The York Volleyball Men’s 1sts powered through their Lancastrian counterparts 3-1 on Saturday afternoon in a terrific encounter, a fitting testament to York’s outstanding form throughout the whole year. Lancaster rarely allowed York to find consistent form, however the white rose was still able to comfortably take the match in style
The opening set began as a complete nightmare for York, with Lancaster finding themselves converting 6 points with no reply. The atmosphere of the occasion appeared to be getting to some York players, however Chris Steut was powerful at the net to settle the nerves. With captain Jonas Pollex on the offensive, Lancaster were forced to play a more defensive game, and their blocks at the net were nothing short of phenomenal in keeping Pollex at bay. It was not long however before the relentless barrage of attacks wore through, a highlight in particular coming from Fabian Matcke, whose trickery saw him guide home a winner behind his back. Michal Vovoc also found success, and York comfortably took the first set 25-19.
The 2nd set began with York on the defensive, as Lancaster turned up the pressure. Pollex pulled off an incredible save and appeared to be finding some form of his own, however some powerful Lancaster strikes unsettled the home side and eased the Red Rose into a 15-8 lead. Some poor serving let York down and gave away unnecessary points, resulting in Lancaster unexpectedly taking the second set by reversing York’s 21-19 victory in the first, sending the match level.
York were able to find some serious form in the third set, fired up under the superb captaincy of Pollex who saluted an ecstatic home-crowd after guiding York 9-3 up. Harry Paupiglione played some fantastic shots, striking the ball through the heart of the Lancaster defence to power York further into the lead. A poor call from Paupiglione seemingly gave Lancaster an opening, however Chris Steut unleashed some stinging spikes to unsettle the away side. Pollex’s serves hammered home consecutive points, whilst Steut reacted well at the net to ensure York took the third set 25-17.
York commanded the fourth set and were initially able to score at ease. With Pollex spiking close to the net, York were able to dominate and quickly found themselves 12-4 up in the set. A controversial call from the umpire deemed a Steut shot out, and Lancaster rallied to come back in the set, finding themselves a point away at 14-15. At 19-17, it was York who stepped up and ended the game spectacularly. Bartek Krzyszycha was the unsung hero of the game, defending well and setting up York attacks. The final point ended the match in dramatic fashion, with captain Jonas Pollex stepping up and smashing a strike into the face of his opposite number, sending the York fans wild and claiming a profound 25-20 victory in the fourth set to win the match 3-1.
The men’s volleyball really responded to the big occasion and put in a terrific Roses performance. Pollex stated ‘it was tougher than I expected but we played great as a team. We’ve been together through the highs and the lows, and today was a particular highlight’. After praise of his own individual performance he responded ‘yes, I am pleased with how I played but it’s all about the team and today we were terrific’.