Kilmarnock Blaze made the trip across the Scotland this weekend for their latest league match against Dundee.  The Blaze’s form had been good of late, however they had lost their last league match against Glasgow Mets and wanted to get back to winning ways in the league.

The Blaze started the stronger team in the first set, with Euan Duncan justifying his place in the starting 6, proving that he is now back to his best form after a few shaky performances earlier in the season with a some smart hitting.  Although the Blaze went into both technical timeouts with the lead, they never managed to stretch out a commanding lead.  The teams traded points towards the end of the set, until Stuart Edgar put in 2 jump serves to give Killie the set 25-23.

The second set followed the same pattern as the first, with Killie taking an early lead, with the help of middle blockers Stewart Caldwell and Mark Lawson.  However once again, Dundee came back into the set and the score remained close throughout.  In the end it was another run of serves at the end of the set, this time from Colin Giles, that gave the Blaze the breathing space they needed to close out the set 25-22.

Coach Stuart Edgar made the decision to sub himself off the court for John Hollis.  The change made little difference as Hollis managed to hit over the opposition block to win a succession of points.  However, as was the case in the first two sets, Killie could not hold on to the lead they had built, and Dundee took full advantage by taking the set 26-24.

Edgar brought himself back onto the court for the fourth set, which greatly stabilised the Blaze passing unit.  However Dundee, now on a high after winning the third set stayed with Kilmarnock throughout the set, setting up another close finish.  Both teams had set points, but in the end it was Killie that took the set, 28-26, and the match, 28-26, with captain Gordon Welsh winning the final point.

It was not such a good weekend for Kilmarnock II as they lost 3-2 to Bellshill Cardinals.

Kilmarnock Blaze would like to welcome anyone interested to their recreational volleyball sessions, Thursday evenings from 7-8 at St Josephs Academy, £2 per person, no previous experience needed.

Stewart Caldwell

KVC Press Officer