Saturday, October 31, 2015

And the digging has begun!

 OVC is pleased to announce that work has now started on our Oxford beach volleyball courts!! Not only has the digging begun (see pics for proof!!), but the posts and nets are here from Germany all ready to go in. The construction will be performed in stages to tie in with delivery of all the various materials and also the availability of the skilled construction team who will be building the courts.

 The courts are being built in Cutteslowe and Sunnymeade Park, which is located in North Oxford, just outside the ring road with easy access by bus, bike and car (http://www.oxford.gov.uk/PageRender/decLP/2_Cutteslowe_and_Sunnymead_occw.htm).

 We'll keep you posted on opening date and other details, and hope to have more photos for you as the work progresses. Finally, an enormous thank you to those who have worked hard and put in a huge amount of time, energy and emotion into making our beach volleyball dream a reality.



Christmas shopping online? Use easyfundraising and raise money for OVC!

It's that time of year when the more organized people might be doing their Christmas shopping - and many of us now do much of that online. So here's a little reminder about easyfundraising, a simple way to raise money for the club at no cost to you: all you have to do is go to easyfundraising whenever you shop online, pick your retailer and shop as normal to collect free donations.Just click on the button at the right of this web page to register to support OVC, bookmark the page and you're all set. If you want, you can download a little jigger to remind you to go via easyfundraising when doing your online shopping. Most of the UK's major retailers are available!

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Men's 1 start their defence of the BVA Div 1 title



On Sunday 25 October, Men 1 travelled to Reading to play their first BVA fixture of the season against Spikeos 2 and Maidenhead. The team for the day was: Gareth, Gerard, Martijn, Gabri, Rune and Greg.

First game against Spikeos 2
We started the first set with a convincing 6-0, where Gareth (playing setter for the occasion as Jon was coaching the Ladies) showed how harmful his service can be. We kept our plays nice and tidy and we closed the first set with a rather impressive 25-6. 

During the second set we kept our level high showing some good defences. In spite of a couple of mistakes towards the end of the set, we closed the set 25-16. MVP: Martijn.

Second game against Maidenhead
Also in this game started we started with a comfortable lead (8-1), doing (almost) everything right and minimizing the mistakes. The opposition struggled to score points against our well organized block-defence and Gareth was great at delivering sets to the hitters. We won the set with a convincing 25-11.

The second set was as one-sided as the first. It took us only three rotations to reach a 12-6 lead. Afterwards, they tried increasing their level of defending, picking up a few more balls. However, there was nothing they could do to prevent the defeat. The final score was 25-16, for a second 2-0 convincing victory for the Vollox. MVP: Gareth.

Written by Gabri

Monday, October 26, 2015

The Globe Trotters complete the first Super Sunday of the season!

The Globe Trotters started the season with two solid victories against Basingstoke and Reading Aces Junior. With only six players available, captain Stefanie played opposite and set-up a line up with Gabri and Dan (the only men available on the day) as middles; Giulia and Asia outside and Maïté setter.
The first game was against Basingstoke. The Globe Trotters started well going to a solid 9-3 lead, but Basingstoke came back with a series of accurate services and good defences coming as close as 13-14. However, three consecutive services from Maïté brought the score to a more reassuring 18-13 and from that point onwards it was sufficient to retain that advantage to close the set to a comfortable 25-21.
The second set was never under discussion, with the Globe Trotters showing a tidy performance in all departments and winning set and game for 25-14. MVP was Gabri.
The second game was versus Reading Aces Junior, a team mainly consisting of young players with limited experience at this level. However, the Globe Trotters approached the game with the right attitude. With a no-mistakes beginning of the game, the Trotters took a 7-0 lead and won the set 25-7.
The second set showed an equally solid performance from the Trotters who, in spite of some great defences showed by the Reading team, won the game by 25-11. MVP was Dan.


Written by Gabri

Saturday, October 24, 2015

NVL Ladies win their first game of the season!

Last Sunday saw the National League ladies travel to south London for their game against Dulwich Tuskers.

The first set started a little shaky, with Dulwich serving strongly and the Oxford ladies doing the opposite. Things went from medium to bad when one of Mirjam's calf muscles popped towards the end of the set. Amra did a great job replacing her but the set was lost 25-22.

There was a little bit more energy on court in the second set but everything still seemed like a lot of hard work and coach Jon was looking increasingly stressed. With a tight finish to the set, the Oxford ladies just managed to stay ahead and took the set 26-24.

In the third set, someone finally turned on the light and the ladies pulled ahead with a healthy lead when injury struck again, this time taking out Amra with a twisted knee. There were no spare players on the bench and phantom players aren't allowed in the National League so Mirjam was brought back on, with only one fully functioning leg. This should have been Dulwich Tusker's chance to take control of the game but Oxford's team spirit got in the way! Dulwich couldn't recover and Oxford won the set 25-14.

Energised by the last set, the 4th set turned out similarly, luckily without any further injuries, and Oxford won 25-14 again.

A swift recovery to both Mirjam and Amra!

Coach: Jon Williams (happy)
Players: Amra, Mirjam, Nela, Federica, Sonia, Andrea (MVP), Annika (capitano)

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

A smashing start for the Sharks!

Fortunately Stefano dramatically exposed the
weakness of the net fixings during the warm up...
The Sharks opened the season in style, with a show of strength from Stefano in the warm-up for his last fixture with the team... The opposition were duly intimidated, and after substantial delay while the net was made safe, the Sharks made short work of Reading Aces Mixed. The rather disconnected Reading team did not have much to offer in the first set and with Felipe setting, Masia playing opposite, Helen and Stefano through the middle and Flora and Marco on the outside (welcome to the Sharks, Marco!!!), it was over fairly quickly. However, the Sharks relaxed a little too much in the second set and with the Aces starting to play a little more coherently, the Sharks had to ramp things up a notch to win the match. MVP was Felipe for great defense and setting.

The second match was versus Spikeos Mixed 2. The Sharks were suffering from reffing a long, cold interim match (with a creative score board!) and a combination of great cover from Spikeos plus unforced errors from the Sharks meant the loss of the first set. However, the Sharks rallied, and with support from our mascot, Headington, took the second set after a bit of a fight. The deciding set started off fairly close but the Sharks were ahead at the switch and with a great show of team spirit won the set and the match. MVP was Stefano for fantastic work at the net.

The Sharks will miss Stefano enormously but wish him the best of luck in Italy - although he will never find another team quite like the Sharks...












Written by Helen - who doesn't have the scoresheets




Sunday, October 18, 2015

The Eagles mean business

The Eagles started how they mean to go on this season, with two wins in straight sets against two of the strongest teams in BVA Ladies Div 1. First up were Spikeos 1, and the Eagles fielded a standard starting line up with Maite and Stef setting, Izzy and Giulia on the outside and Karina and Helen through the middle. Exceptionally strong serving from Karina took the Eagles straight to 15 points. The team maintained their high energy levels and played some good 3-touch volleyball to take the set 25:8, without even completing a full rotation through all starting positions. For the second set, the Eagles played a single setter (Stef), with Tati replacing Maite on court. One of the newest Eagles, Carey, came on as outside hitter in place of Giulia. Spikeos came to life a bit in the second set but the Eagles held their nerve and won the set 25:22. MVP was Karina.

Basingstoke had a strong team on court for the second match, but consistent passing, setting and hitting from the Eagles, coupled with some great cover and blocking, meant that the Eagles won the set comfortably 25:12. Basingstoke pulled out all the stops in the second set but the Eagles were determined and despite cutting it to the wire and doing their best to give coach Neil more grey hair, they saved a set point and won the set 27:25. MVP was Karina.

The Eagles showed fantastic team spirit throughout both matches and worked very hard. Every single player was on amazing form. Well done Eagles, and a big thank you to coach Neil for getting us here!!!!

Written by Helen

Thursday, October 15, 2015

A strong fight from the Falcons!

Even though we did lose the first two games of the season, I think we played really well as a team and there has been a definite improvement from last year.

Our first game was against Maidenhead and after watching their warm up we were a little nervous. However, we scored the first point and from then on we were determined not to let them get ahead (not by too much!). We had some good rallies and although we lost the game we didn’t make it easy for the opposition to win.

The second game against Reading Uni was tougher but we fought back by boosting our defence and getting some good hits in. We managed to keep a level playing field during the start of the second set but Reading proved to be the better team and we lost in the end.

Overall, I think it was a good start to the season. We had fun and we can only get better!

Also, big up to our new coach Felipe, WHOOP WHOOP!

Written by Jess

Monday, October 12, 2015

Great season start for the Wolves!

Oxford Wolves have had a cracking start of the season last Sunday 11th of October playing against Farnborough Sirens (11:25, 18:25) and Spikeopaths Ladies 2 (14:25, 20:25). The team consists mainly of juniors ages 12-14, although for this first match the
Wolves were missing a player so we asked Asia to help us (thank you Asia!). For many young Wolves this was their first ever competitive league game of volleyball. They all, without exception, rose up to the challenge, displayed amazing character, team spirit, and good technical skills. It was all there: accurate ball control, consistent serve, good service reception, hitting and blocking. Wolves lost both games, but it was all-round quality volleyball, with rallies and saves, the team pulling well above their weight! They no doubt deserve their place in the BVA Ladies div 2, and as the season progresses we can expect the Wolves will only grow in their skills and confidence, and achieve excellent results.