The newly established East Central Scotland Regional Volleyball League saw 
Linlithgow from the Edinburgh and Lothian District League host Kinross from the Perth District League at Linlithgow Academy on Wednesday evening.
Linlithgow in their Black and Gold “Hornets” uniforms lined up against Kinross, airing, for the first time, the national team strip they had recently won in the SVA raffle.
Linlithgow opened well with play from both sides being rather scrappy as they failed to settle into any real rhythm. Despite this the first set was probably the most exciting in terms of scoring as the scoreline crept up to twenty points each. Both sides held set point on a number of occasions only to see their advantage slip away. It was the Kinross side who eventually triumphed with a score of 30-28.
The second set saw Kinross change their line-up with young Jackson Brown and the experienced John Cameron coming on for veteran Dave Munro and Jamie Booth respectively. The Kinross side settled into a better rhythm and despite a number of unforced errors took the second set 25-18.
For the start of the third set Kinross again made a number of changes with Andrew Hutchison coming on as setter, replacing Craig Scott, Roy Munro swapping with John Cameron and Craig Donaldson swapping with Jackson Brown. Kinross blew an early lead and some nervous play allowed the host team to make a comeback and with momentum on their side, Linlithgow edged the set 25-21.
The fourth set saw Kinross return to their original first set line-up and this time round they started to dominate play with Dave Munro on serve, scoring ten consecutive points, with back up from the other Kinross team members
winning the ensuing rallies. Being well in control, Kinross made a number of substitutions and it was no surprise that they ran out comfortable winners by 25 points to 13 to record their first victory in this new league set up. Kinross team captain, Ger Kirk, was pleased with the Kinross performance overall, despite their slow start to the game giving his seal of approval for the new regional league.
The Kinross side play away to Beacon of Aberdeen this coming Saturday in the SVA Plate competition and have Perth District League games on Sunday evening before their next home fixture in the Regional League against Colin McGinley’s Team Fife.
David Munro
secretary
Kinross Volleyball Club
