Qatar SC made life difficult for themselves before posting a 25-22, 25-16, 25-22 win against Al Sadd in their second match of the Qatar Volleyball League at the Al Arabi Sports Club on Saturday.

Lack of understanding at the net coupled with poor lifts saw them land themselves in a spot of bother. Qatar SC’s mistakes made Al Sadd look stronger than they were and the yellows almost lost the first set as a result of their errors. Fortunately, their rivals could not capitalise on the largesse. Qatar SC sharpened their game thereafter and notched up a straight-set victory.

Al Sadd were over-dependent on spikers Wadidie Raimi and Koni Musa. Once they were negated by the rival defence, the whites did not have too many alternatives.

The test for Al Sadd in this match was their defence — how well they could block and keep out Youssef Oughlef and Pape Maguette. The Qatar SC spikers won the battle hands down.

Oughlef was more in the thick of things than Maguette. It was the power which floored the Al Sadd defence, brought upon by a short run-up, the momentum setting him up for a deadly finish. There was not much Al Sadd could do against such force. And at times when they least expected it, Oughlef came up with clever lobs. He was too much to handle for Al Sadd.

There were occasional moments of brilliance from the Al Sadd players, Raimi and Musa responsible for that. Raimi’s smashes, whenever he positioned himself well, staggered Qatar SC. Musa was more about deception. It helped Al Sadd especially in the first set, but with the Qatar SC defence regrouping at the net, they failed to get points at regular intervals.

They were briefly in the spotlight in the third set as well when they helped Al Sadd fight back from a 13-17 deficit to 16-17 and then close in in on their rivals at 21-23. Oughlef and Qatar SC’s Australian recruit Samuel Walker came to their team’s rescue and helped them pull away and set up a 25-22 win.