November 11th, 2008 – Rugby Phoenix vs. Cleobury Mortimer

Phoenix 3 Cleobury Mortimer 1: 25-17; 17-25; 25-18; 25-9

Travelling to Cleobury Mortimer on Tuesday, Phoenix prevailed in a match that saw them able to give league debut's to 2 players who joined the club in October. Without Sharon Warmsley for the rest of the season due to injury, Anna Scantlebury and Alison Goodman were drafted in to play their 1st matches of the season and predictably showed nervousness as the team adjusted to their previously limited court time. Despite Phoenix taking an early 5-2 lead following a run of services from Rhea Shelly, Cleobury picked up on the Phoenix's unfamiliar lineup and uncertainty to score points bringing it back to 8-8.
A series of exchanges then took place during mid-set where neither team could take control but at 15-15, 3 quick serves from captain Janet Wardle followed by 6 from Olga Salesslu took the set 25-17 in favor of Phoenix. The 2nd set however saw Phoenix continued to struggle to find a rhythm and fell foul of several poor defensive plays finding themselves at 1 set each loosing 17-25 in the 2nd. After a team talk by coach Aneel Khanna, the 3rd saw Phoenix show a cutting edge with setters Wardle and Shelley finding their range allowing free hitting Nikki Wardle and Kim Khanna to dominate at the net, each scoring important points as they took a 14-9 lead.
A time out then by the Cleobury coach failed to slow Phoenix's momentum as again Shelley found her serving range and Scantlebury chipping in with the final 3 points to take the set 25-18.
The 4th set was over in just over 10 minutes as Phoenix's strength eventually told. Captain Jan Wardle supported by Kim Khanna in serving and attack led Phoenix to an overwhelming 25-9 4th set victory taking the match 3-1.



November 16th, 2008 – Rugby Phoenix vs. Tettenhall Tigers

Phoenix 3 Tettenhall Tigers 0: 25-12; 25-10; 25-22

Phoenix came into this match full of confidence following their midweek success and overcame the Wolverhampton based Tettenhall team in less than 1 hour. Excellent serving by Rhea Shelly throughout the match helped Phoenix take a 3-0 match win. The 1st set followed the league form shown by the 2 teams with Phoenix easily scoring points from service and attack against a young Tigers team who, although showing good skills, could not handle the power of the attacking plays by Olga Salesslu, Kim Khanna and Nikki Wardle with Phoenix running out 25-12 winners.
In the 2nd set Anna Scantlebury showed more confidence in her ability and this was passed onto the rest of the team as they were now able to concentrate more on their responsibilities. With all of the Phoenix players now contributing with service points and their front court players preventing Tigers getting into the match, the 2nd set was easily taken 25-10.
The introduction of Alison Goodman at the beginning of the 3rd set appeared to unsettle the confident Phoenix as they struggled to find the momentum that had carried them through the previous set. Loosing 0-5 and 6-9 during the early part of the set, it again came down to the senior players Jan Wardle and Rhea Shelly to settle the team down with some excellent positional services.
Salesslu and Nikki Wardle took control defensively as Kim Khanna started to hit freely. As the set progressed Goodman added defensively as her confidence grew and it was apt that Phoenix's youngest player on court, Wardle, served out to win the match 3-0, resulting in Phoenix taking a 9 point lead at the top of the West Midlands Division 2.