Scotland had a tough draw for the competition playing in the second hall in Cyprus in the first two games back to back.
First up was San Ma
rino who came flying out the blocks to take a 2-0 set advantage after only giving 1 error in the first set!
The lads recovered from this set-back with great composure and fight. Captain Marc McLaughlin was able to find Edward Oldbury a lot more consistently who scored an impressive 65% kill rate on his international debut.
This backed up by strong serving including three aces from Mark Cathro secured a stunning comeback and a 3-2 victory for Scotland.
Straight off the bat in the next match was rivals Luxembourg, who Scotland hadn’t beaten to win Gold 2 years ago.
Again Scotland weren’t able to find their rythem in the early stages as they went down 25-17 in the first set. Again, the Men showed great character at the start of set 2 taking a 8-2 lead into the 1st technical time-out. 4 aces in the remainder of the set put Scotland in a dominant position as they drew level at one a piece.
The rest of the match was nip and tuck as Scotland lead 21-20 and 20-19 in sets 3 and 4 respectively only to be edged out 23-25 and 25-27.
That result put them in the quarter-final tie against Faroe Islands in which
4 games in 2 days was always going to be a tough ask, especially with such intense sets on day 1. Scotland really found their form. A standout performance from Zac Lynn which resulted in being awarded MVP, best server and Best Spiker awards, which assisted the ssscots to a comfortable and professional 3-0 win and a place in the semi-finals against hosts Cyprus.
The defending champions put it a very positive and spirited performance and competed in every rally with the hosts, however, were not able to convert into te points needed. Cyprus edged the match 3-0 thanks to an outstanding performance from MVP Stephanos Haridimou, who scored 22 points for the hosts.
Stuart MacKenzie was a standout performer for the Scots, however, with a perfect passing percentage of 71%, however the Cypriots were able to minimise the damage from big hitters Conor Walker and Edward Oldbury.
Ultimate Scotland were beaten by a better team but can certainly be more than happy with the performance level reache by the team!
A great example of support for the boys was the fact that those watching the live stream back in Scotland could tell who was winning points just by listening as the travelling support drowned out the home fans!!!! Great effort Tartan Army!!!!
Scotland will take on San Marino for the Bronze Medal.
