author=Will Roberts

matchdate=22/1/06
EVAREF=wcup
home=Loughborough Students1
away=Newcastle (Staffs)
division=Other

Loughborough Students1 3 - 1 Newcastle (Staffs)
25-4, 25-12, 23-25, 25-12

For the second time in four years Newcastle (Staffs) ladies had the
pleasure of coming up against Loughborough Students 1, who reached
consecutive Cup Finals around the turn of the millennium. This was a big
day for 'Castle who play in Division 3 North, travelling to take on this
strong division 1 unit, and in the first set this really showed as
Loughborough totally dominated proceedings to win 25-4.  The second set
was also one-way traffic in terms of attacking but as 'Castle raised
their defensive game, getting a lot of hands on blocks and digs
back-court, Loughborough allowed hitting errors creep into their game
and'Castle get more points on the board.

With significant travelling support'Castle rallied well at the start of
the third set, seemingly intent on extending their chance to be in the
spotlight. Loughborough began to tip the ball mid-court regularly in an
attempt to eradicate their massive hitting error count from the previous
set, but ‘Castle got wise to this and took full advantage. Stout defence
from Jo Gray and Steph Fletcher was backed up by Laura Challinor and
Rachel Cann's sensible attacking led to some long rallies and the
division 1 players didn't seem to have the stomach for this kind of
battle. Loughborough called both time-outs and introduced ex-England
international Jenna Taylor at 17-10 down to turn things round. Taylor
made an immediate impact on the game, linking well with England
colleague Kate Fiddler to blitz the 'Castle players. But the visitors
held on and won the set 25-23 to the pleasure of themselves and their
supporters.

The fourth set saw a return to form for Loughborough and with 'Castle
pleased to have taken a set, they relaxed and the match was over as a
contest. The Newcastle ladies can take great heart from their cup run;
having defeated division 2 Tonbridge in straight sets in the previous
round and taken an unlikely set off last year's losing finalists.