After an intense evening on Monday 16th March at the English Institute of Sport, University of Sheffield women’s volleyball walked away with a varsity point, whilst for the men Hallam left victorious!
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 players. However, University of Sheffield began to pull away, making the score for the first set 13-8 to them. This was helped by number 5 – Adele Perriat acting as a ‘Defence Specialist’, continuously hitting back strong against the opposition.
From then 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 match point and even in the face of Hallam’s number 7 Mariah Lavoo’s best efforts to prevent it, the first point went to UoS.
At the beginning of the second set, Uni of Sheffield started off strong again off the high of their first win, helped by the Captain’s strong blocking. Again Hallam fought valiantly with Sophia Murisho – Number 17 delivering powerful hits throughout. However this did not stop UoS from taking the second point with a final set score at 25-15.
For the third set there was no stopping them, Boufidou had mentioned they ‘planned to win’ and this plan came into action as they fought to get the winning point with a score of 24-19. 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 group.
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, helped by the setter Greg Wong (number 2).
However 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! University of Sheffield managed to scrape 2 more points, meaning they claimed the second point.
Despite only one point needed to win, Hallam now seemed to gain their footing and began to pull away in points, gaining a lead. Their number 7 – Jack McGill – delivered incredible serves that never seemed to hit the net. They earned their first point, finishing the set 20-25.
As we entered a tense 4th set neither teams showed signs of tiring and were clearly evenly matched, with no one pulling ahead. But Hallam had hit their stride and made it to the match point with a 6 point lead.
This meant we entered the fifth and final set 2-2. The atmosphere was electric, crowds on both sides only getting louder. UoS did not stop fighting, determined right until the end. But with Hallam on 14 for the match point whilst University of Sheffield was on 7, it all came down to the final plays from Hallam. As the ball went out of court from a UoS hit, Hallam won. It was a tough fight on both sides, with each team displaying a strong team, but as Hallam’s number 5 Benjamin Wu said ‘they never doubted it (the team) from the start.’.
Overall, a very interesting afternoon with great performances on both sides. Now it will be interesting to see how this plays out at next year’s varsity…
