Bon Accord made the journey south this week to play their division 1 league match against the Kilmarnock Blaze.  Both had made winning starts to the league campaign and finished in the top four, last season, so it was set to be a close match.

The first set started point-for-point, with middle hitter Stewart Caldwell the main threat for Killie, winning their first four points.  Bon Accord did manage to stretch out a small lead mid way through the first set but the Blaze never let them put clear daylight between the teams, and , helped by the passing of Martin McMullen, squared the set at 20-20.  However Bon Accord put a run of three serves together late in the set, helping them to take it 25-22.

Bon Accord made the better start to the second set and went into the second technical timeout 16-12 ahead.  Player/coach Stuart Edgar decided a change of tactics was required with regards to the speed of the offence, and it worked a treat as Kilmarnock pulled back the deficit, and went on to win the set 25-21, with Edgar himself hitting the winning point.

The third set, proved to be as close as the previous two, as the teams traded points throughout.  After the second technical timeout, Bon Accord put together a run of three serves, putting them in a controlling position to win the set, however John Hollis pulled Blaze back into the match with some impressive power hitting.  The set was tied at 23-23 before Bon Accords blocking won the set 25-23.

Despite it being a must win set for Kilmarnock, they started slowly in the fourth, and by the second technical timeout they were 16-12 down.  However after the timeout there was a sudden change in momentum, as the passing became more accurate, allowing Colin Giles to get middle hitters Caldwell and Mark Lawson into the game, with both of them having great success.  Although Bon Accord kept fighting until the end, Blaze managed to win the set 25-23.

Killie started the stronger in the deciding set, and was up 8-5 at the change of ends.  Euan Duncan put in a run of strong serves to give his team a lead that a now tired Bon Accord wouldn’t come back from.  Kilmarnock won the final set 15-9 with Caldwell winning the match with an impressive block.

Elsewhere, Kilmarnock II just lost 3-2 to a dogged performance from City of Edinburgh II.

Stewart Caldwell

KVC Press Officer