Final woe for Dundee Volleyball Club

DUNDEE Volleyball Club’s pre-season preparation reached the competitive stage last Saturday with the Dynamo Cup in South Queensferry against hosts City of Edinburgh ll and Su Ragazzi ll.

It was a chance to fill the gaps left by four players missing from last season’s line-up.

Debuts for Boris Prodanov and the return of Rad Marinov gave the Dundee side an increase in height and power.

The hosts provided the opposition in their first game and, after a slow start, with lots of errors, Dundee were 9-4 down.

The speed of the game was proving difficult for the Dundee side as the youthful home team found gaps to exploit.

Dundee were relying on Mike Coward and Oz Dowie to score points and, with young Boganov finding his feet, the score went to 22-17.

A series of poor plays from Edinburgh gave Dundee hope and they held set point at 24-23.

But a service error and a poor defensive play gave the set to the home team 26-24.

A change of line-up gave the Dundee side a more balanced look in the second set and they were able to win the set 25-20, with Prodanov finding his range and winning six points in the set.

Next up was Ragazzi ll, and it was Marinov who was the top scorer with four points on block and two i n attack, which helped Dundee to a 25-18 win. The second set went Ragazzi’s way 25-16 as Dundee switched their side about and tried to find the best combination.

The fixtures were then repeated and Edinburgh were the opposition for a close encounter.

The Dundee side were able to compete and stayed close throughout the first set.

Colin McEvoy weighed in with several big hits and, with Mike Coward and Boris both scoring well, the set went to Dundee 28-26.

The same combination, with Dowie and Barry Millar scoring three big ‘net blocks’, gave Dundee the second set 25-16.

The last game turned into the ‘final’ with both sides in the groove and scoring runs of points. Dundee led 6-2, Ragazzi pulled ahead 13-11 then 20-18.

But Dundee regrouped and took the set 25-23.

The final set proved an anti-climax for the small crowd of local supporters.

The pace of the game continued until Dundee’s ‘setter’ Millar had to leave the court with an injury.

The replacement setter had switched to play as the defensive ‘libero’ and confusion reigned.

Several options were tried but the Ragazzi side took advantage of the chaos, winning the set 25-15 to lift the cup. It was a disappointing end for Dundee following an excellent tournament for all teams.

Dundee Ladies start their competitive season tomorrow at Craigie High School at 11am with a Scottish Cup first-round game against Stirling University.

It will be a muchchanged Dundee side with no fewer than four new faces in the side to replace Hannah Lawrie and Natasha Melville.

All four had played one game last season and are now into the side for the regular season.

Claire Pollock from Dundee University will add some height as will Danila Gasperini, who moves from St Andrews University.

The fairy-tale story is the promotion of Natalia Stopowski and Agnes Bednarek who move from the recreational District League to National League and competition.

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