Super League Review (7th and 8th February) - teams from north head up men’s and women’s tables 

Men’s NVL  

A weekend double from Newcastle Knights carried them to the top of the men’s table, where they are now three points clear. 

First, on Saturday, they made the trip to University of Nottingham and emerged 3-1 victors, bouncing back after losing the first set to reel off the next three (20-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-21). 

Setter Neil Rea was MVP for the victors, while Rob Morgan took the honours for UON. 

Then, returning home, they got the better of Richmond Docklands by the same scoreline (25-16, 21-25, 25-17, 25-16) to underline their potential to finish as regular season champions. 

That is by no means a foregone conclusion, however, as London Giants ensured they remain within touching distance by claiming maximum points from their long trip up to struggling Durham Palatinates (25-15, 25-17, 25-18), also pushing Malory Eagles UEL down to third. 

While the capital club continue to mount a strong defence of the title they won last April, the North Easteners find themselves at the wrong end of the table and in serious relegation danger. 

Amadou Samb clocked a game-high 12 kills and was backed up by nine from Daniil Pyvovarenko. 

Tobias Starling and Matt Edwards each secured six kills for Durham, the latter also adding two blocks. 

They have dropped to the bottom following Leeds Gorse’s second win of the season, over Richmond on Saturday, which has lifted them up to sixth, a point above Docklands. 

The West Yorkshire side were always in control as they eased to a 25-16, 25-18, 25-16 to demonstrate that a great escape could still be on. 

Emmanuel Oretoye won the MVP nomination for Leeds and Pearson Stiller got the nod for Richmond. 

Women’s NVL 

It was business as usual for Durham Palatinates who cruised to 25-17, 25-12, 25-10 success against Lionhearts Vinarius at the Graham Sports Centre. 

They have now won nine out of nine and are six points clear at the top and fast closing in on a Final 4 spot. 

Palatinates’ MVP, setter Malea Stanton, served three aces and made two kills in addition to notching 28 assists from 59 attempts and completing seven digs.

Danna Cheung was MVP for the Lionhearts after serving two aces, successfully completing 20 of 22 serve receive attempts for a rating of 2.00 and completing seven kills, one block and five digs. 

It was a tough away weekend for the Londoners, who were also beaten in straight sets at Newcastle Knights (25-16, 28-26, 25-22), staying third from bottom. 

Isabelle Hogan was MVP for the Knits while Madoka Weldon was selected for Vinarius. 

On the flipside, Sam Shenton’s team are now up to fourth spot and look like they will face a fight with Team Sideout Polonia in the closing weeks of the regular season for a top-four place.   

Elsewhere, Darkstar Derbyshire secured an important victory in the battle of the bottom two against Leeds Gorse. 

They eked out a 3-2 triumph (17-25, 23-25, 25-19, 25-10, 15-8) against the young home side but did it the hard way, having to complete a reverse sweep to deny the Yorkshire club a first victory of the season – and keep them at arm’s length. 

Jacey Neid, for Darkstar, and Elizabeth Perfection Uwagboe Akuetiehme, for the hosts, were the respective MVPs. 

Action images by Noelia Fernandez Perez and Keeran Marquis

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