Thursday, March 15, 2012

'Oxford rulz'! Double win for Ladies 1

On Sunday 4th March Oxford Ladies 1 played at home against Maidenhead and Farnborough. The first game was of course the 2 visiting teams and we were a bit surprised to see Maidenhead take the first set. Farnborough looked more comfortable in the second set but defended a couple of match points before they were able to win it 28:26. They were back on form in the third set, which they won convincingly but the game confirmed what we already knew – our games wouldn't be easy.

Our first game was against Maidenhead who started with strong serving so we started off with 4 points behind. We caught up slowly and really found our game in the second half and managed to take the set 25:18. The second set started much better and we displayed a very consistent performance, winning 25:16. MVP was Magda.

Next up was Farnborough, the only team to take a set off us this season - second in the league, they had only lost to us so far. The set started with neither team managing to break away, almost taking turns to lead by one or two points at the most. Coach Jon took a time out at this point, making sure we knew we had to work harder in order to beat this team. So we did! The blocking by Kerstin and Magda in particular made a huge difference to our defence and brought a newfound confidence to the team. We won the set convincingly 25:19. The second set turned out to be a little harder again and Farnborough managed to get a 2 point lead at 20:18, however another time out gave us the confidence to pull ahead again. Karina deserves a special mention at this point: a perfect tip, excellent net coverage and a fantastic backcourt hit that landed very close to the the opposition's three–metre line. We took the set 25:23 and the game in two sets – excellent result. MVP was Maïté.

A special thank you to our supporters who not only brought along an internationally inspired 'Oxford rulz' banner but also provided some excellent vocal support. Thank you Neil + 1, Andrey, Simon and Dan!
(Game summary posted by Annika Voss)

1 comment: