Volleyball Association of Ireland

Cork Mixed Recreational League 2009

The final day of action in this season’s CIT/VAI Mixed Volleyball League took place last Saturday. Made in Europe, league leaders since day 1 looked on course to reclaim the league title, barring a huge upset on the day. Behind them the race was still very much on between Youghal and Bishopstown for the runner up position, with the Rebels also having a slim chance.
              
Rebels started the day well recording straight set wins over UCC and VBAK. Bishopstown and Youghal were too on form early on, gaining valuable league points in their matches against Deise Tigers and CIT respectively. Bishopstown faced the might of Made in Europe, a must win game for them if they were to step ahead of Youghal in the league table. The first set was extremely tight with both sides trading impressive spikes and finding the floor. Made in Europe dug deep and held on to win the set 25-22. In the second set the Waterford team upped the tempo even more and began to pull ahead half way through and took the second set on a more comfortable score of 25-15. Bishopstown’s next opponents were Youghal. At this stage Bishopstown were playing for pride as the outcome of the game was not going to affect their finishing position. Another thrilling game ensued which again went right down to the wire. Bishopstown won the first set 26-24 showing better composure on the big points. The second set was more one sided at the early stages and despite a late comeback from Youghal, Bishopstown put the game away winning 25-16. Despite the defeat Youghal had done enough to secure second position, with Bishopstown having to be content with 3rd.  

Made in Europe, unbeaten throughout the competition, without even dropping a set, looked to be about to keep their 100% record intact. After disposing of Bishopstown and VBAK again in straight sets, their last opponents this season were the Rebels. The Rebels have been improving in form over the past weeks and were looking forward to the opportunity to take on the league leaders in the final game. This game was certainly the match of the day, if not of the entire season. The Rebels started well and kept with the Waterford team for most of the first set. Some strong serving from Made in Europe forced the errors in the later part of the set and the Rebels were unable to recover. One set down, the Rebels were not going out without a fight. They raised their game in the second set and out played Made in Europe in every area of the court. They closed out the set 25-21 and were delighted to be the only team to take a set off the leaders all season. Rebels finished the league in 4th position overall.

Lower down in the table, positions too remained unchanged after the final day of play. CIT held onto 5th position despite a late surge by the Deise Tigers. The Tigers have been improving steadily over the past fixtures and were being to pick up more and more points each week. On the final day they recorded a win over UCC however their loss to Bishopstown meant they remained in 6th position overall. VBAK had some tough opponents on their final day of play. They lost out to Rebels and Made in Europe, they did however manage to score 35 points in their match against the champions. They shared the league points in their match against CIT and finished the season in 7th position overall with UCC in 8th.

Congratulations to all the teams that participated in the league this year. The standard of Volleyball played was very good by all with great improvements seen in teams over the course of the league. The players should also be applauded for their sportsmanship throughout the competition. We now look forward to the next season’s league where we hope to welcome all the teams back for more exciting action.

Standings after 5th and Final Day (Saturday March 21st):

Results from 5th and Final Day: