By Marcus Williams
THERE was heartbreak for the USW men’s volleyball team as they suffered a straight sets defeat against Cardiff University.
Cardiff began very well and although USWs defence and service game was good, their opponents were hugely impressive in possession.
A bright spot for USW in the opening session was the introduction of James Dacey, whose service game was oustanding.
Dacey, much like his teammates, David Bellon Ramos and Daniel De Roojj, possesses enormous power and more importantly a natural ability to channel that power and often place the ball perfectly. This would prove to be key in the coming sets as USW looked to stay in it and at times even stage a comeback.
USW emerged in forceful mood for the second set. Bellon Ramos’ smash shots were proving to be unstoppable for Cardiff in the early minutes, as he provided six points before Cardiff could even respond.
Yet despite the best efforts of the boys in red, Cardiff pulled back and took the lead after unforced errors began to pile up for USW.
This set was nothing if not intense, both teams stopped making mistakes and performed at their best. Every rally was just a question of who was going to break first, and as soon as one team scored the other replied. Concentration levels among both sets of players were off the scale.
However, miscommunication and simple costly mistakes cost USW.
As the match progressed, Cardiff gradually gained the ascendancy breaking USW’s back line. The hosts ended the game strongly but Cardiff were marginally stronger.
On another day USW may have taken the spoils, but it was not to be.