U18 Last 8 Review

The National Volleyball Centre (NVC) saw 16 of the top junior clubs from around the country all come to compete for a place in the National Cup Finals. 

After some strong competition shown in the previous U18 Grand Prix eight boys teams and eight girls teams were placed into two platinum pools. 

Last year's girl's champions Richmond were placed in a pool with Weymouth Ripples, Black Country and South Bucks. 

Coming into the weekend having only dropped one set in the previous GP’s Richmond looked like favourites to repeat their success of last year. 

Their opening match in Pool A was against Black Country which saw them take it in straight sets 25-21, 25-13. 

This set the tempo for the rest of the day across the NVC with teams all battling to claim that golden ticket for Cup Finals. 

Weymouth, who have grown in strength since the Covid-19 outbreak came into the pool looking to cause an upset and started the weekend with a mammoth second set against South Bucks which ended the way of the coastal side 31-29. 

Their second game against Black Country was just as close going to three sets with the Ripples again claiming the match (25-17, 23-25, 15-5).

With South Bucks losing to Richmond in their second game, Weymouth knew going into the match against the Cup holders they would be guaranteed a place in the semi-finals but wanted to try and finish the group top. 

However, it was the London team who came out on top and topped the group with a 2-0 win. 

Weymouth would then have to face the winner of Pool B and Richmond would have the advantage going into the semi-final against the runner up of Pool B.

Pool B saw Boswells School, Urmston Grammar, Leeds Gorse Orange and Nottingham Rockets going head to head. 

Rockets had made it to the Last 8 for the first time in their junior history narrowly edging out Boswells B to the last spot. 

They came into the weekend as underdogs but despite this still put on a great performance against Leeds Gorse, last year's runners up Boswells and 2022 runners up Urmston.

With Boswells hoping to make it back to back finals and do one better than last year they started strong against school rivals Urmston. 

In a powerful display, they took the match 2-0 (25-16, 25-18) starting their day off well. 

This was backed up by almost the same scoreline against Leeds Gorse finishing 25-16, 25-15.

This meant that a win against Rockets would put them top and in a match against Ripples. 

Urmston, despite the slow start in their first match, grew into the weekend taking the other two games in straight sets. 

But the first loss proved costly with them having to play Richmond in the Semi-final which they knew would be a challenge. 

The first set was nail-biting with everyone on the edge of their seats and the crowd getting behind both teams. Umstron pushed the current champions all the way in the first just missing out 25-23. 

The second set Richmond where able to build a substantial lead with a strong service run which Urmston just couldn’t claw back. 

This means Richmond are into the National Cup Final and will look to make it three years in a row of cup success.

Boswells wanted to get revenge from last year and knew going into the final Ripples wouldn’t let them get there easily. 

The story was very similar on the other court with Weymouth pushing hard and just missing out on the first set 25-21. 

Weymouth pushed even harder in the second set but Boswell’s experience shone through with the second set ending 25-17. 

So for the second year in a row, Richmond will face Boswells in the U18 National Cup Final. 

With the girls' competition showcasing the best in junior volleyball, the boys had a lot to live up to! 

It did not disappoint with Pool A opening the morning with a thrilling three setter and Exeter Storm beating last years Champions Boswells. 

Liverpool pushed hard in their opening match in Pool A against Urmston Grammar taking the first set 25-20 but then where pegged back in the second and third as Urmston took the match 2-1 (25-20, 22-25, 11-15). 

Newcastle Staffs had a couple of Super League played in their ranks and went up against a competitive Richmond who were hoping to join their female teammates in the final. 

The game was another thriller going to three sets. It was the London side who were able to grab the first set 25-21 but then slipped in the second to a 25-14 defeat. This meant that it was the second game in Pool A to go to three sets. 

The Capital based team took the pressure and were able to snatch the set 15-12. 

Staffs after this loss wanted to showcase their skill and experience they had gained with players stepping up to place at the top level in senior volleyball. They did this with wins against Liverpool (25-18, 25-18) and Urmston (25-20, 26-24). 

Richmond repeated the success of the girls going unbeaten all day only dropping that set to Newcastle Staffs. 

Pool B had Boswells, IBB Polonoa Pro Volley, Exeter Storm and Leeds Gorse all compete for their chance to play on the biggest stage in English Junior Volleyball. 

After an opening victory against Boswells Exeter Storm also claimed a 2-0 victory over Polonia but narrowly missed out on going flawless in the day with a 2-1 defeat to Leeds. 

Leeds finished top of Pool A and would face Castle in the semi-final after strong performances against Boswells (25-16, 22-25, 15-10)  and Polonia (25-16, 25-23). 

With three wins from three and topping the group Leeds knew they had a tough challenge against Castle with both teams having some powerful hitters as well as some strong defensive players. 

Richmond took on Storm in the first semi-final with the game running away from Exeter in the first set finishing 25-14. 

After some great performances in the previous Grand Prix events Exeter had really stepped up their game this season but just was slightly too much this weekend with Richmond claiming the second set and the golden ticket to Cup Finals 25-18. 

With the Richmond game finishing earlier it was all eyes on court 2 with the game going into a third set after two thrilling sets before. 

Leeds had come out swinging and took the first set 25-19 and looked on course to make it to the U18 final for the first time. 

But the Stoke based team came back in the second with a thrilling tiebreak 26-24. 

Setting up an all important final set. Staffs knew they would have to come out swinging and that they did. 

After almost an hour of play they took the final set 15-11 giving them the last golden ticket of the weekend. 

You can watch all the action from the weekend via our YouTube channel. 

The 10th March will see the U16 teams battle it out for a place in the final with all games being live streamed on YouTube.

You can view all the results from the Last 8 here.

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