British squad still searching for victory

The best ranking Great Britain’s women can hope for from their Paralympic sitting volleyball debut is seventh, after a 3-0 defeat to Brazil in the classification game at a baking hot ExCeL.

The home side, who were only brought together as a team after London’s successful bid to stage the 2012 Games and who qualified as host nation, have yet to win a set after four matches.

GB stayed with Brazil for much of the first set but were increasingly forced into errors to lose 25-19.

As the hosts struggled with their serve, the Brazilians put them onto the defensive, winning the next two 25-10 and 25-7.

Captain Claire Harvey, of London, said: “When you play at the home arena in front of all the supporters you will always want to win.

“Our journey has just begun and we are gaining a lot of experience from here. We are still fresh and have a lot to learn.”

Teammate Amy Brierly added: “It was very tough. The first set was really good and we traded points with them and it was really close but in the second and third sets they served us off the court.

“Brazil are more experienced than us, as are all the teams in the competition.

“We have only been playing for two and a half years old and some teams have 12 years’ experience. We are getting bags of experience here and this is a stepping stone for us for the future.”

Great Britain’s final chance will come against either Japan (who have already beaten them) or Slovenia tomorrow (Thursday).

Veteran Andrea Green added: “We will regroup, go out there on Thursday, have another go and do our best.”