The past two weeks have seen an influx of new players to the club. The standard of training on Wednesday night has been great there's a great vibe. Look forward to the same every week.

This year's season is materialising quickly, dates have been announced, and the first rays of sun have been spotted.
The season kicks off with a Beach Volleyball clinic on the first weekend of May (location TBC), followed by the Grampian Open in Aberdeen the weekend after. So put the dates into your diaries - registration can be done online through the SVA website nearer the time (check www.scottishvolleyball.org/beach for details!)

9 May	Scottish Tour	Grampian Open, Aberdeen
23 May	Student Beach Volleyball Event	Portobello, Edinburgh
5 Jun	West Coast Junior Beach Festival	Troon, Ayrshire
5 Jun	East Coast Junior Beach Festival	Portobello, Edinburgh
12/13 Jun	Scottish Tour	Portobello, Edinburgh
26 Jun	Scottish Tour	Troon, Ayrshire
3/4 Jul	Scottish Tour	St Andrews, Fife
10 Jul	Scottish Tour	Broughty Ferry, Tayside
7 Aug	King & Queen of the Beach (Scottish Tour)	St Andrews, Fife
15 Aug	Scottish Tour	Troon, Ayrshire
21/22 Aug	Scottish Tour	Jets Open, Portobello, Edinburgh

Two exciting 5-set matches took place this Saturday, where Hornets Ladies faced Jets III in the Scottish Plate Qualifiers, and Hornets Men had drawn Lenzie again.
The girls started off consistently, with strong hits through both front court and back court middle by newly acquired talent Karen Grossard, good blocks and hits by Mel Dunsmore, precise setting by Jean Bruce and Shirley Miller, and strong defense by Susanne MacKay. However, Jets were that one step ahead through both of the first two sets, and with 0-2 behind, Hornets still kept their spirits up. For the third set, Sandra Bain came on for routinier Evelyn Halley to hit through 4, and with extremely consistent, hard to counter serves, and clever hits and tips, Hornets came back to a 2-2 after the fourth set. The tie-break was closely fought, but in the end, Jets' experience allowed them to take the few points needed to win the set, and the match.
The men's team faced Lenzie again after having beat them in the first round of the Scottish Cup. Missing two of their outside hitters, the team had to reshuffle, and recruit retiree Pete Carruthers to set, while customary setter Rodger Baillie transferred to outside hitter. Yet, after some initial insecurities the team perked up and took the first set with a comfortable 25-16. Lenzie gathered their wits in the second set, but in an effort of will, injured middle hitter Andy Ponton gritted his teeth and with encouragement all around, strong back court defense by Kenneth MacKenzie and and unconventional football tricks by Mark O'Hagan, the team won the third set, and set out to sail the ship home in the fourth. However, Lenzie were not to be that easily discouraged and came back strong with a 25-17 win of the fourth set, which took the second match of the day into yet another tie-break. Finally, with points going back and fourth, middle hitter Martin Beaton used a perfect set by Pete Carruthers and spiked the ball down to a 15-13 win of set and match.

Comments by the coach:

Big Pete Carruthers, to come in at short notice (8:45pm the night before), pull out a blistering game, even make me look good through 4 is no mean feat!.

After last year's horror stories detailing thunderstorms, hail, snow (?), flash floods (?) and the like, this year's Bridlington contingent was adamant to take matters into their own hands and defy the weather gods' potentially devious plans... And succeed they did - neglecting a couple of minutes of light drizzle, the weekend was sparkling sunshine start to finish!
After a successful first day, with all games won, the second day was oversheadowed by Martin's rebellious (boycotting!) back during the warm-up phase. We were lucky to find a willing substitute and carried the first game to a convincing win. Games 2 and 3 were lost tightly but meant the end of the tournament, which - all in all - was another demonstration of how much progress has been made over the past year or so.

The beach volleyball tour has started and the season is in full swing.
After a warm-up in Troon two weeks ago, where we came second, the team headed to Edinburgh's Portobello beach for the third leg of the Scottish Tour. While the weather forecast didn't look very promising, most of the day was actually quite sunny, with little wind. After a rocky start in the first match against International Jets, the final result of which will be sent off into oblivion, we quickly gathered our wits and won the second match against "normal" Jets in two straight sets. Noon time saw a famous middle hitter wander off, so that we were left with three players, but Jean's charm and Rodger's impressive hits wide out into the crystal clear Forth waters convinced a stray Perth player to join our ranks. The second round of the qualifiers were straight wins against both International and "normal" Jets, and the point count pushed us into second place for the semifinal against an Edinburgh teachers team (or so rumour has it). The semifinal match clearly demonstrated that we had adjusted to sand conditions, with nice long ralleys, lots of scrambling, and the full range of blocks, digs and hits, and so we faced International Jets once more in the final. The closely fought match left us a set behind, when tiredness kicked in, but we recruited all residual strength we could find (Red Bull had run out by that point...) and we came back, winning the second set. The tie break was even closer, with both teams alternating one point leads, and it was Rodger's spike coming off Jean's set that won us the set at 21:19 along with pineapples and medals.
The Team:  
Jean Bruce
Nina Bauer
Rodger Baillie
Martin Beaton (subbed at noon by Jamie Salvin, Perth)

Yesterday saw the first "international" mixed tournament at Linlithgow. Five teams competed in what was initially known as a preparation for the highly anticipated Scottish Open at Perth this weekend, but which quickly became a fiercely fought battle for pride and honour. The three Hornets teams (Men, Mixed, and Teachers-Polonia) faced strong competition from "The Germans" (Lok-Ach-Met, visiting team from Oldenburg, Germany) and a delegation from the Jets, but they endured, and the final turned into what will, henceforth, be known as the "Battle of the Giants" between the Men and Teachers-Polonia:
After a strong start from Teachers-Polonia, Men gathered their wits and took a 12 point lead. In an effort of will, T-P managed to catch up, but time was running out for them, and they finally succumbed to the overpowering spikes, scrambles and tricks of the Men's Team. The "little final" was fought out between Jets and The Germans, with the foreign visitors ultimately paying tribute to their long day of travel.

Final Results:
1. Hornets Men
2. Teachers-Polonia
3. Jets
4. Lok-Ach-Met (aka The Germans)
5. Hornets Jets

The West Lothian Courier has dedicated a full page spread to the Hornets. This article should raise our profile in the area, and get the message out to potential new players, old and young, beginners and professionals alike.

Click below to view the full article.