Author: Martin Rees

Following last year’s historic inaugural win, Richmond Volleyball has successfully defended its title at the UKBT Club Championship!

Facing fierce competition and brutal weather conditions at Sandbanks Beach on June 6th–7th, our incredible squad battled through to be crowned Overall Champions for the second year in a row!

From absolute dominance in the juniors to gritty performances in the championship and trophy divisions, every single player contributed to this historic victory. Here is how the weekend unfolded:

U18 Division

Our Under 18s girls and boys put on a masterclass, completely locking out the podiums to win Gold, Silver, and Bronze in both genders!

U18 Girls: A Clean Sweep

• Gold – Richmond #1: Robyn Clifford, Tilly Hutton, Lola Bryant, and Gigi Filiali.
• Silver – Richmond #2: Mikeighla Cabrejas, Erica Soledad, Reika Hashimoto, and Lili Coen.
• Bronze – Richmond #3: Erika Hashimoto, Julia Simonetta, Mariana Conceicao, and Isobel Towler.

The Finals & Bronze Games: Richmond #1’s team A (Robyn & Tilly) edged out Richmond #2 team A (Mikeighla & Erica) in a tight 3-setter (21:16, 19:21, 15:8), before Lola & Gigi secured the title with a straight-sets win (21:11, 21:13). Meanwhile, Richmond #3 took Bronze the hard way against a strong Cardiff side. After a narrow loss by Erika & Julia, Mariana & Issy levelled the tie. In a dramatic Golden Set, Erika & Julia got their revenge, winning 15:13 to seal the bronze!

U18 Boys: Podium Lockdown

• Gold – Richmond #1: Rease Jarmon, Albert Ruddick, Monty Easton, and Seb McBirnie.
• Silver – Richmond #3: Aleks Donchenko, Ivan Gospodinov, Dennis Taylor, and Kit Brooks.
• Bronze – Richmond #2: Ollie Harrison, Ryan Wartnaby, Max Anley, and Patrick Olivier.

The Finals & Bronze Games: The Gold final was an all-Richmond battle. Both matches went to 3 sets, with Rease & Albert defeating Aleks & Ivan (21:17, 15:21, 15:8), and Monty & Seb narrowly overcoming Dennis & Kit (14:21, 21:18, 15:14). The Bronze medal was decided by another heart-stopping Golden Set against Deep Dish Bournemouth. After Ollie & Ryan won their match and Max & Patrick narrowly lost a 3-setter, Ollie & Ryan stepped up to win the Golden Set 15:12!

Championship Division

Men’s Championship: Bronze Medallists!

The Men’s squad of Peter Soczewka / Harry Jones and Andrea Maggio / Piero Müller put on a stellar performance to secure Bronze against SideOut Leyton.

• Peter & Harry battled to a 3-set victory over Ymeraj/Cohan (19:21, 21:16, 15:18).
• Andrea & Piero closed the deal in style, winning in straight sets against Dobra/Stiller (21:14, 21:16).

Women’s Championship: Top 5 Finish

Braving terrible weather in the pool stages, Martha Bullen / Patricija Fila and Cleo Jongedijk / Lucy Knott faced a tough Quarterfinal against Fireball/Hybrid London, just missing out in a Golden Set (15:11). But they bounced back to defeat Fireball Southwest, finishing 5th overall and securing vital club points.

Vital Points from the Trophy Divisions

With every single placing counting towards our overall club victory, our Trophy Division teams braved terrible Day 1 weather and strong opposition to bring home crucial points:

• Men’s Trophy: Yoan Kuzmanov & Reuben Fernandes – 5th Place
• Women’s Trophy: Chiara Di Cosola & Nina Erminio – 19th Place
• Mixed Trophy:
  • Leah Blight & Ben Osborne – 5th Place
  • Reuben Fernandes & Anastasiya Zadoika – 9th Place
  • Yoan Kuzmanov & Chiara Di Cosola – 17th Place
  • Izzy Harrison & Richard Harrison – 27th Place

Final Ranking:

❤️ Thank You, Richmond Family!

Huge congratulations and thank you to all the players, coaches, parents, and volunteers who travelled down, braved the weather, and cheered our teams to victory.

We’re looking to celebrate this amazing success and to present the trophy at a special event later this summer!

We are so proud of our amazing success at this year’s UKBT Club Championships that was held at Sandbanks beach on the weekend of 7th/8th June. We’ve only gone and won it!

Well done to all the players, coaches and volunteers involved – everyone contributed to this fantastic success.

Particular highlights were the dominant performances in the U18 women’s division, with the final being played between two Richmond teams, and Richmond’s Championship team performances, especially with the women winning the Championship Division.

The Richmond Women’s Championship division Team of Katie Keefe / Martha Bullen and Patrīcija Fiļa / Anna Kurek showed a dominant performance throughout the tournament, but faced tough opposition in the final against Fireball South West. The final was decided by a golden set where Keefe/Bullen came out on top over Fireball’s Tussis/Berstautaite to win 15-13 and take the gold medals for Richmond.

Another big contribution to the overall victory was the U18’s women’s division which was dominated by Richmond teams. The final was between the Richmond squads Charlotte Anderton & Jennifer Rates / Sno Dixon & Fien Verheyden versus Olivia Cross & Robyn Clifford / Reika Hashimoto & Lili Coen, with Anderton/Rates/Dixon/Verheyden just coming out on top to win the gold medals.

The Men’s Championship division Team of Lewis Bunton / Stuart Perry and George Ruddick / Tom Lycett also showed a great performance by winning all their matches in the pool stage, but faced a tough Quarterfinal against St Andrews Beach Volleyball Club and lost against them in the golden set. However Richmond Men’s matched last years result and finished a very respectable 7th.

Another notable contribution was made by the pair of Sami Moodie / Maksim Stepanov who just missed out on winning the gold in the Mixed Trophy Division against Carreos / Hargrave from Deep Dish Bournemouth, but won another amazing silver medal for Richmond.

Richmond won another medal and more points in the Men’s Trophy Division with a brilliant performance by Tom Taschowsky / Roman Girkiy who finished third.

There were no medals for Richmond in the Women’s Trophy Division, but in a strong field of teams we had very good performances and points contributions from Sami Moodie / Sabina Marvulli finishing 5th and Cleo Jongedijk / Elisa Jarmon finishing 9th.

In the U18 Boys divisions the Richmond squad of Lucas Voss & Leo Alcoe / Alex Cox & Monty Easton struggled with injuries but still contributed very valuable points by coming 4th.

Photo by @jwakelinvisuals