Volleyball squad ease past East Anglia

East London Advertiser: UEL students got into the spirit of Big Blue WednesdayUEL students got into the spirit of Big Blue Wednesday (Image: Archant)

The University of East London women’s volleyball team celebrated Big Blue Wednesday in style as they demolished East Anglia in straight sets.

In an important BUCS Volleyball 2014-2015 Trophy game, UEL quickly built a large lead in the first set, as captain Alexandra Vajdova led the onslaught with several hard kills.

Carrie Beck helped out with an ace and Yulia Zhurba fooled East Anglia with a sneaky tip over the net.

After Beth Gunter served two aces to put UEL up 15-2, East Anglia called a timeout to rally their team. But UEL continued to dominate and went on to win the first set, 25-5.

East London Advertiser: Students got into the spirit of Big Blue Wednesday during the UEL women's volleyball matchStudents got into the spirit of Big Blue Wednesday during the UEL women's volleyball match (Image: Archant)

East Anglia continued to play tentatively in the second set and often shrank from UEL’s massive kills.

UEL faltered for a moment midway through the set, allowing East Anglia to pick up several points, but the home side quickly resumed the offensive and won the second set with a 25-9 score.

In the final set, UEL found themselves behind for the first time in the game when East Anglia scored the first point.

But UEL then won a string of points to take an 8-1 lead and extended their advantage to 19-3 before winning the third set 25-5.

UEL won the game in less than 45 minutes and their victory was all the more impressive considering their head coach was unable to be at their game because of a schedule conflict with the UEL men’s volleyball game.

“I think we dominated the game,” said Vajdova. “We tried to make it clean and professional and I think we achieved that, so [we’re] very happy with the performance.”

Vajdova added that the team enjoyed UEL’s Big Blue Wednesday promotion and were “totally in it.”

UEL, who now boast a 6-0 record in the regular season and have yet to drop a set, will return to league play next week to face University College London on the road at 6 pm.

UEL defeated UCL 25-18, 25-9, 25-15 in their first meeting earlier this season at the SportsDock and after the return meeting they will not play again until January 28.