Men’s Volleyball: FDL Office Group maintain unbeaten run

 

FDL Office Group vs Sliema  Wanderers 3:0 (25-17, 25-23,25-14)

 

FDL confirmed they are the  league favorites and took an immediate 8:3 advantage, a lead they maintained and extended till the end of the  first set.

 

The 2nd set was initially more balanced but with the score reading 4:4 the  Sliema players were placed  under pressure and made a series of mistakes for FDL to lead 11:4. At this point it was the FDL players  who seeemed to become over-confident and lost concentration, giving Sliema the oportunity to get back into the game.  Their good defensive play and some smart tips saw Sliema edge closer to FDL, but the latter effected some substitutions to hold on to their now narrow lead and win the set  25-23.

 

The third set was a different affair with FDL leaving nothing to chance.  They raced to a 9-1 lead and continued to put pressure on Sliema to win the set comfortably 25-14, despite the coach’s full use of the squad at his disposal.

 

Valletta San Antonio vs -Mgarr 3:0 (25-18,25-20,25-17)

 

In the second match played on Sunday, Valletta San Antonio kept their second place berth by beating Mgarr, even if their win was not as simple as the set scores may denote.

 

In the first set Valletta went into the lead combining good services, safe reception and  using a variety of attacking tactics, especially involving their  middle player.

 

In the  2nd set Mgarr started better with good services from D.Briffa, taking a 3-0 lead, but Valletta upped their game to lead by a point at the first technical time-out.  Mgarr stayed in the game, mainly through some good moves from their Dutchman, Ribberink who shows very good reception skills as well as attacks from behind the 3m line.  Mgarr however also committed to many mistakes and it was Valletta who closed off the set 25-20.

 

In the 3rd set Valletta’s Tonna applied some service pressure for his team to lead 16:4. Mgarr did make some changes  to strenthen their  reception while Valletta effected some substitutions to use all their available players.  At the end, Valletta won the set 25-17 and the game 3-0.