Division W3N – 22/10/06

Loughborough Students(3) 3 – 2 Newcastle (Staffs)

(25-22,11-25, 19-25, 25-20, 15-10)

 A slightly adjusted line-up took to the court for ‘Castle’s 2nd match
of the day, allowing Steph Fletcher to move back to her normal middle
position, and Ruth Beard play as the 2nd left-side wing hitter hitter.
With players having to take on unusual roles ‘Castle never managed to
get any consistency in their performance and Loughborough 3’s fast
moving defenders managed to keep recycling ‘Castle attacks in an
unorthodox fashion playing the ball over the net on the first, second or
third contact, disrupting the away team and causing frustration for the
visiting players who lost the first set 25-22.

A total of 8 service and 10 hitting errors in the first set had clearly
cost ‘Castle who were playing all of the purists’ Volleyball without
making it count. The performance in the 2nd and 3rd sets clearly showed
a greater understanding of what was needed from the ‘Castle players who
cut theirs errors and attacked with more discipline to win emphatically
25-11 and 25-19.

The match should now have been heading in the direction of ‘Castle, but
Loughborough were not to be bowed and continued to scramble the ball
back over the net with a tremendous spirit and speed of reaction. The
fourth set was poised at 17-17 when Ruth Beard stretched for the ball
and twisted her knee, forcing her off the court and Steph Desolle into
the fray out of position as a wing-hitter. Sophie Cawdell set admirably
and led the team well, but this forced change caused much disruption in
the ‘Castle team who capitulated to lose the set 25-20.

With an air of resolve about the team before it took the court for the
5th set, ‘Castle looked likely to win, but unfortunately the performance
did not materialise as the team appeared to freeze at the crucial
moment. ‘Castle were forced into a time-out at 4-0 down and one point
after the change of ends trailed 9-5. Consecutive points from the ever
impressive Meg Viggars brought ‘Castle back into the game, but this
proved to be false dawn as Loughborough deservedly battled their way to
a hard earned win, 15-10.

Despite the disappointment of defeat ‘Castle’s players should take heart
from the fact that they were missing half of a starting team and 3 young
players (all aged under 17), Meg Viggars, Rachel Copestake and Sabina
McGing were able to gain valuable court time and play well.