The Perth & Kinross District Premier Volleyball League came to an exciting conclusion at Perth College on Sunday evening.
The league title was very much in the balance between Stuart Anderson’s Dodgy Spikers and Ellen Ranklin’s Team Fife and with both teams meeting each other for the last fixture of the evening it raised the stakes even higher.
Spikers were in the driving seat having a ten point lead but with 5 points available for a complete set win, 3 points for leading an incomplete set and 2 points for a drawn set it was just possible for Team Fife to have an outside chance of pipping Spikers who have held the Premier League trophy for the past 2 competitive seasons.
Spikers were first on court against local rivals Ian McGrath’s Mental Blocks. Spikers won the first set fairly comfortably 25-13 but the second set saw Blockers up their game coming from 10-12 down to lead 14-12. Points were traded over the next 14 rallies bringing the score to 20 points each. With minutes remaining nervous tension was in the air as Spikers edged into a 22-20 lead only for Blockers to level at 22 points each. With only seconds remaining the second set was now finely balanced. Momentum was slightly in Mental Blocks’ favour but their service drifted just beyond the back line as the final whistle sounded to hand Spikers the set and claim 8 out of a maximum 10 league points.
Team Fife kept up their challenge with a win against Kinross 25-11; 23-14 meaning they too, collected 8 league points from a possible 10.
The final game between Spikers and Fifers saw the Fife side take the initiative and win the first set 25-22. The second set saw a more emphatic score with Team Fife leading 17-6 at full time but it wasn’t enough to pip Spikers for their third consecutive league title.
An exciting end to a wonderful season of volleyball, especially with the number of younger players now coming to the fore. With schools’ volleyball also showing an increase in activity through Active Schools there are more and more youngsters being introduced to the sport and enjoying the playing experience.
The next step in terms of developing volleyball within Perth & Kinross would be to get together both a boys and a girls under 18 team to compete in Scottish Volleyball’s Junior National League but that would need the more experienced players stepping up to the mark to act as coaches and administrators for this to happen in the short term.
How they finished:
P W D L Points
Dodgy Spikers 14 12 0 2 109
Team Fife 14 12 0 2 106
Mental Blocks 14 6 1 7 75
Clackers 14 7 2 5 67
Perth 14 7 2 5 62
This Sunday sees the climax of the Recreational League competition at Perth College. With Team Fife having an unassailable lead, Sunday’s fixtures have no bearing on the title but teams from both the top six and bottom five are looking forward to rounding off the season on a high.
Sunday’s fixtures (officiating team in brackets)
Top Six fixtures:
6 pm Kinross VC v All Stars (Aberuthven Acers)
6:42 Nae Fear v Aberuthven Acers (Kinross VC)
7:24 Crieff v All Stars (Nae Fear)
8:06 Crieff v Aberuthven Acers (Team Fife)
8:48 Team Fife v Nae Fear (Crieff)
Bottom five fixtures:
6 pm Motley Crew v Tay Pearls (Paris Diggers)
6.35Motley Crew v Paris Diggers (Tay Pearls)
7:10Tay Pearls v Kinross High (Motley Crew)
7:45 Paris Digger sv Aberfeldy (Kinross High)
8:20 Aberfeldy v Kinross High (Paris Diggers)
20:55Paris Diggers v Kinross High (Aberfeldy)