Double victories lift team into top four

Dundee ladies made the long journey to Prestwick for two Scottish League 1 games.  Their first game was a re-run of last weekend’s encounter in Craigie High School when Dundee scored a comfortable 3/0 win over a very young Caledonia West side.  On Saturday the Cale side were boosted by two experienced hitters being available for a home game and Dundee had Pauletta Talmon replacing Laura Ward.

Both sides traded points early in the opening set, then four Cale errors gave Dundee a 10/6 lead.  Hannah Lawrie scored three points with a hit and two blocks as Dundee moved onto 14/8. The visitors then controlled the rest of the set, moving to 19/9 with scores from Sarah Driscoll and Agnes Bednarek.  Cale fought back with a run of points from their service but Dundee closed out the set with four scoring hits from Sarah Driscoll and one from Pauletta Talmon, winning 25/19.  The second set started with a run of points from the Cale side as they raced to a 12/4 lead with Dundee struggling to cope with the Cale service and unorthodox attacking.  The inconsistent play from the Cale side then drew the scores closer as they began to gave up points in errors.  Two service ‘aces’ gave the home side a lead at 22/18.  Scores from Driscoll and Lawrie hauled Dundee level.  Cale held set points at 24/22 and 25/24, then Dundee had set points at 27/26, 28/27 and 30/29.  A service ‘ace’ from Lana Edgar and a quick attack score from Hannah Lawrie gave Dundee the set 32/30.

Dundee raced to an 11/3 lead in the third set and then dominated the rest of the set to win comfortably 25/15 for a 3/0 win.

Next up was another re-run against City of Edinburgh ll, who had lost to Cale West 3/2 in a long, gruelling two hour match, in the first game of the day.  Dundee had a whirlwind start with points from Lucy Wishart, Hannah Lawrie and Sarah Driscoll taking the score to 12/6.  Lana Edgar and Agnes Bednarek added points as the visitors took the set 25/17.  The ‘second set syndrome’ then struck again as both sides traded points and Edinburgh had the lead 20/19, then 22/21.  A score block and hitting error gave Edinburgh set point at 24/23. They had another chance at 27/26 and again at 28/27 but a block from Lawrie and hit from Bednarek gave Dundee another marathon win 30/28.

Both sides were tiring and service became a major weapon for Dundee as first Hannah Lawrie, then Sarah Driscoll helped score runs of points to keep Dundee ahead after a slow start.  Hits from Pauletta Talmon and Lana Edgar took Dundee to 23/17 then two errors let Edinburgh get closer.  Two scores from Lawrie and then a great combination between Lucy Wishart and Sarah Driscoll gave Dundee the winning point for a 25/22 win.  The 3/0 score helps lift the team into the top four in league 1.