ABERYSTWYTH University Volleyball club’s first outing in their brand-new kit turned out to be a straight sets victory at home to Gloucester.

However, the match was much more hard-fought than the scoreline suggests with the visitors offering stern opposition at times.

This was true of the first set where Gloucester established an early lead 13-7 before a decisive time-out called by the coach after which the Aber setter and hitters took control, leading to a devastating run of serves from number 9 to turn the set around.

The second set held an even more dramatic comeback in store, with Aber 23-17 down at one point, then surviving a controversial line call in their favour at 22-23 to win the set by the smallest of margins.

The final set showcased exciting rallies from both teams, with Aber taking an early lead until Gloucester pegged them back to13-13.

Then another astute time-out galvanised the team into producing a string of strong serves and rallies to give Aber their final winning flourish.

This was an encouraging display from an Aber team still getting used to playing together, and shows great promise for the future.

Aberystwyth University Volleyball Club (AUVC) has men’s and women’s teams in the BUCS Western Tier 2 leagues.

As well as playing universities from Cardiff and Swansea they also travel as far as Bristol, Bournemouth and Gloucester to compete.

AUVC also run an after-school club at Plascrug every Wednesday, supported by Ceredigion Actif.

The sessions are taken by volunteer coaches from AUVC, directed by current Ceredigion Sports Coach of the Year Sylvester Beecroft. The sssions are free of charge and open to school pupils of all ages.

AUVC’s next home match is Wednesday, 3 December, 1pm, at the University Sports Centre.