U16 Junior Grand Prix review - Urmston, Ashcombe, Staffs and South Hants among Tier 1 pool winners

Tier 1 matches saw the preliminary round of the competition played out, with the girls’ section played on Sunday and the boys’ on Saturday. 

Urmston Grammar A clinched top spot in the girls’ Pool A by the narrowest of margins from hosts Newcastle Staffs A. 

As matches were played over two sets, both sides won their other matches and drew 1-1 when they faced each other, and finished with the same set difference, but the Greater Manchester side had the superior points difference (92 compared to 40). 

Wirral finished third after two wins and two defeats, while Newcastle Staffs B were fifth and Stockport fifth. 

Ashcombe hosted both Pool B and Pool C, and, in the former, Ashcombe Dorking topped the four-strong grouping by one point ahead of VBDC. 

South Bucks B got the better of MK City A to decide third and fourth place. 

On the other side of the curtain at the Surrey venue, Richmond B ruled the roost with three wins out of three, getting the better of runners-up London Giants in their meeting by a 2-1 scoreline. 

Willesden Divets edged out Deep Dish Crystal Palace to make up the rest of the group in that order. 

Black Country came out on top in the five-sting Pool D (pictured) at Ashfield School after recording four wins out of four. 

Host team Ashfield Vipers won their other three matches, aside from their meeting with the West Midlanders, to claim second, with Urmston Grammar B, Hull Thunder and Nottingham Rockets completing the table. 

South Hants were the dominant force in Worthing-held Pool E as they beat all comers without dropping a set. 

Wessex proved to be the best of the rest by beating Worthing Cheetahs and Weymouth, who both pushed the pool winners hard. 

Malory Eagles made the most of home advantage to triumph in the three-team Pool F, where Wapping Wildcats beat London Lynx to finish second and third respectively. 

In the boys’ section of Tier 1, MK City led the way in Pool A at South Bucks ahead of South Bucks Mavericks and AST Academy. 

Further north, home club Newcastle Staffs enjoyed a stellar day in Pool B by securing a 100% record and boasting a points difference of 58. 

Urmston Grammar B took second spot, with Nottingham Rockets and Black Country filling the other three positions in the table. 

There was no stopping Urmston Grammar A in Pool C who recorded an emphatic 25-7, 25-2 success over their own Urmston Grammar C side en route to top spot. 

Hosts Preston Panthers were runners-up, with Leeds Gorse Purple third. 

Richmond B denied London Lynx the privilege of leading the way in Pool D as they beat their city rivals, along with Team SideOut. 

A five-strong Pool E was hosted in South Hants and it was the home side who came out on top – just. 

They won their pivotal match against runners-up Bristol by a 2-1 margin after coming through 15-13 in the decider. 

Behind those two, Wessex had a 50-50 record to finish in mid-table and were followed by Dartford and Richmond C. 

In girls’ Tier 2, five Pools were contested around the country and saw Cardiff Celts (at Coventry) and Team SideOut (at Richmond) head up the pools where results have been returned. 

Sheffield (at Coventry) and Preston Panthers (at Frodsham) were victorious in pools of the boys’ Tier 2 results completed. 

Volleyball England would like to thank all hosts venues for overseeing matches.

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For all the national junior competitions fixtures and results, click here.

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