Tendring 3 – 2 Loughborough Students
25-22, 18-25, 21-25, 26-24, 15-9
The first match of the day was the Women’s Shield final, which pitted Tendring against Loughborough Students. A strong start to the match by both teams suggested this would be a closely fought encounter, and it didn’t disappoint.
It was Tendring who secured the first set with a tight 25-22 win. However Loughborough Students showed great fighting spirit to take the next two sets, opening up a strong lead in both and holding on to take them 25-18, 25-21.
It looked to be all going Loughborough’s way heading into the 4th set, as they opened up a 5-1 lead. But Tendring were not down and out, pulling back the deficit to just 1 point at the first time out. The teams were point for point up until 20-20, when Tendring pulled away to a 24-20 lead. Loughborough showed true tenacity saving four set points, but Tendring held their nerve and a superb serve from captain Laura Hodgkinson helped them secure the set 26-24.
Filled with confidence, they carried their momentum into the deciding set opening up a 3-point lead at the change of ends. Despite a valiant effort from Loughborough to pull back from 12-5 down, Tendring secured the set, match and shield taking the final set 15-9. A fantastic start to the finals.
To top it off Tendring’s own Laura Hodgkinson won the MVP
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