Volleyball: Loftus left to ponder plans

NEW Scotland men's volleyball coach Simon Loftus has a measure of how big a task he has after watching his side lose all three matches at the Novotel Cup in Luxembourg.

Loftus knew it would be difficult after only a handful of training sessions with his squad but there was plenty to build on.

The Scots – with City of Edinburgh duo Gavin Watt and Barry McGuigan in their ranks – had chances to beat Latvia after leading 2-1 on sets but too many unforced errors and inconsistent serving cost them the match 3-2.

The team also competed well in their remaining matches against Luxembourg and Austria only to lose both in straight sets.

Scotland's women came close to beating Luxembourg before losing 3-2 but lost heavily to Denmark and Austria.