VOLLEYBALL
Latrobe Valley Volleyball teams returned from the recent Volleyball Victoria Country Championships with two gold medals and one silver medal in hand.
The annual three-day tournament hosted 11 regional associations from across Victoria this year and was held over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend at Eagle Stadium in Werribee.
Division one men
The Division one men’s team was led by coach Aaron Magnusson who put together a squad of 13 players to take on the powerhouse associations of Horsham and Bendigo along with Ballarat, Bairnsdale and Sunraysia.
They started strongly with a three-set win over Sunraysia and a four-set win over Ballarat in their two scheduled Saturday games.
The team faced their first real test on Sunday morning against Horsham and went down in a tight five-setter, 19-17 in the fifth.
The side bounced back and won their second game on Sunday against Bairnsdale in four sets.
The last game scheduled for Sunday was against Bendigo which was a must-win to secure a berth in the gold medal match.
In a massive upset, Ballarat defeated Horsham in an epic five-set match in the last pool game which gave the Latrobe Valley players a berth in the gold-medal match on percentage.
Bendigo faced them in the final and a rejuvenated LV side started strongly and played some high quality and hard hitting volleyball to take out the first set 25-21.
The stellar first set put the Latrobe Valley team up well and they romped home to clinch the gold medal in straight sets.
Division one women
The Latrobe Valley division one women and head coach Glenn Trembath were on the hunt for redemption after losing the gold medal match last year.
Their search for gold started brightly with a four-set win over the 2017 gold medallists and tournament favourites Bendigo.
This was followed by a very convincing three-set win over Horsham to round out Saturday’s games.
The LV team went from strength to strength on Sunday and showed their class to make short work of Bairnsdale and South Gippsland to win both games in straight sets and earn a spot in the gold medal match against Bendigo.
The Valley side saved their best game of the weekend for the gold medal match on Monday.
While Bendigo fought hard they were no match for the side from the Latrobe Valley who put on a clinical and powerful display of volleyball to take out
the gold medal in three sets, 25-16, 25-16, 25-17.
Division two women
The division two women started strongly on Saturday with a five-set win against South Gippsland and three-set win against Geelong 25-21, 25-7, 25-14.
In their last game on Saturday the division two women were defeated in a five-set game and lost the last set 15-8 to Warrnambool.
The team had some very young members who all showed great skill and nerve to defeat Bendigo in three sets to advance to the gold medal match.
The LV women took on Warrnambool in the decider and showed great endeavour but went down in three sets.
