This Sunday will see 8 teams vying for a place in the showpiece end of season event, the Scottish Cup Finals. The Centre for Sport and Exercise at Edinburgh University is the spectacular venue for the first showcase event in April.
The Men’s Semi Finals start at 10am with Glasgow Mets taking on Edinburgh Jets. Some big hitters will be taking to the court in the form of Mets’s Sean Hendry, Ryan Macleod and Vincent Lyle while Jets will combat that with their own Paul Glissov, Pawel Dylon and Marcin Krakwoski. The tactical battle will commence with setters Alan Krawczyk and Martyn Johnstone trying to get their teams functioning very early in the match. The last match was a great contest between the teams and this is sure to kick off the day.
National League champions City of Edinburgh will take to the court at 12pm against their rivals Kilmarnock Blaze. City took the honours in their most recent match but Kilmarnock ousted their capital opponents in the Top Teams Cup Final in December. Coach Barry McGuigan will ensure his team are focussed on their responsibilities while Kilmarnock’s coach Martin McMullen will be plotting their revenge. Captain Niall Collin will look to take the game to Killie while his diagonal counterpart Callum Green will be ensuring he tips the balance in the West Coast team’s favour.
The Women’s Semi Finals begin with the top 2 teams in country going head to head for the 2nd time in 2 weeks. Champions City of Edinburgh will face off against Troon Team Ayrshire. City have already won both the trophies on offer this season up until now but Troon will feel they have the opportunity to put right their 3 defeats to their rivals on Sunday. Setter Elaine Krawczyk will plot City’s downfall but will be combated by Edinburgh’s own Natalie Durkaca. Spikers Lynsey Bunten and Claire Ramage will look to exploit any holes in the Edinburgh armour but will come up against strong players in Mel Coutts and captain Jen Thom on the opposite side of the net.
The last match of the day is sure to be a cracker. NLVC and Edinburgh Jets have both won 1 match apiece against each other. Captain Aileen Hall will lead her team onto court and hopefully into their first Scottish Cup Final. She will be well accompanied by Lindsay Coburn, Kim McLaren and Caitlin McEwan. Jets have had an up and down season but will feel they are coming on to a game at the right time of the season. Captain Kalina Kasprzyk will lead her troops in their attempt to make the end of season finale. She will be ably supported by Barbara Terlouw, Nore Stolte and Dominika Stepien.
All 4 matches have the potential to be crackers, so why not get yourself along to the Pleasance for a fantastic day of volleyball.
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