IT WAS at about the time Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal had come off court in Melbourne on Sunday that the Petroc men's volleyball team went on court at Bideford College to face Cardiff Wildcats.

In North Devon there were no rackets involved, only arms and hands for weapons.

And, unlike in tennis, volleyball allows no second serve. Hit the ball into the net, or too long or wide, and you lose the point.

Furthermore, as gladiatorial and fabulous as the Djokovic-Nadal Australian Open final was, both players frequently had to fall back on their defensive qualities.

Volleyball is played largely from the front of the court with none of the long exchanges that punctuated Djokovic's victory over Nadal. No rallies of 20 shots or more.

So what does a mid-table clash in the South West Men's Volleyball League have in common with the biggest showdown in world sport of the last week?

A five-set marathon in which the winner was the one who had survived another five-setter the match before.

In Melbourne it was Djokovic who overcame Andy Murray in the semi-finals before beating Nadal in the longest Grand Slam tournament final in history, just under six hours.

While Djokovic had two days' rest in between, Cardiff Wildcats had only 20 minutes to refuel after their 22-25, 25-19, 26-24, 23-25, 15-10 triumph over Kernow Truro before lining up against Petroc.

Volleyball may be a team sport with six-a-side on court at any one time while Djokovic and Nadal had to do all the running themselves and their matches lasted three times as long as the volleyball five- setters, but they are full-time professionals.

Petroc and Cardiff are amateurs, most either not yet at their physical peak or past it.

In the case of the Petroc and Academy of Beach Sports team, to give them their full name, that meant one 15-year-old, one 16-year-old, one near to his 40th birthday and one past his 50th in their squad of seven.

How demanding is volleyball? "Few sports on the Olympic programme offer such fast, furious and exhilarating action," the London 2012 Olympics website informs us.

This may not have been Olympic level but, be assured, South West is a highly-charged and demanding standard.

Paradoxically, it was the team you most expected to run out of steam who stayed on the boil the longest.

Cardiff had taken one hour 43 minutes to see off Truro and were almost an hour and a half into their encounter with Petroc when they took it into a fifth set.

Petroc had led twice, taking the first set 25-23, losing the second 18-25, securing the third 25-19, but conceding the fourth 16-25.

"They're knackered, absolutely knackered," Petroc player-coach Mark Jeffery told his men, two boys and a veteran in the short break before the deciding set. "Oh, really?" seemed to be the collective response from Cardiff.

With volleyball fifth sets reduced from first to 25 points to first to 15, Petroc suddenly found themselves 12-1 behind.

A first timeout called by the home team at 8-1 down had not worked, but a second requested four points later made a difference.

It may have been a mission as hopeless as trying to refloat the Titanic but when Petroc got back to within five points, at 13-8, the sporting adage 'nothing is impossible' seemed to be burned on to their chests.

But then Cardiff killed the impossible comeback stone dead by securing the last two points they needed for a 15-9 win in 1hr 40mins.

"They were getting really tired and some of their players were tipping over rather than hitting," said Jeffery, explaining his assessment of Cardiff's condition at the end of the fourth set.

"Players do that, especially mature players, when they know they are getting tired."

The way the league is structured, each team play two matches in one day, with three clubs assembling at one venue.

On Sunday Petroc had played Truro in the opening match, giving them a two-hour break before taking on Cardiff.

Having lost in straight sets – 25-12, 25-21, 25-16 – they began their second match with two-thirds of a tank compared to Cardiff running on near empty.

Jeffery attributed his team's fifth-set demise to a sudden loss of self-belief.

"When we lost a couple of points you could see the heads go down," he said.

"We changed sides at eight points, and had a timeout, and I said to them to enjoy the game because it did not look like we were enjoying it and we picked up again."

The Academy of Beach Sports philosophy is built on the development of young players and the inclusion of Haydn Lawson, 16, and Will Hartnoll, 15, exemplified that.

Hartnoll was captain of the South West Under-15s for two years before moving up to under-16s this season. Lawson appears for Petroc in the libero role.

"The Academy is there to bring on junior players and these are two exceptional ones who have progressed," said Jeffery.

The lessons his team would learn from the Cardiff match were, the coach added, "of greater benefit than winning a three-set match quickly".

Nadal or Murray, you sense, would be unable to take such a philosophical view.

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PHOTO GALLERY: The Petroc and Academy of Beach Sports team