The East London side are hoping to do the double over Exeter, the side they beat in straight sets in early November. This started an impressive five-match winning streak after UEL initially lost the first two matches of the season.
Second-placed UEL trail league leaders Essex University by six points in the BUCS Premier South division, but have a game in hand against the side, and with the two teams set to meet later in the month, it could be a title decider.
Upset
Exeter were surprisingly victorious in their previous match, against Bournemouth University, causing a major upset. They had previously lost twice to Essex University, but will hope their fortunes have changed after their recent win.
UEL’s Gary Slade was optimistic ahead of Wednesday’s match, indicating that they must be more self-centred, but also implied that the side shouldn’t be overconfident.
“I think if we play the way we did in the first set against UCL, I am confident. I never underestimate another team, we just have to only focus on our side and what we are doing to be consistent,” Slade said.
Coach Jefferson Williams suggested that his side will try and eradicate the unforced errors in their game, which cost them several points in their victory against University College London, and maintain the high levels of concentration.
Aggressive
“The errors we make, if they are aggressive errors, I don’t mind. If they are mental errors, where people switch off, then it becomes a problem. There was a stage in the second-set where the setter made a couple of mistakes in the middle. It’s about the guys just staying focused, it doesn’t matter where we are in the game, whether we are up or we are down, or the game is even, we have just got to make sure we are playing for the next point,” Williams said.
UEL will be looking to secure second place in the league with a victory over Exeter. The gap on league leaders, Essex, can still be breached if UCL manage to cause an upset over the in-form side, and take the league down to the final match of the season.