The UEL Women’s volleyball team came home with another victory, advancing their record to 3-1, after traveling to play Cambridge University on 12 November.
The team had a point to prove after their 18-25, 9-25, 17-25 defeat to BUCS rivals Essex two weeks ago. A renewed sense of confidence was evident from the first serve, the extra hours spent in training resulted in an impressive 12 total aces on the match.
The game was capped at a quick 40 minutes in three sets of 25-11, 25-9 and 25-5. The team was able to fine-tune their offensive skills, using multiple service runs to jump ahead of their opponents. Aleah Rafat, an outside hitter, was able to gather three aces and a six-point run with her first attempt behind the line.
“Our coaches put an emphasis on aggressive serving, but there’s always going to be an over-and-in mentality going on in the player’s head,” Rafat explained.
“I have been pretty conservative up until this point with my serves, but against this team I was able to ramp up the level of intensity after my first few and was rewarded for it.”
After the first set, UEL focused on free ball passing which allowed for better hitting options, including integrating the middle. In the middle of a rally where there tends to be a loss of ball control, it can be hard to get a quick set to the middle but this game proved to be an exception.
Cambridge captains Carrie Shi and Chloe Chernoff tried to keep their team uplifted but UEL did not let up. The second and third sets were quicker than the first with three more service aces in each respectively and clean defensive tactics.
Middle blocker Ava Kutilek, despite never playing backrow defense before this volleyball season, hunkered down in zone five, providing steady digs that kept her team in system. The Red Lions were able to earn some points on unforced errors from UEL’s side of the court.
Even with these less-competitive games, the high performance players know how important it is to maintain a level of force and ultimate standards to catch back up with Essex at the top of the rankings.
The team looks to defend their home court next against UCL, who in their previous matchup on 15 October, beat them in three sets.
