Volleyball
26 November, 2024
Phantoms win grand final
The top teams showed why in the Volleyball Horsham winter season grand finals with six of the seven minor premiers shining on the grand final night. In the A grade final, Phantoms never gave Hellenic Nuggets a look in, winning in straight sets 25-20, 25-14, 25-18.
In a complete contrast, the Phantoms found a way to win points with good variety in attack, while Nuggets tried everything, but the Phantoms' defenses were too strong.
A grade Robinson Medal winner was Tyler Puls from Phantoms, ahead of Clay Heard from Hellenic Nuggets while Tyler Snowden was the Abud Medalist for the most consistent male, with Kara Johnson the McIntyre Medalist for the most consistent female.
In the A Reserve grand final, Heidelberg prevailed over International Rescue once again in straight sets 25-21, 25-13, 30-28.
Heidelberg were strong on serve, putting their opponents on the back foot in each of the first two sets.
International Rescue reversed that trend in the third, taking an early 7-1 lead, but were unable to capitalize on their strong start, allowing Heidelberg to get into the contest, which they were able to do even though it took a series of match points to put their opposition away.
A Reserve grade Alexander Medal winner was James Davidson from Heidelberg defeating Von Steiger Shadows Adam Harrison, with Rowan Sanders taking the Abud Medal and Tayla Eltze and Lily Adams sharing the McIntyre Medal.
CHS Group put their stamp on the B grade grand final, winning in straight sets over the HTLC Tigers 25-15, 25-23, 25-20.
Chris Hopper and Chaminda Gamage swapped the whites for kneepads and picked up where they left off the cricket field, continually winning points with their cleverness at the net.
The Internationals Adel Rastegar-Peymani took Radford Medal honours as MVP from Ilze Van Zyl from HTLC Tigers, with Chris Hopper taking the Abud Medal, and Chloe Mackley the McIntyre Medal.
A more contrasting C grade grand final you could find with the youngsters in the Hurricanes team proving too good for their ageing Murtoa Railway opponents.
The ability to learn from their mistakes was the key for the Hurricanes as they didn’t give their opposition a look in winning in straight sets 25-20, 25-15, 25-12.
Serena Johns and Malakai Van Buuren dominated for the Hurricanes and went one-two in the O’Connor Medal count, with Johns taking MVP honors from Van Buuren, while Kayne Sartori-Billman won the Abud Medal and Victoria Brown the McIntyre Medal.
In the women’s A grand final, another straight sets win for the top team, this time Phantoms prevailing over Ballbusters winning 25-21, 25-21, 25-18.
Women’s A MVP Laelah Robertson enjoyed a successful night with Heidelberg’s Molly Carter coming runners up while Alysha Cozens showed she hasn’t lost any of her skills taking the McIntyre Medal.
In the women’s B grade grand final, HTLC Thorns bounced back from losing the first two sets comprehensively to defeat HTLC Ladybugs in five sets 12-25, 12-25, 25-23, 25-14, 15-3 on the back of some brilliant short serving from Matilda Horvat in the fourth and fifth sets.
Kylie Angue took MVP honours from Rej Smith, with Jenel Conteh taking the McIntyre Medal.
The biggest upset of the finals series came in the Junior grand final when Phantoms, playing with only five players inflicted Stars Blue’s only loss for the season, winning a close fought final in five sets 25-27, 25-18, 25-15, 24-26, 15-10.
Eden Pumpa from Strikers took the Ladlow Medal as MVP from Shayne Johns of Stars Blue with Justice McKenzie from Vipers winning the Abud Medal and Drew Armstrong from Von Steiger Kids the McIntyre Medal.
The focus will now switch to the Volleyball Victoria Junior Open tournament in Melbourne this week, with Volleyball Horsham, the only country association represented among 160 teams participating.
The association will have a year 12 boys and girls team playing at the State Volleyball Centre, with a year 9 girls’ team playing at MSAC.