Women's Varsity Report 2009

by Aly Hollington
Team: Aly Hollington (captain), Sarah Blakey, Jenny Brown, Henrietta Ball, Victoria Ormerod, Sarah Clarke (reserve)

With comprehensive victories in the last 2 varsity matches, the Oxford Ladies team were confident of maintaining this winning form, but knew that Cambridge would be keen to avenge these loses. The trip to London went to plan, apart from Jen nearly getting on the wrong bus! Arriving at the RAC we found we were merely minutes too late to get the changing rooms by the courts, (Cambridge clearly had the same idea as us!). First on court were Sarah Clarke and Vicki. Sarah, playing the reserve match, got us off to an excellent start with a fantastic display of control and strength. All the training and vast improvement in all areas of her game this season was too much for her Cambridge opponent, and Sarah raced to a 3-0 victory. Meanwhile Vicki was using her revered backhand to full advantage and eased to a 2-0 lead, showing accuracy and great shot selection. However, her opponent had other ideas a fought hard to win the 3rd game. But Vicki came back showing composure and finesse to win the next game, putting Oxford ahead. Next up were Henri and Jenny. Henri, facing the same opponent as last year, put in a fantastic performance, showing just how much she has improved this year and what an invaluable member of the team she is. With great skill and accuracy, Henri raced to a 3-0 victory. Meanwhile….. there was Jenny! Facing the same opponent as last year, who was vastly improved and was keen to reverse last years score, which saw Jen win 3-0. Hitting the ground running, Jen’s opponent showed great attacking play with some fantastic volleying, and raced to a 2-0 lead with Jen appearing to still be warming up. But, in her last Varsity match, Jen wasn’t going to lose without putting up a fight. In the 3rd game Jen finally found her confidence and started playing the game we know she can. With great control and showing her fitness Jen won a close 3rd game then went on the take the next 2 games comfortably, winning a fantastic match 3-2, and securing the win for Oxford. On the next door court, Sarah was battling it out with a much improved Cambridge player, having moved up the order since last year. Sarah won the first game comfortably and then a very tight 2nd game. But her opponent fought back and in a game in which both players showed great movement and skill, with gruelling rallies, Sarah’s opponent prevailed 3-2. Last up was Aly, facing the same opponent as the last 2 years. With a 1 win each from these 2 encounters, this was going to be a hard fought match. The first game Aly struggled to find good length, which her opponent took advantage of and won the 1st game without losing a point. After some good of court advice, Aly game back on for the 2nd game with more patience and greater accuracy, and won a close 2nd game to level the match. Aly then increased the pressure, putting greater pace on the ball and controlled the next 2 games, taking a 3-1 victory, reversing her loss last year. So Oxford took the Varsity 4-1 continuing their winning form against Cambridge.

Final Score: Oxford 4, Cambridge 1

Men's Varsity Report 2009

by Ed Mortimore
Team: Nelson Fung, Simon Roach, Pete Winzeler, Ed Mortimore (captain), Mark Blundell, Alex Iltchev (reserve)

The Blues side came into this year’s match with a belief that they could cause an upset. Amongst the ranks were two new additions in Simon Roach and Peter Winzeler, both former junior national players. We had also retained Nelson Fung, Ed Mortimore and last year’s reserve Mark Blundell. The weeks running up to the game had gone well, except for a freak week of snow, which closed the squash courts at Iffley, especially with the introduction of regular matches against Bath Cup sides. The night before the big day, the team got together to enjoy a carbo-fuelled dinner in front of the ever-inspiring “Blades of Glory”.

We arrived at the RAC in good time in order to support the ladies and watch them retain their trophy for another year. After a brief warm up session in the gym Mark and Alex Iltchev (this year’s reserve) started off proceedings. Alex struggled against a strong number 6. It seemed that the big occasion inhibited his strokes and movement and he found it tough to impose himself on the match going down 3-0. Mark showed a lot of resilience and a good temperament to push the Cambridge number 5. He found the conditions tough and could do little to really knock his opponent off his hacking game.

Ed, still suffering from a sprained wrist, was up against the supremely fit Cambridge captain. Again it was a case of the Cambridge player starting the better. After losing the first game quickly, Ed stepped up and played much more aggressively. Unfortunately towards the end of each game, the Cambridge player’s Duracell bunny like fitness proved too much and duly won in 3. Pete had been on fantastic from in the run up to Varsity, and many had picked him out as the one most likely to win his match. He was up against a relative veteran in Sutcliffe but in the first game he was totally dominant. The Cambridge player reacted well and showed some quality touches, which seemed to sap Pete’s confidence and the match ended 3-1.

Simon came up against another seasoned campaigner, Jamie Douglas. Both were struggling with injuries but still managed to put on a very high quality game. Jamie’s strength and racket skills just edged out Simon’s superb display of control and he won 3 tight games. Finally, Nelson came on to try and salvage some pride. Having had a disjointed season the Admiral came into this match lacking the fitness he needed. Harry Leitch had the perfect game plan of keeping the little magician at the back of the court and totally dominated this classy contest winning in a comfortable 3-0.

This was a phenomenal display by the Cambridge team. They played as if the RAC was their home venue. However, despite the crushing loss, the Oxford side has much to be optimistic about. With at least one of Cambridge’s top 3 leaving and with Oxford retaining all this year’s Blues, things will be much closer next year.

Final Score: Oxford 0, Cambridge 5