NVL Review (6th and 7th December) - UON women stand firm at top as Stockport get off the mark

Women’s NVL 

University of Nottingham completed a seasonal double over Cambridge (25-17, 25-19, 25-11) to stay top of Division 1 North. 

Their perfect record after five games has seen them drop only one set so far. 

Not far behind are Manchester Marvels Mayhem, who bounced back from dropping a marathon first set against Loughborough Students to come through in four (29-31, 25-11, 25-19, 25-22). 

Stockport claimed a welcome first victory of the season as they headed off an Everton Belugas fightback to win in five (25-22, 27-25, 23-25, 15-25, 15-13). 

But the Belugas did have something to show for their weekend as they returned home on Sunday to beat Cambridge in straight sets in what was a miserable weekend trip north for the latter. 

Capital clubs London Giants and Richmond maintained their unbeaten run in Division 1 South. 

The Giants made it five from five by beating Bristol 25-17, 25-20, 25-16 on the road and are five points clear at the top. 

Richmond, meanwhile, were 3-1 (25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 25-22) victors at Team South Wales and have won their first three matches. 

Sandwiched in between the two in second, having played more games, are Essex Trinity, who triumphed 25-23, 25-20, 25-19 in their home match with London Inter Orcas to take their record to 4-3 for the season. 

Bedminster are up to fourth, leapfrogging city rivals Bristol, as they prevailed in straight sets against Wessex (25-18, 25-23, 25-10). 

The Miners Doncaster threw a spanner in the works of Manchester Liberators’ hopes of cutting the gap to leaders Manchester Moss Side Jaguars in Division 2 North. 

The Yorkshire side triumphed in four sets at the Campsmount Academy to instead move within a point of their rivals and up into third. 

Reading Aces continue to set the pace in Division 2 West as they made it six wins from six by defeating Wombourne 3-1, despite dropping the first set (19-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-18), in a match that got comparatively easier for them as it went on. 

Cambridge 2 are now five points clear of Onyx London at the Division 2 East summit, albeit having played three more games, after overcoming Dartford Chargers in a keen contest (25-20, 25-23, 25-23). 

Bristol 2 won their top two battle against Farnborough Phoenix in Division 3 South West to preserve their unbeaten record... but only just. 

The home side took the first two sets and looked to be in charge, but the West Country side dug deep to first level the match and then take the decisive tie breaker (24-26, 19-25, 25-20, 25-17, 15-10). 

In a triangular fixture, both sides secured victory over Bedminster 2, Farnborough in straight sets and Bristol 2 in four.

Elsewhere, all three of Southampton 2, Portsmouth and Plymouth tasted victory and defeat during the course of a topsy-turvy triangular. 

Portsmouth beat Southampton 3-1, only to lose 3-2 to Plymouth, who were beaten 3-0 by Southampton. 

Plymouth Mayflower went the distance to see off Weymouth, but the South Coast club were 3-1 victors over City of Bristol. 

There was another split winner triangular in Division 3 South East, where, Spelthorne Sharks defeated Essex Ravens 3-0, but lost 3-1 to Tendring, who were beaten 3-2 by the Ravens. 

Ashcombe Dorking took advantage of London Ravens having no matches by winning both of their triangular matches against Invicta and Sussex Dolphins 2 to go top of the pile. 

In Division 3 Central, Leicester Athena Nova are now six points clear at the top after beating rivals Darkstar Derbyshire 2 (3-2) and Cheltenham and Gloucester (3-1) to move to a 7-1 record. 

It was a disappointing day for Darkstar, who, having surrendered their unbeaten start, also succumbed to C&G 3-1. 

Nottingham Rockets registered their first two successes of the season as they beat Ashfield Vipers and Loughborough Students 2, both by 3-0 margins, with Vipers winning the third match 3-2. 

Manchester Marvels Mystics continue to fly high in Division 3 North after making it eight wins from eight by getting the better of Chester Amazons and Isle of Man Falcons in straight sets, while the third match went to the Cheshire side (3-0). 

Continuing to be hot on their heels are York Falcons, who saw off Hull Thunder 3-1 and Leeds Gorse 3 3-0. The Humberside club triumphed 3-2 in the third match. 

Men’s NVL 

IBB Polonia were made to work extremely hard by Cambridge to keep their unbeaten record intact as they were victorious in five sets at Harris Lowe Academy Willesden Sports Centre. 

Twice they were pegged back after taking set leads but held their nerve in the decider to win out 25-20, 18-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-12 and take a four-point lead at the top. 

It was also an excellent week for London Aces, who rediscovered their form after recent travails, getting the better of both Exeter Storm (28-26, 25-18, 25-14) and Bristol (25-15, 25-23, 25-23) in their trip to the West Country to go second, albeit having played more games than all of those just below them. 

Wessex boosted their standing and leapfrogged above opponents Southampton by recording a determined four-set victory (22-25, 25-11, 25-17, 28-26), where they came storming back after losing the first set. 

A crunch game in Division 1 North went the way of Manchester Marvels as they overcame Black Country. 

The hosts raced into a two-set lead but BC hit back to take the match the distance before the Marvels took charge in the decider (26-24, 25-21, 20-25, 17-25, 15-8) to keep the gap at the top down to two points. 

Rhinos Cambridge could have made ground on Black Country, but they, too, were beaten, going down in four sets at Sheffield (25-19, 25-20, 24-26, 25-17). 

Leaders Newcastle Staffs continued their confident progress as they kept their 100% league win record intact with a 3-1 success over Coventry and Warwick Riga (25-19, 17-25, 25-20, 26-24). 

Just one fixture in Division 2 South saw London Baks secure a morale-boosting win over Reading Aces (25-19, 15-25, 25-23, 25-20) and while they now share the same seasonal record (3-4), the Berkshire side still have three more points to their name overall. 

Leicester ensured they retained their mid-table status at Cambridge 2’s expense, recording a 3-0 triumph at the Limehurst Academy (25-23, 27-25, 26-24) that was nip and tuck all the way. 

There were no matches in Division 2 North. 

City rivals Intervolley Manchester and Manchester Marvels Marauders were at contrasting ends of the table ahead of their Division 3 North meeting, but the former were made to work much harder than they might have imagined for their eventual 3-1 victory. 

Both teams also beat Hull Thunder 2 – Intervolley to make it eight wins from eight so far and Marvels to register a first win of the season. 

Elsewhere, a North Yorkshire derby saw Harrogate take the honours 3-1 against York Vikings to move up to third. 

The Division 3 Central promotion battle continues to swing one way when the other, with Birmingham City this week going back top, ahead of Telford, with straight sets wins over Chelmsford and Nuneaton Inferno. 

Chelmsford solidified their mid-table status by coming through in straight sets against Nuneaton. 

Coventry and Warwick Riga 2 took the lion’s share of the points in their triangular with Tamworth Spartans 2 (3-2) and Wombourne (3-0), the latter also missing out in straight sets to Tamworth. 

Onyx nudged ahead of Newmarket 2 into second in Division 3 South East after beating their rivals 3-1 and also Cambridge Rhinos 2 3-2. 

Newmarket’s frustrations were compounded as they were also on the wrong end of things against Rhinos (3-1). 

GNG Bedford had the welcome boost of successive wins against Essex Estonians (3-0) and Worthing, with the latter prevailing (3-2) in the hard-fought third fixture of the triangular. 

Weymouth struck a significant blow in the race to finish top of Division 3 South West as they beat closest challengers Bristol 2 3-1 at Redlands Community Sports Hub. 

Both teams also overcame Southampton 2 as part of their triangular. 

Those results allowed Urbond Portsmouth to move up into second after they secured successive 3-1 wins over Guildford International and Spelthorne Tigers, the former beating the latter in five in the other contest. 

Team South Wales are also now level on points with Bristol and occupy fourth after straight sets victories over Bedminster and City of Bristol, with Bemi beating their city rivals in straight sets to complete the triangular.

Action images by Liam Jefferies (@lj5.photography)

Full NVL results can be found here.

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