England defeats Mexico by 3-1 in London Volleyball Invitational fixture
The London Volleyball Invitational tournament, currently being held at Earls Court in London, saw England up against Mexico. It took the Brits four sets, 3-1, to hand out defeat to their rivals in an event that is acting as testing grounds for the volleyball
section of the Olympic Games. By the time that Earls Court is ready for the Olympics, it will support a total of 15,000 spectators within its walls.
Egypt and Brazil were the first to get on the courts after which the British and Mexican teams went head to head. After the win, Dan Hunter, the libero on the English squad made the following comments regarding the invitational tournament: "It's pretty incredible,
I'm really excited. There are only 500 seats in there now so it looks a bit silly at the moment, but you can tell there venue is going to be huge come the Olympics. They have done the locker rooms and change rooms just for us. We have decided as a team to
try and take every opportunity. Over the week we are playing the first, third, fifth, 14th and 21st-ranked teams in the world, so it is a pretty big tournament."
If one is to look at the world rankings, the win that the English team managed to pull off would seem a very unlikely outcome. Mexico is ranked 21st in the world as opposed to the English side, who is still in its fledgling stages and placed at
the 94th position.
However, after the clash with the Mexicans, the English squad proved their worth and competitive potential. The first set of the match was not a tough job for the English side that remained strong all through with the cheers of about 500 fans urging them
on. After losing the opening set of the match, the Mexicans found their stride in the second set but fell short from making a win. However, the loss of the first two sets jump started the Mexicans as they grabbed the third set. Unfortunately for the Mexican
squad, that was the only win they say all day as the fourth set was bagged by the English. England won the match at the following final set scores: 25-15, 25-20, 21-25 and 25-23.
The English side will take on Serbia next and it remains to be seen whether England can rise to the occasion once again or not.
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