THE Wessex men’s volleyball team bounced back from an agonising defeat to Richmond to beat Hounslow in a double match weekend.

On Saturday, the side took on the unbeaten Richmond Bucks and, despite outscoring them over the entire match, they fell to a gutting three sets to two defeat.

But on Sunday, they bounced immediately back, beating Hounslow three sets to one.

Against Richmond, Wessex opened the match in dominant form, taking the first set 25-15, before Richmond took the second 25-19.

The next two sets followed a similar pattern as neither side got on top for more than one set at a time.

(Image: Wessex Volleyball) Wessex took the third set, winning 25-15 once again, before missed serves at key times enabled Richmond to take the fourth 26-22.

The fifth set, usually a firs to 15 points affair, was long and tense, with both teams seeing the lead at different times.

But Wessex were unable to stop the Richmond outside hitters scoring key points and suffered a 19-17 loss to lose the match 3-2.

The following day provided the perfect opportunity for them to bounce back in the National League, taking on Hounslow, a more experienced but less skilful and athletic side than Richmond.

Coach Matt Hunter gave debuts to Oskar Riches and Felix Summers, Wessex’s new England Cadets international.

Wessex dominated the first set, despite a shaky start, going on to take it 25-17, but Hounslow came back into it in the second, with inconsistent serving from Wessex allowing them to take it 25-23.

But the more experience Seb Smith and Marcos Perez Martin came into the game in the third and made an impact as Wessex resumed their dominance to win the next two 25-14 and 25-17 respectively.

American Michael Wahl proved once again that he is one of the best setters in the league, with Bermudan Josh Malpas demonstrating his passing and pick ups in the back court.

The two results see Wessex take second in their division, just behind Richmond.