SUNDAY 21st October 2018
Sunday 21st October was the first competition day of the Malta Volleyball Association (MVA) first division women's league. The 3 winning teams Sliema Kavallieri RS2, Mgarr Volley and for Fleur de Lys gained their first 3 points of the league which is already showing to be an interesting season.
1330 (1LW-01) BKVC Luxfair Reality vs Sliema Kavallieri RS2 1-3 (25-23, 25-27, 17-25 & 23-25)
A hard fought match was played today for both Sliema Kavallieri RS2 and BKVC Luxfair Reality sides in the first division, with both teams missing a key player (Kim Grech for Sliema and Juliette Vella for Birkirkara). The whole game was played with ups and downs, with the Birkirkara side leading nearly all game, except for the 3rd set where Sliema was in the lead. Sliema kept on coming back point after point with Stephanie Grech and Whitney Mintoff's strong attacks resulting in the winning of the last 3 sets. Game was officiated by Mr Dalton Caruana and by Mr Massimo Borg.
1530 (1LW-02) Falcons Volley vs Mgarr Volley 0-3 (18-25, 21-25 & 24-26)
The first competition day of the MVA 1st division league saw Mgarr Volley going head to head with debuting Falcons Volley.
The game started with Falcons at service and the ball continued changing sides till the score read 9-6 for Mgarr. With Lydia Muscat deadly from the service line, Mgarr increased the lead to 16-6. Falcons offered a good reaction but Mgarr closed the 1st set 25-18.
The 2nd set started with Mgarr gaining the first 2 points but Falcons retaliated and took the lead to 4 points to 2. The game continued with a constant rhythm of 2 points per side until at score 12-10 for Falcons. Mgarr gained service and Rachel Caruana started a series of good services and took Mgarr to a 14-12 lead. With score 23-21 for the ladies in white, coach Micallef put in Podhradska and wrapped the set up 25-21.
The 3rd set was the most hard fought on the day. Falcons took a good 4-1 lead. With scoreboard reading 15-11 for Falcons, Coach Micallef again put his trust in the service of Alexandra Podhradska.
The Slovakian did not disappoint as she surgically places 4 consecutive services among the Falcons' defense a tied the score 15-15 forcing a timeout. The battle continued head to head and Mgarr tied the score 24-24 thanks to a faulty ball contact by the Falcons defense. Falcons did not agree with the referee's decision and started a series of complaints that forced a Yellow card and followed immediately by a Red card towards Falcons Volley. Game play resumed with score 25-24 for the Mgarr Wolves and Shana Farrugia released a brick from the service line were the Falcons defense could not counter. After 82 minutes of exciting Volleyball, Mgarr Volley managed to win the 1st game of the competition 3 - 0. Falcons from their end had a good number of players returning to the game after some years of absence and will surely improve game after game. Referees of the match: Mr Andrea Fassone and Ms Sarah Bonnici.
1730 (1LW-03) Swieqi Phoenix vs Fleur de Lys 0:3 (19-25, 11-25 & 12-25)
Fleur-de-Lys managed to win 3-0 against a young and energetic side of Swieqi.
Swieqi Phoenix started well, serving and putting pressure on Fleur de Lys by not doing mistakes on their side. Fleur-de-Lys managed to take control on the 18-17 score and managed to win the set.
Second and third set Fleur-de-Lys dominated from beginning to end of the set using the experience of their players.
Referees of the match; Ms Cinzia Fenech assisted by Mr Chris Gatt
Thursday 18th October 2018
20:000 Kavallieri Sliema vs Balzan Flyers 0-3 (24-26, 20-25 & 19-25)
John Bugeja Cup Final
The final of the John Bugeja Cup was played between Blazan Flyers and Sliema Kavalleri. In the semi-finals Balzan Flyers got the better of champions Fleur de Lys Royal Panda 3-0 and securing their place for the final played on Thursday 18th October, while Sliema Kavalleri overcame a stiff challenge in their group by Swieqi Phoenix 3-1. Sliema Kavalleri have added Ruth Lupi, Gisella Orsini, Celaine Muscat and L Schulte to their ranks while Balzan Flyers have further strengthened their team with Braslian setter Francini Ferriera, blocker Yana Cutajar and welcomed back attacker Amanda Aguis.
For the first set Balzan Flyers ably lead by Coach Nikola Muncan gradually increased their lead to 19-14. Melissa Cheviron for Sliema put her service to good use and turned the score 22-19 in Sliema's favour. Sliema failed to close the set point at 24-22 and allowed Balzan Flyers to come back strongly to close the set 26-24. The second set was a closer contest with Balzan Flyers gaining an early lead 15-10. Sliema coach H. Turan then opted to introduce setter L Schulte. This had the desired effect with M. Chevron, A. Sieber and J. Szubert playing well, Sliema managed to close the gap to 19-21.
Balzan Flyers recovered well and spikes from Zane and Dominika closed the set 25-20. The 3rd set Flyers were determined to close the game in their favour. Flyers took an early lead and kept Sliema under pressure to close the set 25-19.
Referees for the match Mr. Andrea Fassone and International referee Mr. Nello Calleja.