Marsascala Mapei had the better over their close rivals Fleur de Lys FEB with a final score of 3-1. Mapei have worked hard during the past weeks in order to strengthen their play and this paid off during this match.
Mapei were the stronger team on court and immediately took a 2-0 lead. Good attacks by Robert Balzan and with Paul Vella and Ron Stivala in excellent form, did not leave many options to the FEB defence as these found it difficult to react.
Vince Pace, for Mapei, in the libero position, had a good game too.
FEB fought back during the third set playing better with Patrick Bonett distributing good balls to Dalton Caruana and Anatoly Gatt.
FEB won this set with a score of 25-20. Some prep talk by Mapei coach Franco Debono managed to raise their spirits and put them back on track.
The fourth set went Mapei’s way as they easily dismissed FEB thus taking all three points.
In the ladies match, Paola Hibs Candy met X-Sel. Until this match, both teams shared first place in the ladies league.
X-Sel were without one of their central attackers Daniela Bonnici who was unavailable for the match.
Hibs started off on a good note with good spikes from Gertrude Zarb, Caroline Sciberras and captain Alison Borg Hayman. The first set was won convincingly 25-12.
In the second set Hibs coach David Bonnici made some changes to the squad with Sherika Seychell playing from outside and Stephanie Borg replacing an excellent Delicia Farrugia. Hibs won the second set 25-19.
X-Sel played better in the third set with Thais Gatt playing well from the central position. Annalise Cassar and Sandra Bonnici had good stances in the third set with Cassar winning a number of vital points with attacks from position 4.
Hibs were too strong for X-Sel and they won the third and final set 25-20. Hibs still occupy second place just one point behind X-Sel but with a game in hand.
In the under 18 girls league, Playvolley beat Paola Hibs Candy 2-0. After a first balanced set were Playvolley narrowly won by 30-28, Hibs seemed unable to repeat the good performance and lost the second and final set 25-12.
Croatian appointment for local international referees
Two of the local international volleyball referees, Nello Calleja and Frankie Tanti, have been appointed by the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) to officiate one of the matches in this season’s Ladies’ CEV Cup.
The CEV cup, which from this year has taken the place of the Top Teams Cup, is contested by the national champions who do not make it for the Indesit European Champions League, as well as other highly ranked teams hailing from the best volleyball countries in Europe.
Calleja and Tanti have been appointed to officiate in Zagreb, Croatia, during the match between host Mladost Zagreb and Asterix Kieldrecht of Belgium.
This game will be the second leg of the tie between these two teams, since they would have met one week before in Belgium.
This is the first time for the Malta Volleyball Association to have two of its local referees officiating together in one of the European cups. Both Calleja and Tanti obtained their full international status in 2006.