UEL Women’s Volleyball first team claimed their fifth victory of the season beating Bristol 3-0 to extend their 100% record in the Premier South division. The Blues sit top of the pile with 15 points, having swept aside Bristol inside an hour.
Jefferson Williams’ girls returned to Sports Dock following two fixtures on the road, putting on a show for the home crowd by dominating the visitors and winning the sets 25-12, 25-14 and 25-9.
Home Comforts
Captain Morgan Lowenkamp opened the scoring, as the first set looked as though it would be a tight affair with the sides trading points as the scores were locked at 3-3.
UEL raced into a 7-3 lead with Saffron Betts sending a beautiful serve right into the corner of the court for a great point.
Katerina Boletou and Ailsa McDonald were dangerous, attacking the ball well and grabbing vital points before a time out was called at 21-10.
The game resumed and UEL made short work of finishing the set, winning 25-12 as Bristol failed to return the ball.
Cheap Points
Bristol started the second set better in a bid to respond and took an early advantage. The home side defended very well, with Betts making an important block at the net whilst Maddison Powell did well to keep the ball alive and snatch a point for UEL.
The home support roared as Peyton McDaniel served an ace with momentum well and truly swinging towards the Blues.
Bristol, who had one substitute on the sidelines, looked fatigued and started making costly errors. Shantell Arnold smashed the ball over the net after being set by Powell as the east-Londoners could smell blood.
UEL capitalised on more defensive errors to put daylight between the two sides, with Annie Buck grabbing the final point as UEL claimed the second set.
Crowd Pleasers
With three points firmly in the Blues’ clutches, Williams’ side made no mistake in wrapping things up to take a 3-0 straight-set victory.
Noise from the stands filled the Blues with confidence as they saved their best game for last. Fran Smith-Daye smashed home after being set kindly by Powell as UEL upped the intensity.
Bristol’s number eight, Saskia Webster, did well to keep the ball in play twice but her team mates could not prevent the ball hitting the floor as UEL took the point.
The visitors appealed UEL’s final point of the day believing McDonald’s shot was out of bounds. After some confusion, the referee finally gave the point, seeing UEL wrap the game up in less than an hour.
Court Side
UEL captain Morgan Lowenkamp spoke exclusively to Rising East immediately after the match:
Six from Six?
UEL face title rivals Essex next week. The game is scheduled for Wednesday 14th November with first serve commencing at 16:30pm.
A win for the UEL women would put them nine points ahead of their title rivals, as well as seeing them defeat Essex both at home and away.
Match Squads
UEL: Saffron Betts, Eleftheria Katsampouni, Annie Buck, Ailsa McDonald, Katerina Boletou, Peyton McDaniel, Ari Sierra, Shantell Arnold, Arela Williams, Madison Powell, Fran Smith-Daye, Morgan Lowenkamp, Alvie Co.
Bristol: Anita Noney, Wenna Grigg, Marina Rodriguez-Rubio, Lingfei Du, Saskia Webster, Neda Konova, Kasey Betts.
