Men 1st Team

 

Coach: Colin Paterson (colinshelly@hotmail.com)
Captain: Karol Buda (ksb8@st-andrews.ac.uk)
Practice times:

- Monday: 8:30 - 10:30pm

- Friday: 7 - 8:45pm
Strength & Conditioning:

- Tuesday: 8 - 9pm

- Thursday 9 - 10pm
League: BUCS Scottish 2A, Scottish League, SSS Cup

 

 

 

 

 

Our Men’s team, under the supervision of Colin Paterson, represents the Club in the BUCS S1 pool, the Scottish league, as well as the annual Scottish Student Sport Cup. In the current absence of a Men’s 2nds team, the 1st team endeavours to take on players with great potential to encourage them to develop their skills and to aim to both prepare them for the 1st team and to work towards the creation of a 2nd team in a close future. 

 

2015/2016 Season Review

By Bruno Mantovani (Men's Captain 2015/2016)

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We began the year fresh with a lot of new faces after many leavers the year before, including some that entered the starting lineup right away. The team had a lot of potential, but most of it was unrealised, and the year consisted of a lot of player development. Having a fairly new team did us no favours in our league, and most of our games did not go our favour. However the team at the end of the year, often playing shorthanded due to injuries or leavers, still showed much promise for the next couple of years. However with most veteran players leaving, the team is set to have yet another tough player development year, but is likely to be very successful the year after.

 

2014/2015 Season Review

By King Chung (Men's Captain 2014/2015)

 

The 2014-2015 season was not one of the best seasons for the men team. We lost our former captains: C. Moir and C. Stewart; former president K. Dibb, and other graduated players, the team was reduced to half of its original size. However, we had the most successful try-out session in the men’s team history during September. There were more than 30 talented new players turned up and we had to have 3 rounds of try-out until the coach and the captain finally made their decision. The new squad was a 50:50 mixture of new players and returning players.

 

After a month of practice, the Saints took on RGU at home. Both teams exhibited high level of volleyball and put out an exciting match. The Saints managed to seal the game with 3-2, a thriller 5-sets game. The week after, the Saints faced their Tay-side rivalry: University of Dundee and lost in a 5 sets game 2-3. Given that the team was not in full squad due to the Raisin Weekend, the lost was understandable. Aiming to stay at the top three of the league table, the Saints gained back their momentum in the match against Edinburgh 2nd and had a triumphant win 3-1. In early November, the Saints travelled down to Glasgow to take on the undefeated team: University of Glasgow. The match was breath-taking and both sides showed that they were fighting hard and not willing to give up any ground. Both teams won the sets alternatively and brought the game into the 5th set. Glasgow had a better start and kept the lead from the start. The Saints failed to catch up and played the game in their own pace and lost the 5th set with 9-15.

The Saints were eager to stay at the top three spot in BUCS table and won the following two matches against Aberdeen, which was the second of the league, and took revenge against Dundee with 3-0. The last match before Christmas was a sloppy loss for Saints against the Edinburgh 2nd since most players were busy preparing exams and lacked of training. The Saints was sitting at the second of the league table with 4W 3L.  During Christmas, the Saints had to farewell their starting setter: F. della Sala and starting libero: F. Laporte. It was a huge hit to the team, which it didn't manage to compensate for during the second half of the season and unfortunately lost the last 3 games of the season, ending up forth in the league.

 

This year was a “seedling” stage of the team. We have recruited a few talented and potential new players who are going to take up important roles in the team later on. Therefore, ending up at the 4th spot was a satisfying result.  Given that the team will not lose a lot of experienced players like this year, it is optimistic to say that the team will have a better season in the coming September.

 

 

2013/2014 Season Review
By Matt Shaw (Men’s Captain 2013/14)

The 2013-14 season for the men’s team was one of the most successful in all competitions. A top three finish in BUCS and a cup final appearance were just a few of the highlights. With very few losses over the summer in terms of players, the team was able to keep a strong core of players while including strong additions to the squad. These included returning player Callum Moir and Stefano Guidone.
 
Despite a promising win in a friendly against Abertay, the start of the BUCS league was poor. Losing the first 3 games of the season, in 3 sets against Edinburgh 1sts and Strathclyde, and in 5 sets against Glasgow, the Saints needed a win or risked slipping into a relegation battle. That win came in the midweek fixture away to Aberdeen. In a five-set epic, the team fought hard to overcome their opponents and gave the whole team a boost of confidence going into the weekend game. The Saints followed the midweek victory up with a win against Edinburgh’s 2nds in three closely contested sets. Sandwiched in between these two games was the team’s first Scottish Cup match of the season. However, the boys couldn’t make it three wins in a row and lost out to Strathclyde before returning to winning ways against Glasgow. The Saints finished semester one with a loss to Edinburgh 1sts. After the Christmas break the team still had two league fixtures to play – Aberdeen and Edinburgh 2nds. Both of which the Saints won 3-1 to secure their first ever top 3 finish. This meant they would be playing in the BUCS Championships. Unfortunately, the Saints were drawn against Northumbria and were unable to avoid defeat against the scholarship team that ended up defending their last year’s title.
 
After last year’s success in the Scottish Cup, the team were hoping to make it to the knockout round again, but unfortunately they could not and dropped down to the Scottish Plate competition where they were given a bye to the quarter finals. The team to beat in the quarter finals was Volero, who had won the previous tie earlier in the Scottish Cup. The Saints were able to come out on top though this time and set up a semi-final tie with City of Edinburgh 2. The Saints were incapable of getting through though with the game coming after the two-week break, the team was lacking some match sharpness compared to the opposition.
 
However, with the Scottish Student Sports Cup the men did reach a cup final this year though an impressive performance. The one day tournament held at Napier University involved all the top teams of the Scottish Divisions. It was a long day for everyone but the men fought hard and ultimately came up short against a very good Edinburgh team. One of the highlights of the day was the game against Strathclyde which got the honour of being the longest game of the day, with the Saints losing out 38-36.
 
With the team blessed with not losing many players last year, the opposite can be said about next year when almost half of the squad will be leaving. However, with a changing league there is optimism that next year can be an even greater success. So the Saints look forward to the future and the latest crop of players to arrive in September.