Mayo volleyballer helps Ireland win bronze medal

An incredible comeback won Ireland its first international medal in 22 years. Knock volleyballer Arron Hughes was part of a team that fought back from being 0-2 down in sets against Northern Ireland to claim the bronze medal at the 5 Nations tournament in Kettering, England.

“I’m still in shock just how much effort every single lad that played displayed on course. It was just immense,” Hughes told The Mayo News yesterday (Monday).

“Our heads had dropped a small bit after the first two sets. But come that third set, it was do or die. And we surely put it to them. And we got the heads back up. Everyone stayed focused. Everyone was working hard. We took the third set, which put it to a fourth set then. And even at that still, we were on the verge of loss. Like, if Northern Ireland had won that set, then they’d still have won the game. But our boys brought the energy from that third set into the fourth.”

The 23-year-old, who has lined out with the Kilimagh/Knock United soccer team in the past, said this win has been several years in the making.

“We’re really seeing the fruit of all our hard work. I got involved with the local club here, Mayo Volleyball Club. We’re based in Barnacarroll, outside Knock. I’d be training about five days a week for about two hours a day with the club. So that is fairly intensive as it is. And then with the national team, we would train the first weekend of every month.

Hughes enjoys the time on the volleyball court. For all the time he invests in the sport, he still describes himself as an amateur athlete.

“We don’t get any sort of reward except just the pride of putting on the jersey of the national team. I’m happy with that,” said Hughes.

“I absolutely love the feeling that I get every time I step on the court and I have the tricolour on my chest. It’s not a privilege that everyone gets.”

There will be plenty of opportunities for this Mayo man to represent his country. Next up will be a tournament on St Patrick’s Day and an international competition later in the year.

“That’s our main focus for the year,” he said, “is to go out and really perform and do our best to take home a medal there as well.”