When Lancaster’s women’s squad went head to head against York on Saturday afternoon, they looked to reverse the result of the mixed team from the evening before. Would the fixture see a repeat result from last year’s success? Lancaster certainly hoped so.
The match opened with a series of long rallies, which are somewhat of a rarity in volleyball given the aggressive nature of most attacking moves. Lancaster had a slim lead with the score at 6-4. Suddenly Lancaster began to really show off their abilities increasing the lead, before York called their second timeout, at 15-7 and again with the score at 23-8. Throughout the opening set, Lancaster’s serving was causing York a number of problems, particularly when delivered by Alex Buttol and Kanika Eung.
The second set began evenly, with both teams exchanging smash shots to make the score 2 points each. Once again Lancaster then moved into another gear and before we knew it, York were calling their fifth timeout of the match with Lancaster ahead in the set 24-12. It did not seem to matter how many timeouts York called, nothing was disturbing Lancaster’s momentum.
York started well in the third set moving into a 4-3 lead before it was Lancaster who called a timeout. Could York make a grand comeback in the match? Well any hopes of said comeback were quashed soon after the timeout as Lancaster surged back into the lead 12-5 before another timeout from York. The point played right after the timeout saw an extraordinarily long rally between the teams, with both making fantastic recovery moves, York managing to outlast Lancaster and take it. This proved to be the highlight of York’s match as the rest of the set followed the previous script of Lancaster dominating. The final result being a resounding three sets to nil to Lancaster. Indeed a repeat result from last, and one that was never in doubt, right from the first serve.
Star performer in the game was undoubtedly Lancaster’s Buttol whose serving through the whole match kept York on the back foot with its precise accuracy resulting in numerous aces. Her smash shots were also devastatingly powerful, meaning that it did not matter whether a York player got her arm to the ball, it was almost guaranteed points for Lancaster whenever she wound up for the shot. Buttol’s performance was complimented well by Eung and Wing Sum Tse who themselves came up with some excellent plays throughout.
In all honesty however, it was a wonderful performance by the whole team and they should all take credit for the victory. Wing Sum, Ludovica, Yaa, Alex, Maria, Kanika, Camilla, Gabrielle, Paula, Cecilia, and Mathilde showed that Lancaster’s girls certainly can.
