The UEL Women’s Volleyball first team picked up their sixth win of the season as they comfortably dispatched the University of Cambridge Women’s first team 3-0 at SportsDock on Wednesday afternoon.
Maddison Powell opened the scoring for the hosts as UEL made a fast start, racing into a five-point lead in the early stages. UEL’s captain Morgan Lowenkamp combined well with Arela Williams as the latter attacked the ball during the opening set.
Cambridge were dangerous in spells as Kaminskaw brought the away side back into contention, as the scoreboard read 9-5 in favour of the hosts with five minutes on the clock.
Williams was in fine form as she caused Cambridge all sorts of problems with her serve and ability to smash the ball from close in.
UEL made short work of the remaining points, winning the first set 25-14 as Cambridge struggled to deal with the accuracy of the hosts’ serve.
Building Momentum
It was a similar story in the second set as Williams sent a brilliant serve to the back of the court which delighted the onlooking crowd.
Maddison then got in on the action doing well to keep the play alive, before picking herself up and fooling the away side by dinking the ball just over the net to give UEL a 13-1 lead.
A brilliant serve from Kaminskaw inspired a mini-comeback from Cambridge who brought the score back to 15-8, before Williams restored some order with three expertly taken dinks.
Maddison and Lowenkamp combined in the latter stages with a lovely smash to seal the second set 25-12.
Finishing Touches
Coach Jefferson Williams would have been hoping that his side could seal the victory with ease in the third set, but the visitors made it tough from the start as they forced UEL into some sloppy errors in the opening moments.
The hosts had Arela Williams to thank for keeping them in the set in the early exchanges, as she utilised her trademark dink on a number of occasions to keep the scores tied at 7-7.
However, Cambridge took the lead for the first time after Neun played two brilliant serves that UEL thought were out, but the referee disagreed.
UEL rallied together forcing Cambridge into a number of mistakes, as the away side failed to deal with a number of powerful shots that were sent their way by the impressive Maddison and Williams, which forced the visitors into the game’s only time-out with the score at 19-12.
UEL wrapped up the match in style as Ailsa MacDonald delivered an inch-perfect serve into the far corner, winning the game 25-14 and moving onto 18 points for the season with only one defeat in the Premier South Division.
Line-Ups
UEL: Saffron Betts, Eleftheria Katsampouni, Annie Boele, Ailsa McDonald, Peyton McDaniel, Ari Sierra, Shantell Arnold, Arela Williams, Madison Powell, Fran Smith-Daye, Morgan Lowenkamp, Alvie Co.
Cambridge: M. Baldrigh, C. Handford, A. Pace, L. Janik Biaskovie, N. Costari, E. Sheridan, W. Kaminskaw, S. Neun, H. Craig, L. Robert.
