UEL Women’s Volleyball travel to Essex this Wednesday as they look to do the double over their title rivals.
With five wins from five, UEL are firm favourites to retain their Premier South title. A win away to Essex would be a huge step towards that, putting themselves nine points clear, though Essex would have a game in hand.
| TEAM | POSITION | Played | W | L | GD |
| UEL | 1st | 5 | 5 | 0 | 12 |
| ESSEX | 2nd | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
Game Management
Williams isn’t just focused upon sealing the victory, he wants the performance to go with it:
“I am hoping that we hold up physically as we are entering a crucial stage of the season with some tough matches coming in the next three to four weeks. Mentally, we must remind the players to manage each situation, regardless of what the score is in the match. We will focus on the things that we can control, and work to do the best that we can in any given situation. Winning is good, but we must focus on the performance.”
Talk Tactics
Williams highlights that training sessions will see UEL focus upon their defensive game in order to be ready for their opposition:
“We will run our regular sessions but putting emphasis on our block and defence to counter some of the things we expect from Essex. We will also need to work on our serving, as we know that this can be a major weapon against teams. We must use our serves to good effect if we are to have a chance of winning this match. It has been difficult to get all the players together over the past few weeks because of lectures clashing with training sessions, and this is likely to be the same this week.”
Home Advantage?
UEL edged Essex 3-2 at SportsDock with a home crowd behind them. Williams is hopeful his side can shock the home faithful this Wednesday:
“When two teams are quite evenly matched the ‘Home Court’ could make a difference, especially with a crowd supporting them. Essex had a good crowd when we played them last year, and I know that they plan to promote this match to their student population. I am sure that our players will enjoy the atmosphere though.”
Rare Rotation
The UEL girls beat Bristol 3-0 in less than an hour at SportsDock last Wednesday. Coach Jefferson Williams took advantage of an ‘easy’ fixture to give some court time to less experienced players:
“It was a fairly easy match, especially given that we had beaten Bristol 3-0 in the away fixture. They were missing several of their main players last Wednesday. The match did give us the opportunity to play some of our players who do not get lots of court time.”
When and Where?
The match between UEL and Essex will take place this Wednesday 14th November at University of Essex Sports Arena, Wivenhoe Park, CO4 3SQ.
