They may not have the wherewithal to match some of the experienced teams, but the Sports Authority of India lads more than make for that with their never-say-die attitude.

Fancied Controllerate of Inspection Electronics (CIL) found that out the hard way on Tuesday. It was that spirit which helped SAI score a 3-2 win in the Senior State 'A' Division volleyball league at the Lal Bahadur Shastri grounds here.

Apart from the closeness of the match, there was nothing thrilling about the fare the teams dished out. SAI played the big points well, while the formidable CIL paid dearly for lack of consistency. Though they called the shots from the word go despite fielding injured centreblockers Jag-dish and Chandrashekar, CIL lost the plot with the end in sight.

Playing catch-up
On the other hand SAI, playing catch-up for the better part of the match, never gave up hope. In the opening set, when CIL had taken a huge 23-18 lead, they hung in and made the most of their opponents' largesse. SAI first drew level before taking the set on extra points.

Backed by Shanker's solidity and Karthik's fine spiking, CIL took the next two sets without much ado. But just as the floodlights came on midway through the fourth set, the spark in their game suddenly disappeared. Errors crept into their game, and SAI were not complaining.

SAI captain Harish, a luxury on court till then, began to make his presence felt as he found holes in the CIL defence with regularity. With setter Anup marshalling his resources well, SAI took charge in the fourth set and pushed the issue to the decider.

In the final set, SAI took the initiative when Harish came up with a fine block off a Jagdish short-ball attempt. A couple of silly errors did help CIL back into the match, but before much damage could be done, SAI tightened up the loose ends to score their first win in the league.

In another encounter, favourites Karnataka State Police dropped a set before winning 3-1 against South Western Railway, Hubli.

Results: SAI bt CIL 27-25, 22-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-13; Sports Hostel bt Jindal Steel Works 25-20, 27-25, 23-25, 22-25, 15-12; KSP bt South Western Railway, Hubli 25-14, 24-26, 25-17, 26-24.