Pipes concedes early start caught him out

The 25-year-old from Hull saw his charges beaten 3-0 by Bulgaria at the ExCel.

Neither the GB men’s or women’s volleyball teams – who are based at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield – are likely to progress out of their pools.

“Personally I couldn’t find my rhythm early on,” he said of the 9.30am start.

“I let the team down in the first set. We started playing our game in the third set. Our reception was good and our blocking was okay.

“But the culture that’s been drilled into Bulgaria in their upbringing keeps them going through to the end.

“We got up at 5am and have done for the last few days. We had a very light training session at 5.20 (yesterday morning), but you could open the door and it could be morning or midnight – we adapted to it.”

The GB men’s team’s second match of five is against Australia tomorrow.

Pipes said: “It’s the nature of the tournament. There’s no time to cry or celebrate – we’ve got to keep going.”

The women’s team – who had their funding cut during the Olympic cycle – continue their campaign against Algeria tonight.

They were beaten in straight sets by Russia on Saturday.

Sheffield-born player Rachel Laybourne said: “We’ll keep challenging. Our next opposition is Algeria and that’s our ‘go for’ match. I guarantee that we’ll be back on the court and firing.

“I really have to give a massive thank you to the crowd. It really felt like a home advantage.”