UUC Volleyball into semi-finals of the NI league Cup

It was a clash of the Coleraine first team and the Ballymoney seconds team, so the visitors were looking to cause an upset, but it wasn’t to be.

They are a side that show great promise, with Ruby Caskey, Abigail Smyth, Evie Hanna and Diana Yelchento playing in their first senior match, with particular commendation going to Yelchento who received the accolade of ‘Most Valuable Player’, fighting hard and displaying great determination.

However, credit where credit is due, Coleraine had a well-deserved 3-0 victory (25-10, 25-10, 25-5) with captain, Rachel Montgomery, picking up the MVP for the home side.

Several times the home side had to push their opposition one more time to win the point. Coleraine showed a depth to their side, with coach Jonathan Workman, making substitutions without changing the quality of play on court. The match saw debuts for Joelle Santos, Sarah Scott, Lauren Forgrave and Zara Hegarty as UUC welcomed them on court. Next month, UUC 1 will play the semi-final, their opponents to be confirmed.

Two days later, on October 13, the UUC 1 players were on court again for the first match of their NI Premier League campaign. This time it was a battle between the two NI universities, as Queen’s made the journey north to the Coleraine campus.

In their prior meeting, at the end of the last season, UUC had come out on top, so the home side stepped on court with confidence but without presumption; Queen’s have historically been a high performing team and currently have excellent players and great resolve.

It was neck and neck for much of the first set, with the scoreboard showing 8-8, 9-9, 10-10 and 11-11. Queen’s pulled away to a 16-12 lead by consistently attacking the Coleraine, back-court setter.

Queen’s took an advantage, but later, when UUC veteran, Hannah Holmes, stepped up to serve at 19-22 down, she put them back in their place with bullet serves, weakening the Queen’s attack and bringing the score line to 24-22, to the home side. The Belfast team won the next point (24-23), but moments later, Coach Workman made a substitution, bringing on Vanessa Oliveira as outside hitter.

Queen’s served the ball along her channel and Oliveira made the brave choice to let it go. The ball landed inches beyond the baseline, and with her intrepid decision, without even a touch on the ball, she won Coleraine the first set, 25-23.

Coleraine rode the wave of momentum opening the second set with a 6-0 lead. They maintained this comfortable gap for most of the set, seeing 10-3 and 18-13, but Queen’s player Siobhan Healy (MVP) closed the gap, with several hard driven attacks and a successful run of predominantly cross-court float serves, but it wasn’t enough and Coleraine took the set 25-19.

The third set saw a change of strategy from Queen’s, placing Healy in the middle hitter position, and it paid off with a 4-0 start for the Belfast side, with Healy scoring three of the four points. Coleraine would have to adjust their defence, but that they did, bringing the set to evens again, at 7-7. The fans were on the edges of their seats as, tit for tat, the teams earned their points.

In a repeat of the first set, there were many times when all was square; 12 all, 15 all and 16 all, but Catherine Murphy, earning MVP for UUC, hammered balls down in the middle of the court. Joelle Santos was swinging on the right side and won UUC several points with her high-contact, left-handed spike just in front of the Queen’s defensive line.

UUC edged ahead with a 24-21 lead but, keeping the spectators guessing, Queen’s once again surged forward bringing the set to 24 apiece. UUC won their ‘side-out’ and Montgomery stepped to the service line at 25-24, needing a ‘2 clear point’ lead to win the match. With one strike of the ball, it was all over; an ace, winning the match 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 26-24).

It was a busy week for the club, with the seconds team travelling to Craigavon for their first league match of the season on October 10. Both UUC 1 and UUC 2 finished in the top five NI league positions last season, so will commence the season as Premier League rivals; there will be nothing but high level league matches for the club this year!

Coleraine were delighted to welcome Riona Pauling back on court, after a two year break from the club, due to her studies in England. The opposition, Aztecs Eagles, are a very experienced side who specialise in thumping the ball.

In the first set UUC 2 passed well, but Aztecs were like clockwork and it was difficult for the north coast team to penetrate their seams. Aztecs took the first set 25-4, but the young Coleraine side showed so much persistence, resilience and spirit as they stepped on to court in the second set.

Smart play from Alex Kincaid, hard-driven attacks from Grace Barclay, great pick-ups from Lydia Kane and Zania Avelar and aces from Grace Allen and Teanna Mills (MVP) meant the County Armagh side were really under pressure with Coleraine continually putting them out of system, but Aztecs managed to win the set 25-22.

In the third set, Aztecs showed their experience with Jemma Calvin swinging hard down the line, earning MVP, and Claire Dowey and Sarah O’Reilly stepping back on court for Aztecs, after a period playing for a Belfast club, Fireblades. They stormed to a 25-9 victory, taking the match 3-0.