Tendring Ladies 0 -3 Polonia Side-Out London

15:25, 25:27, 22:25

Report by Sarah Edwards

Tendring women had their quarter final cup game against Polonia on Sunday. Tendring got off to a strong start and were leading 8-6 at the first technical time out. Despite a strong fight by the team including some huge kills by Mechell Daniel, some strong passes by Emily Bell and incredible defensive play by libero Lena Bitadou the final score of the first set was 25-15 to Polonia.

Tendring got off to a tough start in the second set and were down 7-0, a substitution was then made, and the team found their rhythm again. They made an incredible comeback with some great plays by the whole team with especially good connections between the setter Lois Chitticks and the middles Skye Gullatt and Amelia Smith. The team gained the lead over Polonia at 24-23, but despite some more strong plays and very long rallies the final score was 27-25 to Polonia.

The Tendring players went into the third set with a positive mindset and went point for point with Polonia and gained the lead at 12-9. There were multiple incredible long rallies which showed the team’s determination to keep the ball in play and their strong mentality as they kept fighting for every single point despite being two sets down. The connection between the setter Lois Chitticks and the two outsides Mechell Daniel and Sarah Edwards were consistent which allowed many points to be won. Defensive specialist Erica Caasi Morawski was introduced to help stabilize the defensive unit and she had some very good pickups. The whole team fought to the very end and nobody ever gave up; but unfortunately, the final score was 25-22 to Polonia.

Polonia is a very experienced team and Tendring women are very proud of their performance and are looking forward to facing Polonia again on the 10th February at home at the University of Essex at 17:45 and are hoping to come away with a win.