Match Report

Oxford M1 & W1 vs BUCS Championships

Date:
12-14 March 2010
Location:
Sheffield
Result:
5th (W1) and 7th (M1) (Women A & B, Men A & B, Final Matches)
M1 Players:
Jeremy, Sven, Scott (middle), Mike (setter), Kuba, Mark, Nico (outside), Bartek, Tim, Claudio (opposite), Krzysztof, Rowan (libero), Giovanni, Brian (coach)
W1 Players:
Erica, Cassie (middle), Sarah, Isabel, Megan (setter), Jana, Claire, Jackie (outside), Charlotte, Beth (opposite), Hannah (libero), Jon, Gareth (coach)

Comments

OUVC's W1 & M1 teams spent this past weekend in Sheffield for the BUCS Volleyball Championships - the culmination of a season's hard work, where teams that ended with a good standing in their division and won their qualification match travelled to battle it out for the top 8 positions in British University volleyball. The women had a great path to the BUCS Finals, having won all 10 of their league matches this season, and defeating St Andrew's 3-0 to secure their qualification. The men's path was not as convincing - losing 3 matches before Christmas - but the men's division was a closer affair than the women's and crucially they won their last 3 matches to finish top tied on points with Loughborough. They sealed their BUCS qualification with a walkover against Imperial who failed to comply with the BUCS regulations.

Matches began on Friday, W1 starting against a supposedly "weak" Southampton side. The girls took the first set quite comfortably, but perhaps underestimated their opponents and were on the back foot for most of the 2nd set which they eventually lost. The vital 3rd set went by in a flash, and the girls found themselves on the wrong end of a 15-3 scoreline.

The men didn't fare any better against a convincing Manchester team. All their players seemed capable of consistently jump-serving, and Oxford couldn't find the passes to get their game going. Despite Coach Giovanni's attempts to galvanize the team, they suffered a 2-0 defeat.

Saturday brought another difficult game for the men, as they played the Giants of Bath(!). Oxford found their feet a bit more than the first day, but were overpowered by a tactically weak but physically strong Bath team. Their high point was to come though, as they faced 2008/9 finalists (and this year's winners) Sheffield Hallam. The boys pulled together and gave a superb performance, pushing Hallam all the way in the first set. Somewhat tired by their exertions in the first set, Oxford lost the 2nd set by a larger margin, but their overall performance had demonstrated that they belonged at the Finals.

Whether W1 deserved to be at the Finals was never in question, but on day two they perhaps had a point to prove to themselves that not only did they belong, but that they could compete with the best teams. After wobbling their way to a 2-1 victory over a tricky UCL, they faced EVA champions Leeds Met. Oxford came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders and a visibly shocked Leeds team found it difficult to score points. Unaccustomed to not winning points at will, Leeds didn't look confident of surviving the match, but they kept up with Oxford until the end of the set, where Oxford were unable to deliver a killing blow and Leeds took the set by the smallest of margins. Buoyed by their good fortune, Leeds came out more confidently in the 2nd set, and Oxford struggled to keep pace (especially when Leeds started using their middles - something they curiously lacked in the 1st set). The match ended 2-0 to Leeds, as most people would have predicted, but it was Oxford that left the court to the applause of the spectators...

The final day was a matter of honour - the men knew that they were capable of winning in Sheffield but hadn't done so in the group stage, and the women needed a convincing win to prove their superiority over the lower teams at BUCS. Happily, both teams achieved exactly those things. Coach Brian made it to Sheffield in time to lead the guys to their first win of the weekend against Dundee to finish 7th. And Coach Jon was able to sit on the bench and admire his team dismantle Bristol to finish 5th.

Volleyball aside, everyone had a great weekend, and Gareth didn't even get annoyed when he had to drive the girls' minibus round the one way system in Sheffield five times to find the restaurant - after all, they did still get there before the men's team! ;)

Report by Gareth

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