WARRINGTON Wolves men's National League volleyball team host games against sides at the opposite end of the spectrum on Sunday.

They will face bottom-of-the-table Manchester Marvels at noon and then second-placed unbeaten Darlington at 4pm, both at the Orford Jubilee Hub and spectators are welcome.

Fourth-placed Wolves return home from three away trips, the latest following the trend of winning the opening match – on this occasion against Nottingham Rockets – and then losing the second, this time against hosts Blyth Valley.

Sets were won 25-19, 25-19 and 25-13 as Rockets were shot down.

Wolves won the first and third sets against Blythe, fatigue crept in and the hosts levelled the match to force a deciding set which they won 15-8.

Again the squad was depleted with two key attackers, Martin Mierzwa and Izwirashe Wazara, along with playmaker setter Mathew Igius either injured or not available.

Returning from injury, setter Chrosphero Caballero was asked to cover while seriously short of match practice.

Coach Pete Guernari also made a tactical switch, moving back court specialist Alex Brown into the setter position to give the squad options.

This left the 'service receive' responsibilities to Oskar Waga and Fulons Solbakken.

Starting with Brown as setter, Wolves opened well and raced to a 10-4 lead, with some strong servicing.

Wolves were able to give the whole squad court time during the first set being won 25-19 in just 19 minutes.

Caballero started setting for the team in the second set.

With Wolves relaxing and Rockets improving the second set was much more even.

Brown replaced Caballero when 17-16 down as Wolves stepped up their game enough to win the second set 25-19 in 23 minutes.

Wolves, after a few changes in the third set, continued their dominance to seal the match 25-13.

Against Blyth, Wolves started complacently which allowed the hosts to build an early 13-10 lead without really extending themselves.

Captain Phil Knowles then produced a lethal run of seven straight points with deadly accurate floating serves to spark a 25-19 win in the first set.

Wolves' game became very inconsistent, making several unforced errors as the second set was lost 25-12.

The third set was to be the most exciting of the day's play.

While not the best quality volleyball, both teams fought nip and tuck matching point for point with nothing more than two points separating both teams.

Blyth got to set point at 24-21. Waga then served four successes to get within set point at 25-24, with either team needing two clear points to win the set.

Blyth wrestled two points from Wolves to lead 26-25 before Mariuz served three points supported by the whole squad to win the third set 28-26.

Blyth then came back at Wolves with renewed vigour.

They captured an early lead with some varied attack and as in the two previous away days Wolves began to look tired.

Fight as they could, more and more unforced errors crept into their games enabling Blyth to win the fourth set 25-19 in just 19 minutes to set up a fifth set decider.

Early exchanges on the fifth set were close but Wolves could not maintain their effort and were edged out 15-8.

Guernari said that the players need to be fitter to compensate for reduced squad numbers and to cope with the demands of two matches in a day.