Kilmarnock travelled to the capital this week to play Edinburgh Jets in the first game of the season.  They made the journey with high hopes after having beaten Jets twice in pre season. 

Killie were forced to play with two division 1 rookies, middle blocking, in the shape of Mark Lawson and Stewart Caldwell, as Angus Mitchell was forced to miss the fixture with work commitments.

Stewart Caldwell

Although expecting to return home with a win, Killie got off to a poor start.  Inconsistent passing made it hard for setter, Colin Giles, to provide the usual quality service for his team mates.  Although they showed some fight towards the end of the set, they eventually went down 20-25.

The quality in the second set was not much better from Kilmarnock, although the determination and momentum from the end of the first set did keep them close to Jets early on.  However in the latter stages, Killie’s greater skill and experience from passer/hitters Stuart Edgar and Gordon Welsh led them to victory in the set, taking it 25-21.

After they won the second set, Killie never looked back, keeping up a high level  for the rest of the match.  An outstanding performance from rookie middle blocker Mark Lawson helped Kilmarnock win the final two sets 25-17, 25-19.

The Kilmarnock second team also returned home with a 4-1 win over Polonia Jets.  The match went in a similar pattern to that of the first team, after losing the first set, they came back to win 4-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-11, 25-17, 25-11) thanks, in part, to a superb show of blocking from John Hollis.

Stewart Caldwell

KVC Press Officer