The first match for Sunday saw the Blues taking on Cardiff in the semi-final. With Loughborough already qualified for the Final, Cambridge fielded a team to match the offence tactics of the team that knocked Oxford out of the competition and finished second in Pool A. With Anne lined up against the tall UWIC middle and Jo strengthening the short cover abilities of the team the Blues looked to control the match from the outset.
Anne made a number of blocks and a kill in the opening play, whilst Alison was making no mistakes through the reverse and scoring with ease. With Veronica on serve the Blues started to motor and extended their lead to 13-2, the Cardiff team unable to break the stranglehold. A few cross-court attacks from the UWIC number 5 pulled back some points, but these were soon closed down and Cyndee was starting to score freely from the back-court position. Veronica took the set with a second ball attack that left the UWIC team standing.
In set 2 Veronica continued her service pressure and bad passing from the Cardiff team soon saw them in deficit again. With Fola replacing Jo and Fiona on for Nadia the Blues maintained their dominance of the game. By this stage the Cardiff team were making errors and a lengthy discussion with the second ref over the rotation led to an enforced time-out. Returning to court the UWIC team were still confused and the points-slide continued for the Blues. Forgetting that Fola had already been added as a substitution unfortunately didn't allow Thea to enter the game at the end of the set, but the Blues emphatically reserved their place in the final.
Report by Jon Clarke
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