University of Sheffield Women’s volleyball walked away with a varsity point, while Sheffield Hallam Men’s claimed one back after a five-set battle.
An intense evening on Monday, 16th March, as the English Institute of Sport sets the stage for two intense clashes in volleyball.
Domination for the girls in black and gold
It was an emotional game for the black and gold women. As Captain Erasmini Boufidou reminded us in the pre-match interviews, it was many of the team’s last Varsity. This makes it both ‘exciting and sad’, but at the end of the day, they wanted to ‘enjoy it’.
Both teams walked out to enthusiastic cheers from a busy crowd. The game started pretty even across both sides, each displaying strong plays.
The University of Sheffield quickly began to pull away, making the score for the first set 13-8 for them. This was helped by number 5, Adele Perriat, the ‘Defence Specialist’, continuously hitting back strongly against the opposition.
From then on, there was no stopping them, with this lead being maintained for the rest of the set, despite Hallam trying to slow their momentum by using breaks. After an intense set point and even in the face of Hallam’s number 7 Mariah Lavoo’s best efforts to prevent it, the first set went to UoS.
At the beginning of the second set, Uni of Sheffield started strong again, off the high of their lead, helped by Captain Boufidou’s strong blocking. Again, Hallam fought valiantly with Sophia Murisho, number 17, delivering powerful spikes throughout. However, this did not stop UoS from doubling its lead with a final set score of 25-15.
UoS was in cruise control. Boufidou had mentioned they “planned to win”, and this plan came into action as they fought diligently to get the winning point in the final set with a score of 25-19.
It was a win that clearly meant a lot to this tight-knit group. As the majority of the team posed with the supportive ‘Gradu-ate’ sign, it is clear this match will be looked on fondly by the UoS girls.
Hallam’s men with a statement comeback
The crowd only seemed to grow in energy as the men’s teams prepared. It seemed the women’s luck had spread to the University of Sheffield’s men for the first set as they took a lead ahead of Hallam, inspired by the setter Greg Wong.
As the second set started, Hallam made it clear they were not going to make this an easy win. The game stayed neck and neck, with each team equalising as soon as the other gained a slight lead.
It came right down to the wire, both teams reaching 25. The University of Sheffield managed to scrape two more points, meaning they claimed the second point.
Facing a do-or-die situation, Hallam now seemed to regain their footing and began to pull away in points, gaining a lead. Number 7, Jack McGill, delivered incredible serves as Hallam earned their first point back, finishing the set 25-20.
As we entered a tense 4th set, neither team showed signs of tiredness. Both sides were clearly evenly matched, with no one pulling ahead. But Hallam managed to hit their stride at the right moment and finished the set with a six-point gap.
This meant we were entering the fifth and final set 2-2. The atmosphere was getting even more electric, and crowds on both sides were only getting louder.
Despite losing two sets on a spin, UoS did not stop fighting, determined right until the end. But with Hallam on 14 for the match point whilst the University of Sheffield was on 7, destiny called Hallam’s name. As the ball went out of bounds from a UoS hit, Hallam won. A magnificent comeback after going down by two sets.
It was a tough fight on both sides, with each team pulling out their strongest display and taking their opponents to the limit. As Hallam’s number 5 Benjamin Wu said, “they never doubted it (the team) from the start.”
Overall, a very captivating afternoon with great performances by both universities. Now it will be interesting to see how this plays out at next year’s varsity.
