WEWC march on in cup

It was a pleasant surprise to see that the team from the end of the M54 had opted to visit Tooting after hearing they had defaulted the first round in the previous season. White Eagles, strengthened by the addition of Cristina GALVAN and Magda BERGE from W2, but weakened by injuries, absence and the defection of Julie KOUAMO to Polonia for the cup games, played gallant hosts and allowed a late start after Telford were late in arriving.

Captain Jessie FORESTER has learnt a lot in her one game in her new role and ignored questions regarding whether she had won WE the right to serve, but serve we did. A slow start was made by both teams with Telford showing there really is no difference between lower National League and the middle of the London League. However, the standard was not high and it was a little disappointing when the passing unit seemed to freeze. Whilst no outright errors were being made, the quality of the pass was below that seen earlier in the week, meaning that Bethany LOWNEY was unable to establish the middle attack effectively. Points were traded for half of the set until WEs secret weapon, Geri SANCHO, came around to serve. Starting at 14-13 up, she put on 7 points with her brand of serving. The Telford team were probably overawed by the serves as they just crept over the net, but a point is a point and the team were happy to collect all seven. With the lead established WE went on to easily finish out 25-16.

Coach David JENKINSON started the same team in the next set and the set followed much the same pattern. Self belief seemed lacking as the pass again failed to settle, but the lead was established earlier with a few points here and there. Linda MOLNES reinforced it with a run of five serves, which also crept over the net but in a whole different way. This gave enough comfort for the first of the days changes to be made with Mary-Jane SCHOLLER replacing Sagette DESALLIERS in position 4. Due to the fact the team are very early in their season, and the lack of training opportunities to date, SCHOLLER was a little unsure of her role and took some time to settle. This also unsettled the other players and any communication there had been in the pass was lost. With the set nearing a conclusion and the confusion not appearing to be solved, despite WE being 20-14 up, JENKINSON brought DESALLIERS back on to help secure the set 25-18.

Set 3 again saw the sides trading points early on, although the Eagles passing had improved to the extent that the middle option was working well. A run of serving from DESALLIERS, taking WE from 6 all to 15-6, should have been sufficient for WE to seal the set and the game but the team were once again unsettled by the introduction of a new player. GALVAN, coming on for SANCHO in the front court, was quickly into the game but despite a number of pick-ups from Nathalia BETANCUR, the team lost their focus and too many balls were going to places where players should have been but weren't. A quick run of points by Telford saw them pull back to within touching distance and an erosion of White Eagles lead over the business end of the set saw Telford take the set 25-23.

With Telford having done what Whipps had threatened, the WE ladies returned to set 4 with some aggression. The team was more aware and where previously tips from the Telford setter were falling mid-court with no attempt from the surrounding players, this set nothing was landing on the court. LOWNEY was now finding her range for BETANCUR and FORESTER, with the middle block frozen by SANCHO and MOLNES. Runs of serving saw Eagles open up a 9 point lead which they managed to extend to win the set 52-15 and the game 3-1.

The next game is against Wirral (near Liverpool) who won by default when Brentwood weren't interested in the 4+ hour drive to them. They might see it as an easy scalp to get them through to another away game, probably against National Division 2 side Dulwich Tuskers. Details will be announced shortly and it would be great if some more supporters come join the handful who were much appreciated for their cheering on of the team.

WEWC beat Telford 3-1 (25-16, 25-18, 23-25, 25-15)

SQUAD

Magda BERGE
Nathalia BETANCUR
Sagette DESALLIERS
Jessie FORESTER (Captain)
Cristina GALVAN
Julie KOUAMO
Bethany LOWNEY
Linda MOLNES
Geri SANCHO

David JENKINSON (Coach)
Carlos JOHNSON (Assistant Coach)

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Bethany LOWNEY