The National Cup is Volleyball England’s prime knockout competition with teams playing with the aim of making it to the final. Teams that drop out of the cup are entered into the National Sheild competition.
Last year’s men's Cup winners Malory Eagles are looking to defend their title when they join the seeded teams in the second round starting on the 7th of October. With the women's winners from last year, Durham Palatinates also joining in the second round as a seeded club. Both teams are keen to get their season off to a great start with the Super League starting the following week.
This is the first weekend of the indoor season and it is hoping to be better than ever with some great match-ups in the preliminary round.
The men's games happening on Saturday have the likes of London Bears - who made it to the third round last year missing out on a place in the quarterfinals after a loss to Malory. The Bears will be facing local rivals London Wildcats. Wildcats are hoping progress to the next round after being knocked out last year by Team Sideout.
Maidstone Rocks are facing off against Kent Invicta in a clash of two Kent sides with the winner facing the winner of the Bears vs. Wildcats match.
With the Women’s Cup getting underway on Sunday there are also some exciting matchups. Wigan Seahawks host Manchester Moss with the winners facing Manchester Marvels 2 in the first round. Wigan made it through to the second round last year after victory over Manchester Marvels 2 in the first round so the team has hope to make it two from two this year if they win over Manchester Moss in this round.
Waterloo Thunder who made it into the quarterfinals of the Cup last year travel to Maidstone for their first preliminary game. The winner of this match will host Ashcombe Volleyball who are looking to bounce back from their second-round loss to last year's quarterfinalist London Inter Crocs.
All the fixtures for both the men’s and women’s competitions can be found here.
The draw for both the men’sand women’s cup competitions can be found here.
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