2021/2022 Super Cup – Swieqi Phoenix Ixaris Win Hard Fought Match

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In a balanced and entertaining match marking the official start of the 2021/2022 volleyball season, Swieqi Phoenix Ixaris clinched the season’s first trophy by narrowly beating Flyers. The match, went down to the wire, with Swieqi, last season’s Superleage and National Cup winners, only managing to get the best of their opponents in the fifth set.

The match started with the two teams neck and neck, until Flyers managed to build a 7-point lead on 12-5. Swieqi tried to get back into the match, and brought the deficit down to just 3 points on 10-12. However, this effort proved futile as Flyers went on to rebuild the gap and ultimately win the first set 25-18.

The second set proved to be an even closer affair, with the two teams alternating points throughout. Swieqi managed to build a 4-point lead in the middle of the set with the score at 15-11. However, Flyers fought back and first tied the score on 15-15 and then took a minimal lead on 20-17. This was short-lived as Swieqi managed to tie the score on 21-21. Flyers again managed to gain the lead but did not manage to close the set with the score at 24-23. Swieqi reacted and again overturned the score, cancelling Flyers’ set point and going on to win the set 26-24 and tie the game at 1 set each.

Flyers reacted well and came out strong in the thurd set, immediately building a 7-point cushion on 8-1, and actually going on to increase their lead to 9 points on 13-4. Although Swieqi managed to make up some of the lost ground, bringing the gap down to 5 points on 10-15, Flyers kept control of the set and went on to a comfortable 25-17 win and again take the advantage in sets at 2-1.

With no option but to win the set to stay in the game, Swieqi started positively and built an 8-point lead on 10-2. Flyers, however, reacted and brought the difference down to a single point on 11-12. Swieqi kept their cool and maintained at least a two point lead until Flyers came back and forced the score to 20-21. Swieqi again maintained their composure and built up points again, ultimately winning the set 25-21.

With the game entering the deciding set, both teams gave it all they had left. The balance between the two teams, so apparent throughout the previous 4 sets was again displayed as the teams stayed close to each other with the point gap never being higher than 2. Flyers managed to take a 3-point lead on 8-5 but this seemed to only make Swieqi work harder, as they first overturned the score to 9-8 and then built their own lead on 14-9. Yet another strong reaction by Flyers saw then cancelling two match points but the point diffrence was too great to overturn and Swieqi won the set 15-11 and the match 3 sets to 2 to lift the cup.

After their Super Cup showdown, the two teams now take their rivalry to the Women’s Superleague, with Flyers facing Mellieha Tritons on Saturday, November 13 and Swieqi Phoenix Ixaris taking on Mgarr on the following day.

Photos courtesy of Mr Marvic Micallef

CEV and Malta Volleyball Association strengthen cooperation to grow the game

Belgrade, Serbia, January 31, 2020. On Friday, CEV President Aleksandar Boričić had the pleasure of holding cordial talks with the newly elected President of the Malta Volleyball Association (MVA), Mr Edward Gatt and the MVA Vice-President, Mr Branko Vlahović, at the CEV President Office in Belgrade.

It was a truly precious opportunity to strengthen the cooperation with the highest authorities from the Mediterranean archipelago, in particular due to the problems Malta has experienced for a while, especially in terms of lack of Volleyball activities. With the help of their new leadership, the Malta Volleyball Association have drafted ambitious plans to initiate a number of projects and activities, especially the CEV School Project, with a focus on the further development of Volleyball in schools.

The MVA wish to work closely with younger coaches and physical education teachers, and the development of Beach Volleyball stands out as the most important part of their planned activities. This should also involve gradual involvement and participation in international events, while the organisation of some Beach Volleyball tournaments and age-group events is well under consideration too.

President Gatt expressed his gratitude for the meeting hosted by the CEV President, for the time spent in good and fruitful talks and said he very much looks forward to strengthening the cooperation with the CEV even further in the near future.

CEV and the Malta Volleyball Association wish to work together not only on the promotion of international cooperation, but also to make sure that the support provided by government, regional and local authorities can help grow Volleyball in Malta at a much faster pace than it has happened this far.

Article originally appeared on the website of the European Volleyball Federation – View Original Article

Mater Dei Hospital Social Volleyball League 2019

The Employee Health and Well Being Unit within Mater Dei Hospital in collaboration with the Malta Volleyball Association organised the 5th Edition of MDH Volleyball League on Saturday 7th September at Cottonera Sports Complex.

This year we registered a record number of participating teams – 15 in total and, similar to previous years the proceeds collected were donated to Dar Tal-Providenza. The total of €1020 will be handed to Fr Martin Micallef by Mater Dei Hospital CEO.

Following a good competition amongst the 15 teams Volley Lama, Land Sharks, Mater Dei and More Volley Mates qualified for the Semi Finals. Mater Dei Team placed 3rd , Volley Lama 2nd and the Land Sharks were declared as WINNERS.

The support provided by Mr Keith Mercieca, MVA President and Ms Analisse Cassar, Secretary General is greatly appreciated.

Special thanks goes to all the helpers while looking forward to the following League which manages to get people together to enjoy sports, make new friends and give out a helping hand to Dar tal-Providenza.

Monica Camilleri
Employee Health & Well Being
MATER DEI HOSPITAL

Volleyball Training Camp in Malta for Dutch Team

Volleyball club Volley2B, which is based in Rotterdam and has teams playing in various divisions within the Dutch National Leagues, has held its annual training camp for its male and female teams in Malta from Friday 6th September to Monday 9th September.

As part of its training programme, Volley2B’s female teams played friendly matches against two local clubs, Swieqi Phoenix Volleyball Club and Fleur-de-Lys Volleyball Club. Both games were entertaining with the local teams winning both encounters with close scores.

Speaking on behalf of Volley2B, Bart Visser expressed his gratitude to the Malta Volleyball Association for its assistance and assured that all members of the visiting teams had a very positive experience. The Club intended to organise other training camps in Malta in the coming years. Visser explained how this weekend proved to be beneficial for the teams, not only from a technical point of view but also in terms of the Club’s team building endeavours. During their short stay the contingent also found time to visit the Maltese Islands.

The Malta Volleyball Association acknowledges the importance of such visits and collaborations, which it hopes to bolster over the coming years.

Appointment of Assistant Coach

The Malta Volleyball Association is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Goffredo Guazzoni as assistant coach to our Technical Director Edvaldo Carvalho Da Silva for both the senior national team and the Under 23 YDTP.

Goffredo is a qualified FIPAV coach and over the past 10 years has coached several teams in Italy and Malta including Valletta Mapei, Toyota Playvolley, Pallavolo Sestese and AP Castellettese.

We are confident that his involvement in the national teams and YDTP will be positive to the teams and to players individually.

MVA’s President Jesmond Saliba thanked Mr. Dalton Caruana for his sterling work and tireless dedication towards the coaching aspect of the senior national team in its journey towards the last GSSE Games. He also expressed his gratitude to Mr. Leonard Zammit Munro for his energy and commitment in the assistance at coaching level of the YDTP players. Leonard will continue to coordinate the YTDP programme, in line with his role in Youth Development which he has been successfully fulfilling within the MVA.

 

League Round Ups

Another volleyball season has come to an end, and with it, the evaluation period every club and team goes through when assessing the performance throughout that season. No less than 157 matches were played between September and April, with honours being awarded in 11 different competitions. As is customary, the Fr. Tony Parnis National Cup will close off the season in the coming weekends. For four particular clubs, this season has been a season full of successes, and whilst for some teams these were a repeat of last season’s successes, for one other it was completely the first time.

Sliema Wanderers managed to etch their club’s name for the first time ever when they managed to win the Ladies’ First Division League, after the Runners’ Up position they obtained last year. Sliema had to overcome the fierce opposition put forward by Swieqi Phoenix, even if the latter never managed to beat the Wanderers in the three league matches this year. However, Sliema’s defeat at the hands of Fleur de Lys 2 at the beginning of the season meant that this particular division remained tight till the very end, with only one point separating Sliema from Swieqi before the last match of the season. However, Sliema won 3-1 to make sure that this year they became the 1 st Division Champions for the first time.

On their part, Swieqi Phoenix had a string of successes in the Youth Categories, and for the second year running, they managed to win all three age group competitions organised by the Malta Volleyball Association. Swieqi Phoenix’s domination in these three competitions was a total one, when they not only won the three categories without losing a match, but they did this without even losing one set. Balzan Flyers, Paola and Sliema Wanderers shared the Runners’ up position in the U/18, U/16 and U/14 categories respectively.

Balzan Flyers was once again the prevailing side in the Ladies’ Seniors Competitions, winning all trophies except the season opening Super Cup, which it lost against Fleur de Lys. However, after winning the John Bugeja Tournament and the Christmas Cup, Balzan managed to repeat last year’s success and win the Ladies’ Super League, remaining unbeaten till the end of the season. The girls in pink were the most consistent throughout the season, with only Fleur de Lys and Paola managing to push them to their limits in some of the matches. However, these last two lacked consistency during parts of the season, whilst Balzan Flyers kept marching ahead towards their second league title in a row.

In the Men’s competitions, Valletta Mapei continued where they left in 2015-2016, winning all the competitions at stake. Their main opponents, Fleur de Lys, lost some precious points against  Aloysians and against the same Valletta in the crucial part of the season, thus not managing to produce an effective claim to the title. Valletta’s dominance was evident throughout the whole season, winning the John Bugeja Tournament and the Super Cup at the beginning of the season, and culminating in the Super League success.

 

Swieqi Phoenix A – Under 18 Champions 2016-17

Swieqi Phoenix Under 16 Champions 2016-17

Swieqi Phoenix Under 14 Champions 2016-17

Sliema Wanderers 1st Divsion Champions 2016-17

Balzan Flyers Super League Champions 2016-17