VOLLEYBALL: Richmond men have sealed promotion to Surrey Division One for the first time after beating fourth-placed Wimbledon 3-0 at Kingston Arena.

Skipper Valerio Bardi said: “The team was brilliant and we dominated from start to finish.

Last year, Wimbledon stopped us from gaining promotion so it was good to come out on top and win the league.”

Richmond, who have won 10 out of 11 matches, have one game left against third-placed Guildford.

Richmond’s coach David Rijvers said: “I am delighted for the team and club, the players had a very good season with lots of drive and .

“ However, there is still more to come from all the players especially our junior players (E.Bardi and D.Mukov) who made a good contribution to the game.

“The team gave a lot to training this season which has paid off with some great performances but next season the challenge will prove much harder in Surrey’s top division.

“We will continue to provide our elite junior players the opportunity to develop and perform with our regional teams gaining valuable experience and thereby providing the platform with the commitment, discipline and desire to progress into our elite men’s national league team which was recently been promoted to NVL Division One.”

Final Result: Richmond Volleyball [3] v Wimbledon Volleyball [0] Set Results: 25-21; 25-21; 25-22 Richmond's Player of the Match: M.Sokolowski Team: E Bardi, F.Glandy, V.Bardi (cpt), F.Frutto, K.Ramanutam, K.Ashida, K.Panjavi, D.Mukov, M.Sokolowski, A.Kornilov P.Coias M.Linger