In a full weekend of first and second division volleyball, Depiro Flyers inflicted the first loss on Paola Hibs in many years to join them up at the top of the league standings and make their claim for the silverware.
In the men’s league, Valletta found no difficulty in getting the better of Mgarr to keep their place at the top.
Depiro Flyers- Paola Hib3-2
(25-22, 25-19, 23-25, 18-25, 16-14)
Depiro managed to have the better of Paola Hibs in a very long and tense match which lasted 138 minutes.
Depiro started on a very strong note and their services put Paola’s defence under great pressure, making it extremely difficult for Poala to build up any form of attack. Poala missed the services of their captain Alison Borg who was out with an injury.
Accordingly, Depiro played their game with very little pressure also because Paola’s service was very inconsistent and erratic and they won the first set comfortably.
The second set saw Paola give Depiro a better challenge as their service reception improved slightly. Nonetheless, Depiro kept their composure, committing very little mistakes and this enabled them to clinch the second set too.
In the third set, Paola made radical tactical changes to try and minimise the effect of their captain’s absence by shifting their middle spiker, the experienced Carmen Gauci, as an outside spiker and introducing the young Leanne Spiteri in the middle.
This move made the Paola team more stable in service reception and defence and they started clawing their way back in the game. Paola managed to win the third and fourth set with a very good comeback doing most damage to Depiro from outside attacks.
After over two hours, both teams were level at 2-2. The fifth could be described as a picture of the whole game with Depiro racing to a 14-9 advantage with Paola being quite erratic once again on service. However, Paola’s never say die attitude saw them make their way back to 14-14.
Nonetheless, Depiro managed to close the match 16-14 to the delight of their coach Carmel Gauci and mentor Stephen Buttigieg, with the final attacks that did the damage coming from their best player Amanda Agius.
Aloysians vs FDL 3-0
(25-20 / 25-10 / 29-27)
Mgarr vs Valletta San Antonio 0-3
(8-25 / 15 -25 / 20-25)
Aloysians remained in contention to challenge for the league by beating FDL but the third set proved to very close. FDL showed good defensive play through their libero and managed to cushion Aloysians spikes with their block.
Aloysians seemed to slow down after leading 2-0 and allowed FDL to get back into the game, narrowly missing the chance to take the third set.
Aloysians’ defence needs to be more careful if they intend to challenge Valletta for the title. On their part, the latter had no difficulty to beat newcomers Mgarr who continue to show promise.
Other games:
Ladies 1st Division: Klikk Southend-PlayVolley Galaxy 3-0 (27-25 / 25-9/25-15)
Ladies 2nd Division: B’Kara-Paola U-18 3-2 (25-14/16-25/25-19/24-26/15-12)