Oxford Mixed - Final Fixture & Conclusion

Good morning,
This will be the final match report for the mixed team as we played Sunday 22nd the final fixture of the season against Newbury & Newbold College. On arrival, we had the pleasure to discover the "lovely" sports hall of Newbold College: Dark & cold ... (And I also had the pleasure to discover I forgot my volley shoes but it did not cause troubles as my other shoes were good enough...)

1st Game - Newbury Vs. Oxford Mixed

The net was up when we arrived, but the receiving team had not enough players present & Newbury & us had to provide Line Judges. The intial team on court was Annika, Kerstin, Helen, Felipe (setter), Corne & myself. The first set started at our advantage, getting the lead very early and increasing it up to 16-12, but then Newbury caught back, took the league, & even if we took a timeout at 20-18, they finishd the first set ahead 25-19.
For the second set, Simon made his first apparition for us, swapping with Felipe, & Anna joined in, swapping with Helen. This time Newbury took the lead quickly up to 10-6, they then maintained their advance up to 20-14. But at this point a new team spirit built up between us & we reduced the point difference to 21-19. Unfortunately, it was not enough, & Newbury won the second set 25-22.
Kerstin got the MVP again for her very usual reliability & strong hits.

2nd Game - Newbold College Vs. Oxford Mixed

For this game, the initial 6 was Felipe, Annika, Simon, Anna, Helen & myself. The speed of game was very slow but we managed to secure quickly a comfortable advance up to 18-10. We slowed down our play but there was no turning back from Newbold & we won the set 25-20.
For the second set, Annika & myslef were on the bench, replaced by Corne & Kerstin. Again the speed of the game was very slow and we were struggling to establish our usual level. This time no team took a definite advantage: 3-36, 10-8, 12-11, 14-14 ... 23-22. 23-23. 24-24. 25-25... We made the final effort, scored the final 2 points & won the second set 27-25.
Simon got the MVP title this time, being our very strong blocker on his first fixture !

So these 2 games conclude a very nice season with highs & lows, allowing us to finish 4th of the league, with "only" 9 points difference with the Winner of the season - Spikeopaths Mixed 1.

	Team	P	W	L	F	A	Pts
	Spikeopaths Mixed 1	16	14	2	30	7	44
	Maidenhead Mixed	16	13	3	27	11	40
	Newbury Mixed	16	11	5	26	12	37
	Oxford Mixed	16	11	5	24	16	35
	Spikeopaths Mixed 2	16	6	10	19	23	25
	Basingstoke Mixed	16	7	9	16	23	23
	Farnborough Lions	16	5	11	14	25	19
	Spikeopaths Mixed 3	16	2	14	8	28	10
	Newbold Mixed	16	3	13	9	28	10	*

I would like to thank all the people that have helped me & played for Oxford this year, it has always be very nice to play with you. And we will surely have an even better season next year !!