Paola Hibs Candy have continued to dominate the local female Volleyball scene with 2 weekend wins over Flyers to be awarded the Fr. Antony Parnis National Cup. Paola have now won this cup for a record 10 consecutive times, a feat which will surely be difficult to match. In the 1st of 3 games in the Men’s National Cup encounters, FDL Office Group beat Attard Tenovar 3-0 to take an important step in securing the trophy.
In the first game between Paola and Flyers played on Saturday, the Paolites won the game 3:1 (16;-21;20;17). Paola started off strongly and took a three point lead by the 2nd technical time out. Flyers’ attacks could simply not penetrate the Paola block and the latter increased their lead to win the set 25-16.
In the 2nd set, Flyers played much better and with Amada Agius in fine form, they went on to win 25 -21 to balance the score.
In the 3rd and 4th set however Paola stepped up their game and using more attacking variables dominated from start to finish, even taking a 12-4 lead in the 3rd set. Gertrude Zarb, Carmen Gauci, Alison Borg and Daniela Bonnici all had a good game while Amanda Agius was Flyers’ best player. One should also mention that Lindsay Cordina was back in her role of libero for the first time this year after recovering from injuries.
In the 2nd Game , played on Sunday won all three sets (17;22;15). Flyers again came into the game in the second set but after leading till the 2nd technical time-out, they made far too many offensive mistakes and Paola turned the score to 20-18. There was no looking back and Paola went on to win this set and the third with a fine performance by Carmen Gauci, Daniela Bonnici and Tiziana Bonnici.
In the men’s 1st final, Fleur de Lys Office Group are a step closer to win their second cup this season after beating Attard Tenovar in straight sets. Their intentions were shown immediately and with steady reception from libero Mark Duca and powerful attacks by Valerio Savio they secured the first set 25-20.
Fleur de lys continued with the same momentum and with fast plays by setter Matthew Cumbo and good attacks by Louis Reynaud, they also won the second set 25-18.
In the third set FDL managed to take an early lead by good blocks from Antoine Busuttil however Attard managed to come back with good attacks from Darren Bugeja and Omar Tanti. This was however not enough as Fleur de Lys won the last two points to win the set and the match 25-23. The second game will be played on Saturday 2nd February at 17:00, Cottonera Sports Complex.