Skins a success at stadium

THE courts of the Minerdome were alive with athleticism last weekend.

Volleyball Ballarat hosted their forty-first Skins Tournament on four courts across Saturday and Sunday, with 22 teams from Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat competing in a round-robin.

The Ballarat Phantoms played across two men’s divisions over the competition, both making finals.

Damon Minotti, Volleyball Ballarat President said being at the basketball stadium, a bigger and central venue, generated more spectators.

“We’ve had overwhelmingly positive feedback on the change of venue. Previously we had to segregate men’s and women’s into different venues to staff and resource it,” he said.

“Having everyone in one venue made a huge difference to our capacity to deliver an event.”

Monash University defeated Ballarat, three sets to two in Men’s Division One, and in Men’s Division Two, the Dandenong Cossacks defeated Ballarat Phantoms three sets to nil.

“The Division Two Phantoms were basically all locally based social players, some of them playing a tournament for the first or second time, so for them to make the final is a really good achievement,” Mr Minotti said.

In the Women’s Division One, the Bendigo Academy of Sport defeated University of Melbourne Renegades in four sets.

The Pink Ladies from Melbourne defeated University of Melbourne Renegades in three sets in the Women’s Division Two.