SOLENT Volleyball Club's men are on the up and up to the National League Division 2.

Under the guidance of delighted player-coach Matt Cordrey-Gale, the club powered through the Division 3 play-offs in Oxfordshire, beating Preston 3-0 and Tonbridge 3-1.

"The matches were real humdingers with a couple of injuries thrown in for good measure just to add to the suspense," said Cordrey-Gale. "But we've been battling away all season and got just reward for all our hard work."

Solent, runners-up in Division 3 West, were pitted against the second-placed sides in the North and East categories at a former air force base at Upper Heyford.

Both opponents were unknown quantities and it took until the scores were tied at 20-20 in the opener against Preston for Solent to seize the initiative as Simon Trueick served the set out at 25-22.

A 25-19 scoreline followed and, in the third set, the south coast club were able to rest hitter James Kemp for later battles.

Preston proved hard to shake off but were finally snuffed out 25-21 with some great hitting from Nik Hardy and a ground-shaking block from captain Trueick.

Tonbridge also disposed of Preston in straight sets, setting the stage for an intriguing final showdown.

Solent lacked spark in the first set, but gutsily clawed their way through it 25-23.

Cordrey-Gale brought himself on in the second to try to motivate his troops and it paid off as they jumped out to an 8-1 lead. But Tonbridge hit back to 22-22 with some tricky serving and Solent found themselves under further pressure when Tim Nash sustained a knee injury. Despite that set-back, they kept their nerve take the set 25-23.

Neal Pattenden joined the walking wounded in the third set, hampering his mobility, and, from a position where they thought they'd won the match, Solent's celebrations were cut short as Tonbridge hit back 25-23.

Solent needed a monumental effort to seize their promotion prize, but a draining day was starting to show in their play. Pattenden and Nash soldiered on and, with rallies lasting longer and longer, the scores stayed pegged together to 9-9.

Finally the south coasters found the grit and energy to forge ahead and the match-winning moment came when Kemp set to Hardy on a broken play and his delicate roll shot found the floor on the opposition side.

Elated Solent closed the set at 25-22 and can start preparing for higher-grade volleyball next season.