In a key BUCS match the women’s volleyball team dominated from start to finish, recording an impressive 3-0 victory over Leeds 1sts.
York began the match in strong style and stormed to an 8-2 lead forcing Leeds to call an early time out. Yet, this did little to halt the dominance as York consistently outscored their opponents, often winning points from seemingly impossible positions.
Jitka Jizerova was particularly impressive, regularly chasing lost causes and inspiring the team. The 11-point margin of victory in the first set said much for York’s patience and fighting qualities as long, hard fought rallies became the norm. It was during these long rallies that the team spirit, mentioned by Widerhofer after the game, became so apparent.
Possibly in a bid to try and counter York’s superior defense in the first set, Leeds came out after the turn around far more aggressively. Initially it appeared to work as they took an early 3-1 lead. This was short lived as York quickly adapted, utilizing superior communication skills to turn defense into attack and force errors from Leeds.
Yeung was particularly impressive, repeatedly hitting the lines with spikes that were almost impossible to return. This helped to turn the set around and after York won a crucial point after a long rally at 7-7, they began to dominate, winning seven points in a row.
Leeds continued to battle on but fittingly captain Katharina Widerhofer finished the set with an ace as York secured the second set by the same 25-14 margin, as they had the first.
By the third set it appeared that the Leeds resistance had broken as York took an early 7-1 lead. However, to be fair to Leeds they did keep going until the end and made York work hard for their 25-13 final set win. Widerhofer was again impressive as she utilised the excellent setting of Lucia Linares to consistently win points through power and precision.
This capped a highly impressive win for York which a clearly delighted Widerhofer put down to “team work and great team spirit”. On this showing it is possible that York will be a serious proposition for any team unlucky enough to face them this year.