News 2009/10

Announcements from OUVC. You can find detailed Match and Tournament Results and Reports elsewhere.

18/07/10Beach VB dealt a blow

We may not have beach courts in Oxford (yet!?) but OUVC has been pretty successful on the beach in recent years. The sport may be under threat though, as it was announced last week that this year's AVP Tour 2010 has been cancelled. You can read details about it from the perspective of an ex-pro here. Hopefully beach (and indoor) volleyball will still grow in popularity, but it looks like it could be a tricky path from here...

p.s. Don't forget, we do play outdoor volleyball in Oxford too, when it's not raining!

22/07/10Meet the GB team!

The women's GB volleyball squad is cycling from Sheffield to London in an effort to raise money to support their training schedule after recent funding cuts. They will start their cycle from Sheffield on Friday afternoon/Saturday morning, via Nottingham, Stratford, Leicester, Oxford, Reading, Richmond Park and Trafalgar Square to Earl's Court, arriving in London on Tuesday 27th July. The event will be covered by BBC Oxford, and is supported by Hugh Robertson, the Minister for Sport and Steve Redgrave.

They will be at Iffley Road Sports Complex in Oxford on Monday 26th July at 1-2.30pm. The primary publicity will be on the Bannister track at this time, but the gym available from 1-2.30pm, and they are looking for lots of people to come and along and watch/play/sponsor them, so if you don't have plans for Monday lunchtime then head on down to Iffley!

You can find more details on the GB women on their Facebook page.

31/05/10May Catch-Up

Running out of time to report May's events, since tomorrow is June already, so here's a summary:

The Alumni Matches lived up to their billing - the women were tested by an experienced alumni team, but managed to reproduce this season's home form to win 25-13, 25-19, 25-21 (which means they finish the season undefeated at home, now they just need to work on those pesky tournaments!). The men's match was a very close affair, and provided great entertainment to the spectators that visited Greg's to witness the event. With a mix of experience and fitness on the alumni side they looked on paper like they might edge the tie, but the first set was very tight and the alums only managed to sneak it 28-26. The second set saw the students up their game and they proved too hot to handle, winning 25-21. The 3rd and 4th sets followed the same pattern, being shared 28-26 again and 19-25. This set up a mouth-watering 5th set - would the students' stamina come through against the alums' craft? Again it was even until the end, when the alumni emerged vitcorious 15-13, to the delight of the student men's season coach/alumni on the day, Brian!

The players and club members then cleaned themselves up and headed off to Rewley House where everyone enjoyed the dinner and each others' company. Speeches were made and thanks were given to all involved in the running of the club this year, and to Han-Ru for organising such an enjoyable day.

Having enjoyed glorious sunshine through the windows of St Greg's, all fingers were crossed the next weekend when the annual 4Max/Cuppers outdoor tournament took place. Thankfully the gods were merciful and produced a day of sun and fun once again in Hinksey Park. 15 teams enter the 4Max, while 5 were in a group to battle for the Cuppers title. Congrats to all the volleyball virgins who played, we hope they enjoyed the experience and will be back for more. Harris Manchester College took the title in the final against Somerville, who they had lost to in the group stages but obviously worked out how to deal with the 2.15m giant on the other side of the net!In the 4Max tournament there was a decent level throughout all the teams. The one that was most successful was Chuppa Chups - consisting of Hannah, Gabriele, Gareth, Giovanni, Michaelaall form our very own OUVC. They brought the title home, with success against Did That Hurt in the semi and Warwick Uni in the final.

Final congrats go to Janka, who did so well to organise the whole day, and to her team of helpers who very kindly leant a hand with transporting food & nets, cooking food, and baking and selling cakes.

A brief reminder to all OUVC members that the AGM is to be held 6pm Wednesday at St John's. Please do attend as your voice & votes (& volunteering) will be required!

11/05/10No news = good news?!

Now that the indoor season has finished (and there haven't been many website updates in a while) I can see why you might think that the volleyball season is over, but you'd be wrong!

In fact, things are about as busy as they have ever been - we currently have 6 hall slots for indoor training sessions, including the new addition of "Technical Tuesdays" where the emphasis is on improving individual skills rather than teamwork, and you can see what you're doing wrong on video! So, make sure you come to all the training sessions you can because if they're poorly attended we may have to give some of them up and that would be very sad.

Things don't end with indoor volleyball though. We also have outdoor sessions in full swing. Most Wednesdays and Sundays there's at least one net up in the park. Check the forum thread to see what's going on.

We also have some of the biggest events of the year coming up:

1) Alumni Matches & Club Dinner - Sat 15 May
The annual visit from Club Alumni will take place on this Saturday, when the students will be hoping to reverse last year's results. Come on down to St Greg's and watch if you're not already going to be playing.
2) 4Max & Cuppers Outdoor Tournament - Sat 22 May
Our ever-popular grass tournament is fast-approaching. Make sure you sign up your team if you haven't already (but you can turn up on the day too - it's just more of a headache for the organisers if they don't know you'll be coming).
3) Club AGM - Wed 2 June
Still plenty of time to nominate yourself for a committee position. Get in touch with Claire if you'd like to know more about what's on offer.
4) National Student Beach Cup - 5-6 June
OUVC will be aiming to repeat last year's success (Women's Champions!). Keep these dates free, because last year it was an awesome weekend :)

Finally, some "hearty" congratulations...

  • (Former Club President) Nynke Hofstra and Remco de Kok were married this past weekend. The ceremony was held at Nynke's parents' hometown near Groningen in the Netherlands, where they were joined by a crowd of family and friends, including an OUVC contingent who made sure the dancefloor was never empty! Congrats to the happy couple, and we look forward to seeing them at next year's Alumni Match (unless they go on holiday for their anniversary!).
  • Our very own Jana Orszaghova was voted as the WNVL's Division's MVP. Well done to her and the team for what has been a great season :)

26/03/10Indoor season draws to a close

As the days get longer we near the end of indoor and move to the less BO-susceptible environment of outdoor volleyball! Paul has kindly set up ladders for people wishing to play twos and fours - see details on the outdoor page.

Indoor season is not quite finished yet though. The NVL men will be playing their penultimate two matches on Sunday as they fight for promotion(!) - the top 5 teams get automatic promotion.

The NVL women have now finished what was a very successful season - they finished in 2nd place, just behind Bath. The ladies will rue their two unexpected losses against Bristol and Southampton, but maybe even more the missed opportunity against Bath when they lost 3-2. However, they still did very well, so congratulations to all the ladies + Coach Ludo. A special mention for Jansie (Jana O) who currently looks like she will finish the season as MVP of the division :)

23/03/10Training + Alumni Date

Training times have been updated for the Easter period.

The Alumni Match and Dinner have been confirmed for Sat 15 May. We hope that as many people as possible can make it - if you haven't heard about it and want more details you can check the Alumni page, or contact the Alumni Officer.

17/03/10BUCS Report

A report from the BUCS Finals is now up in the reports section for anyone that would like to read about the club's weekend in Sheffield.

Upcoming events:

  • WNVL have their last triangular of the season this Sunday in Plymouth. If Bath slip up then the ladies are in with a chance of 1st place!
  • MNVL have two triangulars left - they'll be hoping to avoid finishing 6th which would leave them having to play-off for "promotion".
  • The students still have the Alumni Matches to look forward to. Date to be confirmed soon!
  • The 4Max/Cuppers Tournament will be taking place in May.
  • Photos from various stages of the season to be uploaded!

The training timetable for the rest of the year will be confirmed soon, so keep your eye on the training page.

07/03/10WNVL back on track

After the disappointment of losing to league rivals Bath, WNVL picked themselves up and picked up some important points on the road against Cardiff Tigers and Wiltshire Mavericks. They won both matches in straight sets, and at a canter if the scorelines are anything to go by - losing only 7 and 10 points in the third sets of the two games. The results mean that they're back at the top of the table, until Bath's results come in anyway...

This coming week sees the final chapter of BUCS for this season. M2 will be looking to overcome the disappointment of Wednesday's defeat against bottom-placed Coventry when they take on top-placed Warwick away. For M1 and W1 the BUCS Championships weekend in Sheffield beckons. The women will be hoping to improve upon their 4th place finish at the EVA Finals. The men on the other hand will probably just be happy to be at BUCS for the first time since 2005/6 when they finished 3rd.

01/03/10Oxford go for big BUCS!

M1 and W1 today found out their opposition at BUCS. The men face a tough pool of Sheffield Hallam, Bath, and Manchester, while the girls will look forward to taking on Leeds Met, Southampton and UCL. With two weeks to go, both teams are already fired up... it's gonna be a good'un!

28/02/10Varsity - we win on set difference!

The 38th annual Varsity match against Cambridge took place today in Oxford. The event ended with both sides equal on two matches a piece - M2 and W1 both won 3-0, while M1 lost 3-1 and W2 lost 3-0.

The day was rounded off with a trip to Pizza Express, where they managed to do a pretty decent job of catering to all the people that stayed - about 100 in total!

Many thanks go to all the organisers - Claire, Krzysztof and Andreas are the names that spring to mind - along with all the people that kindly gave up their time to ref or line judge, and the noisy supporters and commentator (Darek!). Lastly, well done to all the players and coaches involved - we hope that even if you didn't get the result you wanted you still had fun. Oh, and the MVPs! Well done to Claire (and her Dad for travelling 3000 miles to cheer her on!), Sven, Giovanni, and Lucy :)

21/02/10An interesting day

The day started brightly, with WNVL easing past New Forest 3-0, without having to play their best. Meanwhile, M1 were travelling to London to take on Imperial in the BUCS crossover match. However, on arriving at the sports hall they discovered there were no referees. Oxford eventually left London without having played the match, and it will be up to BUCS to decide whether the match will be postponed or if either team should be awarded a walkover. Back in Oxford, WNVL were playing their second match, against league leaders Bath. After having watched an uninspired Bath performance against New Forest the ladies were well up for inflicting the beach specialists' first defeat of the season. The match swung both ways, and it looked to tip in Oxford's favour when Bath's setter was injured and Oxford took advantage and the next two sets to go 2-1 up. Bath were not done though, and fought back to such a degree that they were 8-3 when the teams changed ends in the 5th set. Oxford responded with a great fight back of their own to lead 12-10, but let it slip right at the death...

In other news, the Alumni Match & Club Dinner have been pencilled in for 15 May. Further details will be announced soon, but please make a note of the date in your diaries. Apologies to anyone that already has plans for that weekend :(

17/02/10W1 qualify for BUCS

W1 beat St. Andrews who made the 7.5 9.5hr trip down to Oxford. The 3-0 victory means they've qualified for the BUCS tournament in Sheffield in March. M1 travel to play Imperial at the weekend to see if they can join them...

15/02/10W1 make the big smash; no trophy

OUVC's W1 went to Norwich this weekend to participate in the EVA Student Cup. It was the first time they'd been truly tested this season, having come through the league having barely dropped a set. They played Loughborough, Bristol and York in the group stage, making a great comeback against Bristol to ensure that they qualified as top of their group, meaning they avoided the tournament favourites Leeds Met in the next round.

On the second day they played Sheffield in the quarter-finals, and thoroughly outclassed the opposition. The match was quickly over, and they progressed to the semis where they played the home team of the tournament - UEA. On paper the two sides looked evenly matched, but it was Oxford that started and finished the match more nervously, making more unforced errors that ultimately cost them the match.

They then played ULU (who had been beaten by Leeds Met in the other semi), in the 3rd/4th playoff. Oxford made a very strong start, capitalising on their opponents lack of focus, and took the first set. In the second, ULU regained their composure, and were able to level the match at one set all. In the third set Oxford gave their all, but were unable to find the energy needed to halt ULU's momentum.

Congratulations to the girls on achieving a fantastic 4th place, and well done to Coach Jon (and the travelling supporters) for guiding them to it!

04/02/10Another week, more volleyball

Whizzing through the week's events...

  • M2 beat Aston 3-1 away.
  • MNVL take on league leaders Tendring.
  • WNVL play their next Shield game on Sunday against ?
  • Several OUVCers will be partaking in the Dublin Blitz - wish them luck!
  • The draw for BUCS crossovers was made - matches take place on Wed 17 Feb. M1 play London Imperial away, W1 play St. Andrews at home (phew!!!).

I think that's everything.

31/01/10Student men finish in style

M1 squeezed in another match this week after their fantastic result against Lufbra. On Saturday they played their rearranged match against Cranfield, proving to be far too powerful for the opposition and easing to a 3-0 victory. The result means that the boys finish 2nd in their division, currently tied on points with Lufbra (though they have a game still to play). The result is a testament to the guys' commitment this year, when they haven't necessarily had their strongest squad, but pulled together to achieve a position that has been out of reach in recent times. In contrast, Cambridge lost some key players (as did Oxford) and they finished bottom meaning they'll be joining M2 in Div 2 next year.

WNVL had a busy weekend - they played their postponed Shield match against Dartford and progressed to the next round with a simple 3-0 win. Today they played a triangular in Bristol, and suffered a surprise 1-3 defeat to Team Southampton. The hosts, Bristol, were expected to be the more difficult team, but against them normal service was resumed and they won 3-0.

27/01/10UNDEFEATED

W1 capped off a fine season in the BUCS Midlands Division 1A with a straight sets victory over Warwick. It means they finish 1st, having lost only 4 sets over the course of the season. All that remains now is Varsity, EVA & BUCS! Congratulations to the girls & Captain Erica & Coach Jon for what has been a great season already.

M1 also had a day to celebrate with a rare victory over Loughborough. The boys were clear winners, by a margin of 3 sets to 1. The result means that they're guaranteed at least third place and a BUCS crossover match to get to the BUCS finals. Well done guys!

25/01/10Win some, lose some

The MNVL had their first matches in almost a month, against teams at both ends of the division. They were comfortable winners against Brentwood Estonians, who currently sit bottom, and then had a very close match against Watford Danes who were one place above them. You can read all about the fixture in the match report.

This week's student matches see W1 take on Warwick to achieve undefeated league status for the entire season! Meanwhile M1 have a massive game at home against Loughborough. Do go and give some support if you can - warm-up is 15:00 at Iffley.

The WNVL team have a busy weekend, playing their latest Shield game against Dartford on Saturday, and a triangular against Southampton and Bristol on Sunday.

Finally, if you don't feel like you get your fill of volleyball from the OUVC site, then an OUVC Alumni - Andrea Fryrear - has set up her own volleyball site: Volleyball-Life.com. Do go and check it out, it's full of helpful info & tips.

20/01/10Post-Xmas Blues!

Oxford students were back in action after their long break. The women kept their unbeaten record against a determined Cambridge team. Meanwhile M2 had a tough game against a strong Warwick side, who had only dropped one set before today. Now they've dropped two! :)

The WNVL team have already been in action in 2010, playing Cardiff and Bath away. They were comfortable victors over Cardiff, who perhaps didn't provide enough of a warm-up and the ladies then lost 3-0 to a powerful Bath squad. They'll be looking to bounce back when they play the next round of the Shield against Dartford.

17/01/10Training times UPDATE

The Thursday sessions will rotate between men and women, starting this week.

See the training times page to check which hall and time your session will be.

25/12/09Merry Christmas!

Christmas greetings to everyone at OUVC (past & present). We hope you have a wonderfully festive break, and a prosperous 2010.

A few "presents" might turn up on the website in the next few days, in the form of photos and new sections, so keep your eyes peeled! Edit: OUVC's little elf was overworked at Xmas, so there's just one new photo album for now. The other additions are coming soon...

10/12/09M1 still in it to win it

M1 closed out the term in fine fashion last night at Iffley. Though Oxford dropped a scrappy first set (mainly due to repeated serving errors), the home team went on to put on an exhibition of well-rounded, aggressive volleyball for their supporters, taking the next three sets in style (25-18, 25-21, 25-19). Particular strengths on the night were Oxford's strong blocking, their willingness to chase down every ball as well as strong finishing from the outside hitters Giovanni and Kuba. With two home matches left to play in the new year, M1 will be looking to catch Loughborough at the top of the table.

09/12/09Holiday training times

Temporary vacation training times are now up, so if you'll be in Oxford outside of term-time check 'em out!

02/12/09W1 win their League!!!

Very brief update - W1 beat Birmingham 3-0 at home today, which means they've accumulated an unassailable 24 points in their division. And they still have two games left! Huge congratulations to the girls and Coach Jon :)

M1 were unable to repeat their home result against the Tabs, and lost their away fixture 3-0.

25/11/09Two out of two

The student women continued their domination of their division with a 3-1 victory over Loughborough. A lapse of concentration let Lufbra into the second set, but the girls readjusted and saw out the next two sets comfortably and must be pretty happy with the way their season is progressing thus far.

Iffley was treated to a double dose of volleyball, with the student men playing Birmingham straight after the ladies' match. The referee seemed to play a large part in the game, with the sets swaying to both sides by only a few points. After starting well, Oxford faded in the middle sets but men pulled together some consistent all-round play in the 5th set to take the match 3-2, which means they're tied on points with Brum in the league and have a game in hand.

20/11/09A good good night!

Alternative title: "Winner winner, chicken dinner!!!"

OUVC had a blast at the SportsFed Ball last night, walking away with two awards and the unofficial titles of "noisiest, happiest, danciest, sexiest Club"! The Ball got under way with a 3-course dinner which most people seemed to enjoy, even if the chicken did look like it needed another 20 mins in the oven! After the dinner was the awards' presentation, with OUVC nominated for Club of the Year and Outreach Club of the Year. We lost out on Club to Orienteering, which probably has nothing to do with the fact that SportsFed's President this year used to be in the orienteering club... However, volleyball did complete a hat-trick of Outreach awards, winning it for the third year running in recognition of the work that has been done to promote volleyball locally in schools and outdoors. Last, but certainly not least, OUVC had a candidate up for Atalanta's Teammate of the Year, and Jana Orszaghova was bestowed the honour much to the delight of her teammates and the other OUVC members present at the Ball.

The diners were then joined by the latecomers, and proceeded to tear up the dancefloor in customary OUVC style! One or two people may have separated from the group for their own "dancing" session, but fun was still had by all, young and old alike!

In actual volleyball news, W1 extended their unbeaten run with a 3-0 victory over Nottingham this week, and M1 went to Cranfield but as far as I know there wasn't an official result. We wish good luck to W2, who will be playing the EVA Qualifiers Tournament this weekend as their first competitive games of the season.

Finally, in website related news, we now have a "shoutbox", which means you can add your own comments to the right hand side of the ouvc.net homepage.

15/11/09Busy weekend for NVL

The MNVL's undefeated record was brought to an end today, as they lost 3-0 to league leaders Tendring. In their defense, they took only 7 players to face a team who had yet to drop a set this season. The day began stressfully, but they were able to calm themselves before beating Stowmarket 3-1 (without a warmup!). They then ran into problems without any substitutes and despite giving Tendring an interesting match, things weren't to go Oxford's way. They can be happy with their weekend's endeavours though, since they also went through to Round 3 of the Cup after Sheffield didn't send a team - probably daunted by our unblemished record. The reward is a match against London Malory, which will certainly be educational!

WNVL continued their impressive form in the league, beating Wiltshire Mavericks and City of Bristol in 3 straights sets each. The ladies will be particularly happy with their performance since their only loss this season was against CoB.

You can see the current NVL standings here: men & women.

13/11/09MNVL through to Round 3

Sheffield 2 are unable to send a team for the 2nd round cup match against Oxford MNVL tomorrow, so we have been awarded a walkover.

12/11/09Student results

W1 continued their dominance of their division, this time beating Nottingham without working up much of a sweat. The straight sets victory means that they've only dropped one set in their five matches so far, and long may the record continue!

The men are struggling to replicate the girls' success, as they succumbed to their second successive defeat of the season, away to Loughborough. They'll be looking to turn things around when they play Cranfield next week, who were the catalyst for their three-match winning streak at the start of the season.

The last team in action yesterday were M2, who won their game in Coventry 3-1. It's their second victory of the season (from four matches), and puts them tied with Brookes for 2nd place, Brookes having a one set advantage.

Finally, news of this weekend's fixtures - MNVL have a vb-fest, as they play Sheffield 2 in the Cup on Saturday (12:45 warm-up at St. Greg's if you'd like to come support), then two matches on Sunday against league leaders Tendring, and mid-table Stowmarket. They'll be looking to inflict Tendring's first defeat of the season, which would potentially put Oxford top of the table. Meanwhile, the women are playing City of Bristol (the only team they've lost to this season, so they'll be seeking revenge!) and Wiltshire Mavericks who are currently bottom. The fixtures were supposed to be in Oxford, but due to the lack of available sports halls it will be played in Wiltshire. If the women win both of their games then they could start to break away from the other teams, as they're currently top of the table by two points.

11/11/09One to watch out for in the future!

Congratulations to Ludo and Nicole on the birth of their baby boy, Lucas Andre Bonnet, on Friday. Nicole and Lucas were very considerate and managed to plan it so that Lucas' arrival was on one of Ludo's volleyball-free weekends! Both are back home now, doing well, and OUVC would like to collectively wish the new family all the best for the future.

08/11/09A week of ups and downs

This week yielded some great results for the women's team, but the men were unable to duplicate their form. M1 suffered their first defeat of the season on Wednesday, away to Nottingham in a tight five-setter where they got the upper hand but failed to capitalise. Today, in Stoke at the EVA Cup qualifiers, they lost to Sheffield Hallam 2 and then Warwick in 3 sets (matches were best of 3), meaning they narrowly missed out on qualification. Sadly M2 did not fare any better, as they suffered a 3-0 defeat in the league against local rivals Oxford Brookes (who have a surprisingly strong team for Div 2).

The women's team on the other hand, have plenty to celebrate. They travelled to Cambridge to face one of the strongest teams in their division, and were pretty comfortable winners in a 3-1 scoreline. Their visit to Stoke was very successful, beating all the teams in their pool - Warwick, Liverpool, and Sheffield Hallam - and in the process they secured their place at the EVA Student Cup in Norwich, 13-14 Feb 2010.

Photos from today's action (and the rest of the season) should appear soon - keep an eye on the gallery!

01/11/09WNVL sitting pretty

Two more victories for the WNVL team today mean that they're sitting at the top of Div 3W, having already played the two closest teams and beaten them. One of those is Bristol, who they took apart in 3 sets today, 25-10, 23, and 14. Their other match was against Team Southampton and they prevailed 3-1, taking one set to get into the rhythm of things, and then breezing through the next 3 - the score 21-25, 25-13, 25-9, 25-13.

This week's student games see the men and women travel away, to Nottingham and Cambridge respectively.

Go Ox!

28/10/09Oxford dominate!

The Oxford student teams continued their great start to the season, pulling off results that haven't been seen for quite a while (certainly not in the same season, anyway). The boys gave a good performance against a tricky Cambridge team, in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. They won 3-1, which was a fair result given Cambridge's perseverance and Oxford's experimentation with different lineups. The girls' result was even more impressive, travelling to Loughborough and beating them 3-0. With a limited squad of 6 players, they performed when they really needed to and managed to keep it together for 3 convincing sets against a strong Loughborough team who were yet to drop a set before today. The result means that our own ladies retain their clean record for the season, and will be full of confidence when they face Cambridge next week.

25/10/09MNVL battle on!

The MNVL team completed a very successful week for OUVC, winning 3 straight sets against Dartford (...after losing the first two!). It wasn't very pretty to watch, but the men stuck together and came out on the right side of a tense five setter. All this meant that the MNVL cling on to their undefeated status in Div 3E, though their next matches are going to be serious tests of their character. If you'd like to come and cheer them on, they'll be playing Sheffield 2 (who were demoted from Div 1 this season, and are yet to win a league match in Div 2) in the second round of the Cup on Sat 14 Nov, and it promises to be a good game!

Before then there are the student games to look forward to on Wed - M1 vs Cambridge (at Iffley), and W1 vs Loughborough (away), and WNVL play Bristol and Team Southampton on Sunday.

22/10/09Students firing on all cylinders

Oxford had a great week in terms of results - after WNVL won their triangular at the weekend, the students have followed suit and claimed victory in all three matches played yesterday. M1 travelled to tricky Birmingham, but were able to adapt to playing in a miniature hall (as the girls did last week) to win the marathon match 3-2. M2 played Aston and were victorious in 4 sets, but not without giving themselves a good workout. Meanwhile, W1 showed the men how it's supposed to be done, and made easy work of Warwick, beating them 3-0.

Now that the fresher's (/swine) flu seems to be out of OUVC's system it's great to see all our teams performing to their potential. It should be a great season, and the only problems should belong to the coaches when they have to work out their team selections!

Upcoming matches include MNVL taking on Dartford on Sunday, then the next round of student games on Wed 28 Oct which should be real treats (pun intended...)! W1 will travel to league rivals Loughborough, while M1 face the old enemy at home, when they'll be looking to make Cambridge's start to the season even more miserable - they've not won a set from 2 matches so far.

If you can't wait till then, why not occupy yourself with some of the match reports from this season? More should be up soon as well...

18/10/09More NVL success

Oxford's WNVL team dominated their matches today, despatching both previously unbeaten Plymouth and Reading Aces 3-0. Even the infection that seems to have claimed most of the team couldn't stop them, with the Oxford ladies using their experience to outwit their opponents, and some big hits and blocks through the middle were used to great effect.

These results mean that the NVL League is looking good for both the women and men, who sit at the top of their respetive divisions, and in the matches that they've won, the ladies haven't dropped a set!

Next week sees another NVL game, as the men take on Dartford, while the student teams are in action on Wednesday: M1 play Birmingham away, M2 face Aston at home, and W1 will take on Warwick at home.

16/10/09Week 1 Results = 73%!

Three of our four student teams were in action this week, and Oxford won 8 out of 11 sets played. M1 and W1 beat Cranfield and Birmingham in straight sets, while M2 took Anglia Ruskin the distance in a tough 5-setter. Well done to everyone for performing admirably in what was a lot of people's first OUVC match, so early in the Oxford calendar - most other universities have been back for a few weeks now.

This weekend sees more WNVL action, as they take on league leaders Plymouth and rivals Reading Aces at Iffley on Sunday.

Now that term has started, we should settle into a more regular routine of training sessions and so on. Please keep an eye on the training page for updates/cancellations, and the Oxford Student League (for colleges) should begin soon for players of any ability. Please contact Charlotte if you have any questions about playing in it.

12/10/09MNVL Undefeated!

This weekend saw both NVL teams in action. The men managed to claim two more victories to retain their undefeated status so far for the season, although it's still early days in Div3E. The women, on the other hand, suffered two losses, first at the hands of IMKA Polonia in the 1st Round of the Cup, then to Bristol in the League. They did restore some confidence with a win against Cardiff Ladies, which will hopefully be fresh in their minds when they play Plymouth and Reading Aces this coming weekend. You can read reports of their first two matches against New Forest & SGTV Solent on the reports page.

The students' BUCS season starts this week, with M1, M2, and W1 all playing on Wednesday. We wish them all the best of luck with their first games, which come very early in the Oxford calendar.

04/10/09Attention Volleyballers!

With term commencing next week, OUVC would like to invite all students interested in playing to come to tryouts:

There will be both a first and second team again this year and therefore all levels of experience are welcome! This will be the only session held before the teams are chosen, so all are highly encouraged to attend. Any questions please contact the student captains. We look forward to seeing you there!

27/09/09Starting in style!

Following the men's lead, the women won their first two games of the season today, in emphatic fashion. They travelled to Southampton to play New Forest and SGTV Solent, and came back with 6 sets won and none conceded! Their victories mean that OUVC is so far undefeated in the 2009/10 season, with the NVL Men's team having won their first round Cup match against Knutsford Power yesterday, also in 3 sets.

You can check out the upcoming fixtures for all teams on the match fixtures/results page, and the latest NVL League results and tables are on the EVA site.

20/09/09Start as you mean to go on!

The NVL men got off to a flying start in Div 3E today, with two fantastic wins against UEA Norwich and RAF Harriers, 3-1 and 3-2 respectively. The new team needed a little time to adjust, many of the players not having played together before, but once settled they really took the game to their opponents and were able to demonstrate their huge potential. Congrats go to everyone, especially new boy Will, and old boy (this season's captain) Pavel who were nominated MVPs.

Their next match will be at Iffley on Saturday 26th, when they take on Knutsford Power in the first round of the Cup. Do come along and show some support if you're in Oxford!

Other teams' fixtures are up on the match fixtures/results page or will be soon!

13/08/09Fixtures 2009/10

Get out your diary, the fixtures for the coming season have been provisionally scheduled! You can check out the student fixtures using the links on the match schedule page, and the NVL fixtures for both men and women are on the EVA website, along with the Cup Draw.

If you're interested in playing for the NVL or student teams please get in touch with the corresponding team captain.

30/07/09"Summer" volleyball

The British Summer weather continues to baffle everyone, including the Met Office, but there's been plenty of volleyball to keep us warm! The last month has seen lots of beach action, with tournaments having taken place in Croyde, Margate, Sandbanks (Poole - the world's 2nd biggest natural harbour!), & Weymouth and more to come in Great Yarmouth and other places. Various people have been representing Oxford - Brian, Darek, Gareth, Ludo, Paul, Jon, Martijn, Ania, Kerstin, Ketlin, Hannah, Jana, Kath, Milena - with varying degrees of success, but more importantly lots of laughs!

Earlier this month, the long-awaited OUVC group holiday took place - after George's initiative took a group of about 10 to Corfu last year, this time our social sec extraordinaire Claire led 18 to the gorgeous south coast of Portugal. Photos are on facebook and will probably be added here at a later date. Our collective thanks go to Claire and everyone that came along. A mini-report is available! Apologies to everyone that couldn't be there, and we hope you can make it next time! :)

Training has still been going on, with good turnouts, and Brian has been kind enough to continue attending to provide coaching. If you're in Oxford we hope to see you there, and if you're not in Oxford then we hope you're keeping fit and having fun wherever you are!

Finally, if you are on your Summer hols, and are short of things to do, then don't forget you can check out whatever volleyball is on tv, or watch online at UniversalSports.com - beach or photos of indoor, or find some good clips on youtube and add them to our forum if they're not there already!

p.s. In other UK volleyball news - there's been a change to some little club called Malory (who should be congratulated on winning the men's competition at Whitefield this year)!