Scottish Volleyball brought the curtain down on a remarkable indoor playing season with some outstanding play and impressive performances in a hugely successful finals weekend at Wishaw Sports Centre.
With no fewer than eight titles up for grabs, the matches were fiercely contested, but victory was no new experience for many of the winners, with the regular powerhouses of our game in this country showing strong evidence on the winners podium.
The weekend was concluded with the noisiest final over the two days. In the Women’s Scottish Cup, league champions City of Edinburgh and Top Teams Cup holders Troon Prestwick & Ayr locked horns, in an epic battle. The match went all the way to the wire, with the lead changing hands no fewer than six times in the deciding set alone, before Troon emerged as victors for their fourth consecutive Scottish Cup win.
The pattern of play was the same in the Men’s Scottish Cup final, as City of Glasgow Ragazzi fought back from a 1-2 deficit against City of Edinburgh, to claim their third consecutive Scottish Cup triumph. This again was an epic match, full of drama, suspension and ultimately a final that thrilled the four hundred strong cheering crowd.
City of Edinburgh had representation in all four Sunday finals, and too the early honours of the day, winning both junior finals, 2-0 versus North Lanarkshire Ragazzi and 2-1 over Marr College. The MVP awards of the junior finals, collecting the Hannah Scott Memorial Trophy (given in memory of the daughter lost to the Dunblane tragedy of former Stirling and Perth setter David Scott), were given to City of Edinburgh’s Becky Arthur and Marr College’s Grant Gwynne.
The second girls’ team at Troon, Kyle & Carrick set the tone of the weekend, successfully defending the Women’s Scottish Plate against Orkney, and adding to the Division Two title already in the bag. Glasgow Mets also were big winners over the weekend, claiming the men’s Thistle Bowl (against Troon Prestwick & Ayr) and the Men’s Scottish Plate (against NUVOC), totalling their silverware haul for the season to four, adding to the two league titles already claimed by their teams.
Finally, North Lanarkshire were victorious in the Women’s Thistle Bowl, holding off the challenge of Scottish Universities double winners Dundee University.
CEO Margaret Ann Fleming said “It was fantastic to see a local side win on home territory, in front of a crowd that represented the whole of Scotland. Congratulations to all the teams over the weekend, and a massive thank you to all those players, officials, volunteers, Commissions, Board, guests and professional staff who made this just a spectacular weekend”.
The weekend also saw the recognition of the top players in the First Division, with the Final Whistle Media Players of the Year awards. As follows;
Men’s Player of the Year
1st – Alan Krawczyk (Captain of Glasgow Mets)
2nd – Stuart Edgar (Kilmarnock Blaze)
3rd – Barry McGuigan (City of Edinburgh)
4th – Graeme Riddle (City of Edinburgh)
Women’s Player of the Year
1st – Mel Coutts (Captain of City of Edinburgh)
2nd – Elaine Krawczyk (Troon Prestwick & Ayr)
3rd – Agnes Michalowska (Edinburgh Jets)
4th – Laura McReady (Su Ragazzi)
Results Roundup
Mens Scottish Plate
Glasgow Mets II 3 NUVOC 0
25-18; 25-19; 25-11
Womens Scottish Plate
Troon Kyle & Carrick 3 Orkney 0
25-13; 25-21; 25-16
Mens Thistle Bowl
Glasgow Mets 3 Troon Prestwick & Ayr 0
25-16; 25-10; 25-20
Womens Thistle Bowl
North Lanarkshire 3 Dundee University 0
26-24; 25-20; 28-26
Mens Junior National League final
City of Edinburgh 2 Marr College 1
22-25; 25-21; 15-11
Womens Junior National League final
City of Edinburgh 2 North Lanarkshire Ragazzi 0
25-22; 25-23
Mens Scottish Cup
City of Glasgow Ragazzi 3 City of Edinburgh 2
17-25; 25-19; 18-25; 25-22; 15-11
Womens Scottish Cup
Troon Prestwick & Ayr 3 City of Edinburgh 2
16-25; 25-20; 26-24; 23-25; 16-14
Look on the SVA gallery for more exciting pictures!
Steve Scott
SVA, Competitions Administrator