Jersey captain Krystof Piaseczyny sends the ball flying past the Guernsey players.
ONE very large Pole was the difference as Guernsey’s first-string men’s team lost to Jersey.
In front of a packed Beau Sejour balcony, 6ft 7in. Jersey captain Krystof Piaseczyny was the star on his inter-insular debut as his team won in straight sets. The greens simply could not cope with the power of the 27-year-old former Polish national league player, who in the red number 13 shirt kept unleashing ferocious spikes.
‘It was their power inside and their big number 13 is the type of player who wins gold medals at the Island Games,’ said Guernsey’s player-coach Ben Hill. ‘But Guernsey can be very proud of what they’ve done regardless of the result. We put up a good fight.
‘We worked our socks off today although the score line flatters them – they were quite a lot better than us.’
There was an east European feel to the visitors’ team as Piaseczyny was joined by fellow Poles Marcin Migas and Pawel Orzechowski and Daniel Grigoras, of Romania.
And it was clear from early on that they could all play as Jersey called the shots in the first set.
Guernsey managed to keep in touch, but Jersey went on to claim the opener 25-19.
Guernsey rallied at the start of the second led by their own foreign player, Berislav Bobus, of Croatia, and Ross Martel.
The pair notched up a couple of hard hitting spikes to see the greens lead 11-5.
But Jersey, through Piaseczyny’s big spikes and the prowess and solid blocking of Grigoras at the net, drew level and moved ahead to take the set 25-23.
The home side now seemed a bit shell shocked and were stuck to the spot. Jersey won the final set 25-12 to take the honours.
Their player-coach, Lee Ingram, was full of praise for his team’s efforts and especially those of Piaseczyny.
‘I’m very delighted and Krystof was quite simply the difference,’ he said.
‘He gives our team so many different opportunities to attack which we’ve never had before and as a result the team can relax because he takes the pressure off. It’s always nice to win an inter-insular, especially 3-0.’
While the Guernsey Men’s A had a rough time, it was significantly easier for their female counterparts, who won the A match 3-0.
The Sarnians took the first set 25-20 and then the next two 25-19 and 25-18 to get their hands back on the trophy.
They lost last year’s match 3-2.
‘After last year’s result we were obviously quite nervous and we didn’t know what to expect from Jersey,’ said Guernsey captain Julie Elmy.
‘We just attacked and they didn’t. We just put pressure on them from the start.
‘Ann Saunders had a particularly good game for us, as did Andi Pettitt and the rest did what they had to do. It was a good team performance.’
* The 2008 inter-insulars were presided over by Pete Parsons, a nationally qualified referee who travelled from the UK for the event.
Parsons currently plays in National Division Three as well as officiating in National Division One and for European competitions.
Parsons was impressed with the level of volleyball exhibited in the four matches and considers that each match would not have been out of place at various stages of the national division structure.
‘I would estimate that the B team matches would fit in at National Division Three level and the ladies’ A squads would hold their own at mid-table National Division Two.’
As for the men, Parsons estimates that the teams would fit into the upper half of National Two, adding that the current Jersey squad ‘would also give a couple of the National Division One teams a run for their money’.
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