It was all to play for yesterday as Scotland’s Senior National squads took on England yet again in the tournament decider. As has been the theme this tournament, the men were up first. Starting off the match, Head Coach Alistair Jack’s side trailed for a few points before bringing it back even in the first set. A few errors from the Scottish side gave England their first set 25-16. England kept that momentum up in the second set, leading the charge and going 5 points up before Scotland called a time out to disrupt their flow. A few substitutions later, Scotland finished the set down 14 points to England’s 25. It was still all to play for in the third set. Scotland’s men took the lead for a large part of the set, helped by Ewan Ramsay bringing home an ace while David Mexson scored with some well placed spikes. England showed their determination to win however, and ultimately finished the set 25-19, taking home the match win and the Carol Russell trophy.
Whilst not taking the overall win, Ally Jack was pleased with the squads performance: “Whilst we were disappointed at our performance level in the final, the players produced a performance that was statistically their best in a number of years against very high level opposition on Saturday evening. The match report highlights the very fine margins between winning and losing in international volleyball and the experience the squad gained will be invaluable. Congratulations to Cole, Daniel, Ioannis and Jack on gaining their first international caps.”
The women’s team took to the court next. Scotland got off to an amazing start, Shona Fraser leading the charge with 6 aces over 9 points. Scotland comfortably bagged their first set 25-14. The second set was much the same, with Alexis Crusey achieving a 67% attacking efficiency ensuring that the set finished quickly. Scotland went 2-0 up. England came out fighting in the third set, and after a few errors from the Scots they took the win 25-18. All to play for in the fourth set, but Scotland made sure to come out swinging. 7 kills from Rachel Morrison and some well-placed serves from Ellen Ranklin meant that the win went Scotland’s way, bringing home the match 3-1.
Head Coach Danny Traylor had this to say about the match: “We played at a high level all weekend, while also giving ourselves opportunities to develop the future talent we have in the squad. We haven’t beaten England since 2017, so was a great achievement to beat them twice at the 5 Nations Tournament! Want to huge give credit to Carly for reaching her 50th cap while away, her commitment to the programme while being a mum to Siena sets a great example to the young women in the programme on what they can achieve.”
Overall, England came first in the tournament, bringing home the Dr Don Anthony Trophy, named after the founder of the Amateur Volleyball Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Scotland finished the tournament in second, with Ireland in third and Northern Ireland in fourth.
Reflecting on the tournament as a whole, Ally said that it was “a well organised tournament supporting high level competition between the participating countries, and we look forward to increasing the collaborative work both on and off the court with our international neighbours.”
A big thanks to the British Volleyball Federation and Volleyball England from hosting the tournament. In addition, thanks to all the referees, especially our own referees Dave Cormie and Dominik Sirant, scorers, technical support staff, photographers and our very own statisticians Kieran Small, Dale Follows and Matthew, for their work throughout the weekend.
