NVL Preview (9th and 10th December)

In what is the final week of action for a number – but not all – teams before the Christmas break, there are some key fixtures that could affect the standings at both ends of the table in a host of the divisions up and down the country. 

There are no less than seven fixtures in women’s Division 1, with four teams in action twice over the weekend. 

Headlining the bill is Saturday’s top versus second clash between the still-unbeaten Wessex and Stockport, who have lost only once, at Parkstone Grammar School. 

Leicester Athena host Everton Belugas, who then travel to the capital to provide London Inter Crocs with their Sunday opposition. 

The Crocs are also in action as part of a home Saturday-Sunday double for third-placed Richmond, with MK City the other visitors. 

The Buckinghamshire side first entertain Dartford Chargers, while Bristol welcome Southampton Ladies in each side’s only weekend game. 

There is just one game in Division 2 North with second-placed Sheffield hoping to equal the points tally of leaders Team Sunderland when they host Urmston Grammar at the All Saints Sports Centre. 

Norwich Spikers have the chance to climb the Division 2 Central table as they journey first to Coventry and Warwick Riga and then Loughborough Students for two clashes in the Midlands. 

Essex Trinity, sitting in second, will hope to make up points on leaders Herts as they host Rhinos Cambridge, while third-placed Oxford Eagles are at home to Northampton. 

Team South Wales will hope to strengthen their position at the top of Division 2 South when they welcome Bedminster to the Eastern Community Campus. 

Unbeaten London Giants, second in the table having played fewer games than their rivals, travel to Bristol 2, while Richmond 2 host Ashcombe and Dorking. 

There are three triangular fixtures played across two days in Division 3 North, with unbeaten leaders The Miners Doncaster, Chester Amazons and Manchester Marvels Magic meeting on Saturday as York Falcons, Leeds Gorse 3 and Liverpool also face off. 

On Sunday, it’s the turn of second-placed Manchester Liberators, Manchester Moss Side Jaguars and Hull Thunder to meet. 

Triangular fixtures are also the order of the day in Division 3 Central, where Lincoln Cannons, Nottingham Rockets and Black Country 2 play in the Midlands on Saturday and unbeaten league leaders Darkstar Derbyshire 2 take on Newcastle Staffs and Leicester Athena 2 on Sunday. 

In Division 2 South East, Cambridge have the opportunity to go further ahead at the top, with Essex Etonians and Sussex Dolphins 2 providing the opposition. 

Six matches will be contested in Division 3 South West, all on Sunday, across two triangular fixtures. 

Two of the three Plymouth teams, Plymouth Mayflower and Plymouth UTV, are joined by Portsmouth in one grouping, while Cheltenham and Gloucester, Portsmouth, currently second, and Southampton 2, who are top, make up the other. 

In the men’s competition, three teams have matches on both Saturday and Sunday, with fourth-placed Black Country playing unbeaten, second-in-the table Weymouth Beach and then hosting fellow West Midlands side Coventry and Warwick Riga. 

Manchester Marvels face the tough assignment of a trip to league leaders Essex Blaze followed by another match on the road at Cambridge ARU. 

Coventry’s other match is at home to mid-table London Giants. 

Darkstar Derbyshire have a chance to boost their standing at the top of a very tight Division 2 North table when they host bottom club Everton Dugongs on Saturday, while fourth-placed Sheffield, who have games in hand on some of those above them, entertain Liverpool. 

On Sunday, third-placed Hull Thunder visit a Loughborough Students side with a 3-3 record. 

All eight Division 2 Central teams are in action once over the weekend, all on Sunday. 

Current leaders Norwich Spikers travel down the east side of the country to face Dartford Crossers, while second-placed London Baks are also on the road, at Newmarket. 

Hounslow, who have the same 5-2 record as the top two to sit in third, welcome MK City to Lampton School, while fourth-placed Cambridge will bid to put themselves in the frame if they can overcome Wombourne. 

The standout clash in Division 2 South is the showdown between leaders Bristol and Exeter Storm, who both go into the game unbeaten. 

Elsewhere, Wiltshire Mavericks will play home games on the same day against first Richmond Bucks and then Guildford International, as Wessex Men and City of Bristol go head to head on the South Coast. 

Two Sunday triangular fixtures make up the matches played in Division 3 North West, and in the first of them, unbeaten Newcastle Staffs can go top if they beat both Intervolley Manchester and Liverpool U18. 

The other grouping sees club bragging rights at stake as Manchester Marvels Mavericks and Manchester Marvels Marauders meet each other, with Manchester Moss Side completing the city round-robin. 

Kings of Court Boston will hope to leapfrog back above fellow unbeaten side Leeds Gorse 2 in Division 3 North Central as they play both Wombourne 2 and Black Country 2 in the West Midlands. 

Two more triangular fixtures will also be contested, with third-placed York Vikings meeting Nottingham Rockets and Coventry and Warwick Riga 2 in one and Bradford, Sheffield and Darkstar Derbyshire 2 in action in the other. 

Nine games over three triangular fixtures are happening in Division 3 South East with the most significant of them seeing the top three of Northampton (first), Invicta (second) and Onyx (third) all meeting. 

After suffering their first defeat last weekend, Rhinos Cambridge will hope to bounce back positively in their clashes with Tendring and Essex Etonians while Leicester, London Wildcats and GNG Bedford make up a third grouping. 

In Division 3 South West, just one game is scheduled, but it is a significant one, with Southampton playing Worthing at Itchen College Sports Centre in a top versus second clash. 

Photo: MK City Volleyball