It’s been another fantastic season in the Sitting Volleyball Grand Prix with 6 teams from across the country competing on a monthly basis. As the season draws to a close we look back at the season and ahead to the final that takes place at the Super 8s finals weekend in Kettering next week.  

The season started back in September when the teams met at the National Volleyball Centre in Kettering. There were strong showings from Portsmouth and Lincoln who finished 3rd and 4th respectively after Portsmouth won the crucial match between the 2 teams, 2-0. Undoubtedly though the best game of the day was between last years runners up East London Lynx and BattleBack. Lynx took the first set 25-19 but BattleBack levelled the game up, winning the second set to 17. In the deciding set, the new look Battle Back team were just too strong and stormed to a 15-4 win and clinch victory in the first competition of the season.  

The second competition of the year took place at Ashcombe in October. The games were closer than in the opening GP, with 4 matches going to 3 sets. Once again, BattleBack came out on top but were pushed hard by Lincoln Imps and East London Lynx who both took a set against the league leaders. Team Loughborough Lions improved from the opening day of the season, recording 2 wins against Canterbury City Wyverns (2-0) and Portsmouth (2-1) to finish 4th on the day. Despite beating Wyverns and taking sets from Lynx and Lions, Portsmouth finished in 5th place. It was a good day for Lincoln who as well as taking BattleBack close, comprehensively beat Loughborough, Portsmouth and Canterbury to finish in 3rd place.

The November competition saw East London Lynx dominate in Kettering, winning all 5 matches, all 10 sets and only dropping 162 points in the day! 50 of the points conceded came against a strong Lincoln Imps team who pushed them to 30-28 in their second set. Imps strong showing continued through the day, beating all other teams to finish in second place and push BattleBack into third. Portsmouth returned to their early season form to comfortably beat Loughborough and Canterbury to finish in 4th place and strengthen their position in an end of season playoff spot.

It may have been a new year by the time the teams reconvened in Kettering in January but East London Lynx continued their strong form and again didn’t drop a set as they won the days competition and moved ahead of BattleBack at the top of the overall leader board as the military team recorded four 2-0 wins on their way to finish second on the day. The competition below the top 2 was more fierce than ever with Canterbury City Wyverns taking their first set of the season against Loughborough Lions. After the 2-1 win, Lions went on to take a set off Portsmouth and beat Lincoln to finish in 4th place. Overall it was another good day for Portsmouth who finished in 3rd place whilst Lincoln struggled and finished in 5th place, recording just one win against Wyverns.

The final grand prix of the season saw just 5 teams compete after Loughborough Lions were forced to withdraw. That meant that whilst the top 4 were confirmed, positions were still up for grabs to see what the pairings were for the Semi-Finals. Lincoln Imps had a tough day but ground out 2-1 wins against Lynx and Portsmouth as well as a 2-0 win over Canterbury City Wyverns to finish in second place on the day and third overall. At the top, Lynx and BattleBack knew that whichever team finished higher were likely to top the league at the end of the season. On the day BattleBack were much stronger and beat their rivals 2-0 to secure 1st place.

These results confirmed the end of season table and set up the fixtures for the final.

The results and Final league positions of the 2013-14 Sitting Volleyball Grand Prix can be found below.

https://www.volleyballengland.org/competitions/sitting_volleyball_grand_prix/results_and_standings

The semi-finals saw BattleBack face Portsmouth and East London Lynx face Lincoln Imps. These games went to form with BattleBack and Lynx both winning 3-0 to set up what will no doubt be a thrilling final.

The final will take place at the National Volleyball Centre, Kettering on Sunday 27th April. The Final will be played before the second round of games at the Super 8s Finals weekend.

To buy tickets for the event click here

Sitting Grand Prix Review and Final Preview

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