OXFORD STUDENTS 0 - 3 TENDRING LADIES

19-25, 11-25, 21-25

Report by Lois Chitticks

After a loss the day before in London, Tendering were determined to get a win from the weekend. After a tired start, good use of the middle by Molly Van Essen

and solid defence from Lena Bitadou allowed Tendering to win the first set 25-19. This gave us the confidence we needed and this showed in the second set. Great swinging from Mechell and Colleen on the wings were too much for the Oxford team to handle.

Tendering were able to keep a strong focus and concentration throughout the whole set. Some great hustling from the whole team showed the determination and fight that we wanted to get this win.Strong serving and attacking meant that we won the set 25-11 and were then 2-0 up.

After a long weekend, the third set proved trickier than Tendering had imagined. With Oxford fighting back, we had to step up to finish the game in 3. An amazing service run from Molly meant that we were able to come from behind. As a team this took great mental toughness and resilience as Oxford started to put up a good fight. Strong middle blocking from Skye and Milly meant that their attack was less effective and allowed the defence to pick up any balls that came to our side. Smart plays by Colleen and Emily meant that we were able to put the other team under pressure and this is what saw us through with a 25-21 win.

Overall, the team showed great fight in order to win 3-0 and there was some very good communication between players which allowed quick problem solving. Good introduction from the bench involved the whole squad and for the first weekend back after the Christmas break, 1 win from 2 is a basis which we can improve with more hard work throughout the season