A mixed bag for the Eagles

Eagles vs Basingstoke

Eagles faced Basingstoke for the third and final time on Sunday; with one win and one loss between the teams already, both teams knew it would be a tough match. With a full squad (minus Carey) coach Neil had a number of substitutions to chose from. Unfortunately Eagles started off badly with losing the first serve and struggling with receiving tough serves from Basingstoke. Basingstoke continued strong service and attacking and Eagles were slow to respond resulting in a substitution (Flora for Giulia) at 13-5. Despite picking up the pace, it was too little too late and Basingstoke continued to plough ahead and at 19-10 Neil made another substitution (Saskia for Vicky); the Eagles finally took back some control with some great angled attacks to make it 19-13 but sadly it wasn't enough and Basingstoke convincingly won the set 25-16. 

The second set started with a different team with the exception of Maite with the hope that the other half of the team had woken up! Eagles had a better start but were not on top form, slow reactions and lack of communication with the opposition's strong defence and attacking lead to Basingstoke taking the lead. Eagles were unable to keep up with the pace and lost to the set 16-25. 

MVP: Izzy

 

Eagles vs Oxford Uni 

The Eagles reset (aka woke up) after a disappointing loss and were ready to face Oxford Uni. Neil started out with the 'Traditional Six'; the team were cool, calm and confident against a slower paced team that didn't put much pressure on. With some excellent three touch volleyball and better calling, we convincingly won the set 25-6. After this easy win, Neil put 4 new players on court for the second set. Oxford Uni picked up the pace and attacked more resulting in a point by point game and Eagles struggling to find their team spirit. Despite a worrying score of 21-21, we kept calm and finished the set with strong serving, the final score 25-21.
MVP: Vicky

 

Written by Izzy