The University of Nottingham (UoN) Volleyball teams completed the double over Nottingham Trent University (NTU), with straight sets victories for both teams at the Lee Westwood Sports Centre.
The women’s game was up first, as the UoN team looked to avenge their Varsity loss last year, especially after a stellar season that saw them promoted to the BUCS Premier North division.
“It was easy for UoN to win the set with a total score of 25-13, and NTU had it all to do to salvage something from the women’s game”
The ladies game began with tense early exchanges, the score tied at 3-3 and 6-6, making it a very tight game. At the first timeout, UoN trailed 11-8 after some big NTU hitting, but quickly gained pace after play resumed, reducing the arrears to just 2 points, at 14-12. In the next few exchanges, UoN showed their class in bringing the score back to being tied, at 16-16.
NTU called for a timeout, at which point, the score was 20-19, our first lead in the game. After the timeout, UoN wasted no time and quickly gained points to win the 1st set with a score of 25-20.
At the start of the 2nd set, UoN raced into an early lead of 7-3, and when that soon climbed to 12-6, UoN looked odds-on to take the second set. It was easy for UoN to win the set with a total score of 25-13, and NTU had it all to do to salvage something from the women’s game.
Uni Of pull another one back in the Volleyball. NTU 14-12 UoN pic.twitter.com/RY93WkRIhV
— URN Sport (@URNSport) May 10, 2016
The 3rd set started with the score tied at 7-7 in the early stages. UoN extended their lead with dazzling defensive play, tallying the score to 13-8 and creating an incontestable lead. NTU rallied back within a few exchanges, bringing the score back to 19-16, and eventually tying at 20-20, before a timeout by UoN. UoN quickly finished the game winning with a total score of 25-22.
“At the start of the Men’s sets, UoN showed their premier class immediately”
The men’s volleyball team came into this game having retained their Premier North status with a 4th place finish, and, having beaten NTU last year, were looking to continue their winning streak.
At the start of the Men’s sets, UoN showed their premier class immediately, leading 10-5 in the 1st set. At the second timeout, UoN was still leading with a total score of 20-12. They won the 1st set with a remarkable score of 25-19.
The 2nd set was a much closer affair at the start of the set, with a tie of 8-8 after a few exchanges. Once again, however, UoN turned on the style with some fantastic play, including a very good smash-shot that drew cheers from the crowd. They went on to win the 2nd set 25-19, with a commanding two-set lead.
The last set of the game saw UoN and NTU tying again at 3-3 in the early exchanges. They quickly increased the score margin to 13-11 and as the timeout was called, UoN was leading 18-14. At the last moments, NTU tried to get back in the game but UoN won with a considerable margin of 25-18, in a game which UoN never looked like losing.
The wins in the volleyball mean that UoN have a 10-6 lead in the overall Varsity series, with just one more win needed from the final five fixtures to secure the 2016 Varsity Series title.
Words by Sanchari Banerjee
Images: IMPACT Images Team and URN Sport
Follow @ImpactVarsity16 for more updates on the 2016 Varsity Series.
