Vollox played their first home fixture of the season on Sunday 9 November, bringing their record for 2014/15 to Played: 4, Won: 4!
Vollox vs Newbold
Newbold have been a tricky team in the past, so Vollox approached the game with caution. We benefitted from officiating the first game of the triangular (giving us a chance to observe our opponents and work out a strategy), but Farnborough beat Newbold so quickly that there was barely time to take it in!
We were missing a middle, so Martijn stepped in to fill the void for the first game, and he lined up alongside our regulars: Jon, Adam, Rune, Gabri, Leonard, Gareth (starting on the bench). The first set was not pretty, and what seemed like a fairly comfortable game was only won by 2 points in the end, 25-23 in Oxford's favour.
A sense of complacency and a lack of desire were to blame according to coach Martijn. A bit of squad rotation saw Gareth come on for Leonard in the outside position, and the team performed slightly better in the second set. We established a small lead early on and built on it to see out the set relatively comfortably - 25-19.
Vollox vs Newbold
Newbold have been a tricky team in the past, so Vollox approached the game with caution. We benefitted from officiating the first game of the triangular (giving us a chance to observe our opponents and work out a strategy), but Farnborough beat Newbold so quickly that there was barely time to take it in!
We were missing a middle, so Martijn stepped in to fill the void for the first game, and he lined up alongside our regulars: Jon, Adam, Rune, Gabri, Leonard, Gareth (starting on the bench). The first set was not pretty, and what seemed like a fairly comfortable game was only won by 2 points in the end, 25-23 in Oxford's favour.
A sense of complacency and a lack of desire were to blame according to coach Martijn. A bit of squad rotation saw Gareth come on for Leonard in the outside position, and the team performed slightly better in the second set. We established a small lead early on and built on it to see out the set relatively comfortably - 25-19.
MVP was Jon - the most consistent player on court, who earned his second consecutive MVP.
Vollox vs Farnborough Vipers
Having experienced quite a few hard-fought victories against the Vipers in recent seasons, Vollox knew they needed to up their game in the second fixture.
They delivered the perfect start as they raced into a 13-0 lead! A combination of solid serving from Jon, good blocking through 2 from Adam & Gareth (who took over in the middle while Martijn reverted to his usual outside slot), and some cracking hits from Leonard put the first set out of reach for Farnborough as Vollox eased to 25-11.
The second set didn't come so easily as Farnborough improved their play and Vollox tossed them a few free points with poor serving. Farnborough were marginally ahead early on in the set, but Vollox took control when Gareth went to serve at 10-11 and they scored 10 straight points with a mixture of aces, hits, and hard-earned rallies. Farnborough didn't give up, but had too much left to do and so Vollox finished with their foot slightly off the pedal at 25-18.
MVP = Jon again! Hat-trick!!!
Written by Gareth
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