London University volleyball team, sponsored by AQA 63336, triumphs in national cup

The Cup Final, held in the last week of April, was a thrilling five setter between Polonia Ladies and ULU, with ULU winning the Cup on their debut at the Finals.

Volleyball England reports:

"Things were close throughout, with Polonia taking the first set 25-20 with impressive play from their line-up, including former England Juniors, Rachel Turner and Kelly Jones, both joining the team this year from Warwick Riga. In the second set Polonia kept up their aggressive play with great kills from Jevgenija Livca and Barbora Kurucova. ULU’s defence was resilient, however, and they soon went ahead 13-7 with some impressive play from setter Cristina Alcaide and power from Gabi Medricka. Czinegeova added power to ULU’s attack, slicing through Polonia defence 19-13 and ULU soon wrapped up the set 25-14 to level the score.

In front of filling stands, full of juniors playing at tomorrow’s finals, the atmosphere was electric. With Livca and Moore on the block, Polonia looked strong, but ULU were holding on at 9-11. Medricka wrapped up a fantastic rally to take the score to 12-14 but Polonia pushed hard to bring the momentum back their way, 12-18, and a wayward serve from ULU ended the set 16-25.

Into the fourth set emotions ran high. Things were level at 6 all and with impressive play from ULU’s agile libero Aroni and power from Medricka, things looked up for ULU who came back from 15-17 down to take the set 25-22.

The fifth set saw Polonia storm ahead to a 5 point lead, thanks to an ace by Turner and fantastic play from Livca. After a service error apiece, ULU started to creep back to 3-6 and the teams were soon neck and neck at 9 all. Both teams played a passionate final but ULU ultimately took the prize, taking the fifth and final set 15-10."

Final score:

University London Union 3-2 Polonia Ladies
(20-25, 25-14, 16-25, 25-22, 15-10)

all pictures (c) Jon McGugan