RETURNING mum Heike Singleton struck out against York Phoenix to inspire revenge for York Ladies three weeks after losing 3-1 at the hands of their Yorkshire Volleyball League foes.

A switch in tactics from the last time round to include Singleton in the centre of the court worked wonders as Singleton took control with several spikes into the Phoenix court.

York's game plan attempted to minimise the threat of Wendy Gate of Phoenix and her danger was once again evident as she boosted her side to a 22-18 lead.

But that started to change as soon as Sue Yoward hit the serve line as her fast and accurate serves proved difficult to return, and, combined with Singleton's blocking, York hit back to claim the set 25-22.

The second set mirrored the first as Gate, Claire Trodden and Lesley Gamble all racked up the points for Phoenix before Yoward turned around a 14-11 deficit to a 14-17 lead thanks to spot-on spikes by Singleton and Liz Howard. A point-for point exchange continued but York scraped the set 28-26.

Phoenix trailed York all through the third until 15-15 but intelligent tipping by Gate pulled Phoenix back in to contention 20-25.

Fitness became the decisive factor in the fourth with two Phoenix players suffering from colds and York took advantage to seal a 3-1 victory with a 25-14 final set.

Updated: 10:09 Wednesday, February 16, 2005