Volleyball reps see action beside the ocean

THE Labour Day long weekend saw the first major event of the 2020 Volleyball Victoria season with the forty-sixth Annual Seaside Tournament in Warrnambool.

Several Volleyball Ballarat members took the court as part of their preparation for the upcoming State League season with the Phantoms Volleyball Club.

In the Premier Women’s Division, Ballarat’s Georgie Hassell used her experience to help guide a new look Phantoms roster that featured a number of young talents playing at the top level for the first time.

Matthew Hallowell captained the most successful team of the weekend, leading Phantoms Division 1 Men through the tournament undefeated. After drawing with Melbourne Uni Renegades 1-1 in the timed round matches, the two teams met again in the final on Monday afternoon.

Renegades started the better of the two teams, taking the first set 25-17 before Phantoms bounced back to win the second 25-19. Trailing 15-20 in the third set, Hallowell’s rotation across the front court proved a game changer as his power hitting and controlled blocking out of position two turned the tide. His team won 10 of the next 12 points to take the third set 25-22 and then the last 25-21 to win the title and remain undefeated for the weekend.

Henry Murnane and Jack Carey were the Ballarat Representatives in the Men’s Division 2 team. Carey was a force through the middle, using his height and jump to dominant effect across the net while Murnane made a successful return to pass hitting for the first time in 12 months in the libero shirt after recovering from shoulder surgery. Their performances helped the team finish fifth.

The women’s Division 3 team also had two Ballarat representatives among their ranks, and both Krystil Seiler and Sarah Elander were consistent contributors to an extremely young and inexperienced side.

You can see all the Ballarat players in action for the Phantoms on Saturday, 4 April as the opening home round of State League matches will be hosted at the Ballarat Sports and Events Centre from 10am.