black Country staged Gold Pool A while also claiming top of the table winning all their games 2-0 to be promoted to the Super Series for round three. 

Newcastle Staffs had two teams enter this pool, with their A team placing second, and their B team closely following behind in third place after defeating Nottingham Rockets 2-0. 

Gold Pool B was hosted by Richmond, who produced excellent results with Richmond C coming out on top to claim their spot in the next Super Series, while Richmond B claiming third. 

Wessex defeated Richmond B 2-1, with a close first set of 25-22, to finsh as runners-up. 

However, Wessex also has to work hard to narrowly beat London Lynx 2-1, with set three going to 15-11.

Wapping Wildcats hosted Silver Pool C and were second in the table with four pool points and 30 Grand Prix Series points, defeating South Hants 2-1, who claimed 32 Grand Prix Series Points. 

Ashcombe Dorking also claimed four pool points for third after defeating fourth place Worthing Lions 2-1.

Silver Pool D was hosted by Ashfield Vipers, who performed well at their home venue, winning all three of their games to claim six pool points. 

Urmston Grammar B had a close game against the hosts, falling just short as the hosts won a deciding third set 15-12. 

MK City A finished in a respectable third spot after beating Leeds Gorse Purple 2-0, who finished fourth. 

Bronze Pool E saw Bristol claim top of the table after winning all of their games 2-0. 

ENVC followed behind in second place as their onlt loss came to the eventual pool winners.

Hosts Coventry and Warwick Riga placed third after defeating Wales Academy in a very close 2-0 game, 25-23, 25-22. 

Bronze Pool F was set in Kent, with hosts Sevenoaks School producing outstanding results, winning all three games in straight sets. 

London Giants were successful against South Bucks B and Dartford to finish just behind the table toppers. 

South Bucks B and Dartford had a close game in the battle for third with the former clinching a win 2-1, edging the third 15-12.

Pool G was dominated by Frodsham who prevailed in all three games.

Nuneaton, Stockport and hosts, Bromsgrove School, all won one game each, so their positions were based on both set and point difference, with Nuneaton taking second, Stockport third and hosts, Bromsgrove School fourth. 

Pool H was made up of three teams, with Sheffield winning both games 2-1. 

Leicester Athena A narrowly lost to the pool winners, but defeated hosts Lincoln Cannons 2-1 to finish as runners up. 

AST Academy put in a strong performance in Pool I, winning their three games, with hosts Thames Valley placing second after a close 25-23, 25-23 loss. 

Weymouth Ripples placed third after getting the better of Winchester Eagles 2-0. 

Pool J was hosted by Team Medway, who finished third after deating Harrow Bravos 2-0. 

Team Sideout topped the pool after overcoming Malory Eagles B 2-1. 

Pool L was hosted by Richmond who came second after losing to South Hants B, who topped the table with straight sets successes over both Richmond E and Wessex B. 

Pool M proved to be difficult for the hosts Worthing Lions B who came in fourth, with Richmond D placing third.

Spelthorne had a dominant run of games, winning all three, including 2-0 against MGGS. 

Lastly, Pool N saw MK City B storm their way through their games with a 100% record to head up the rest. 

Hills Road Sixth Form placed second after defeating MK City C 2-0, while Northampton (pictured top) battled hard in claiming 18 Grand Prix Series points against strong opposition. 

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The boys' U18 competition also consisted of 13 Pools, with Gold Pool A being hosted by Stockport Blue, who won two out of the three games to claim second place.

However, it was Urmston Grammar A, relegated from Super Series last time, who immediately regained their place among the elite, winning the crucial match against Stockport 2-1.

Black Country came in third after they bounced back from defeats to the top two by beating Ashfield Vipers 2-0. 

Gold Pool B was hosted by South Hants who took second after losing in a thriller to London Lynx Selby.

The capital side earned Super Series volleyball by edging the decider 27-25 after the first two sets had been shared. 

MK City A beat Willesden Knights 2-0 to claim third place and 32 Grand Prix Series points. 

Silver Pool C saw Leeds Gorse Purple defeat hosts Sheffield 2-0 to finish at the summit, but the South Yorkshire club defeated both Nottingham Rockets and Hermitage to secure second place.

The batle for third and fourth place decider went to a decider, which Nottingham Rockets edged by winning the finl set 15-11. 

Silver Pool D had a similar turn of events, with the hosts, South Bucks A, falling short of first place, losing to eventual pool winners Richmond Hawks 2-0. 

Richmond Jackals came third in the pool, after being defeated by the South Coast side 15-12 in the third. 

The Jackals, however, did overcome Weymouth 2-0 to claim two pool points. 

Bronze Pool E was hosted by Black Country, where Bristol proved to be the strongest team, defeating all opposition in their pool.

Frodsham won two of their games against Urmston Grammar B and Black Country B, to secire the runners-up spot.

Hosts of Bronze Pool F, Sevenoaks School, finished top of the table, registering victory in all their games. 

It was a close run thing between the remaining three teams, AST Academy B, Wapping Wildcats A, Dartford and AST Academy B.

All three teams had won one match each, and it therefore went down to set difference, with the teams placed in the order writtien above.

Coventry and Warwick Riga hosted Pool G and H, ending in a respectable third place in their pool after defeating Rugby 2-0 and narrowly losing to Lincoln Cannons 2-1. 

Tamworth Spartans dominated Pool G with a total of 24 Grand Prix Series points after defeating all three teams 2-0, while Pool H was dominated by London Giants who won a close game against second-placed MK City B 25-22, 26-24 and went on to stay unbeaten. 

Thames Valley defeated Harlow Bravos in straight sets to secure third in the table with two pool points.

Bromsgrove School hosted Pool I, which only featured 3 teams, with Wales Academy and Birmingham Five Ways proving too strong for the hosts. 

An excellent 3 set game occured between Birmingham Five Ways and Bromsgrove School with the score 26-24, 19-25, 17-15 which securred Birmingham Five Ways 2nd place. 

Wales Academy came into this pool strong, winning both their games 2-0 to claim top of the table. 

Similarly to Pool I, hosts of Pool J, Worthing Panthers, faced tough opponents who narrowly missed out on claiming any pool points after losing 2-1 to South Hants B who placed 3rd. 

Wessex were a switched on team, winning all of their games to claim 24 Grand Prix Series points. 

This was followed by Portmouth Phoenix who came 2nd after defeating both South Hants B and Worthing Panthers. 

Pool K was hosted by Farnborough who seemd to claim the home field advantage after winning all their games to claim top of the table.

URBOND placed 2nd after beating Spelthorne and Winchester Eagles 2-0. 

The bottom two placed were all to fight for between Spelthorne and Winchester Eagles, where Spelthorne were able to grab the 2-0 win 25-20, 25-20. 

Pool L saw a similar turn of events, with hosts London Lynx B finishing top of the table with straight set wins against Team SideOut and Orpington Ravens. 

Team SideOut claimed 2nd place after defeating Oprington Ravens 2-0. 

Also featuring three teams, Pool M saw hosts, Preston Panthers, storm through the pool winning their games 2-0. 

Stockport Orange and Manchester Volleyball Academy had a close game 25-20, 25-20, with Stockport Orange coming out victorious, claiming the crucial two pool points to gurantee their 2nd place result. 

Lastly, Northampton dominated Pool N, ending the day with four pool points. 

MK City C claimed a 2-1 victory against ENVC, resulting in their 2nd place finish in the pool. 

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