ALCESTER'S new ladies side made a dream debut in Division Two of the West Midlands League on Friday, beating Rugby 25-23.

Under the watchful eye of new coach Rodney Barbour, Alcester opened up an early lead with captain Candice Strangwood impressive while the back line of Liz Zilkova, Jeanette Selby and Tori Rushton were comfortable in defence.

The first set was won 25-11 only for the visitors to lift their game and Selby needed to block an increasing number of attacks before Alexis Nicholls delivered some point scoring hits to wrap up the second 25-19.

The third and final set saw Alcester matched point for point by a determined Rugby who again tested the Alcester defence.

With pressure rising and cracks starting to appear, Barbour called a time out to enable Alcester to re-gain composure.

More solid serving from Strangwood and consistent setting from Lucia Aradyova produced some real battles at the net for Nicholls having to strike the ball with each arm to steal the point. Alcester managed to creep into the lead for Rushton to effect the final blow with a tactical flip over Rugby's blockers to steal the set 25-23.

Alcester travel to Tettenhall for their next match on October 4.

Anyone interested in taking up the sport should contact Justin Kerridge on 07970 518953 or Tori Rushton 07862 733642.