Seychelles Volleyball Federation (SVDF) Cup finals |19 December 2016

Arsu retain title in all-conquering season

• SwimBlue Pals dethrone Beau Vallon

Female player of the year Marielle Bonne joined forces with her mum, the evergreen rapid attacker Jerina Bonne and promising youngster Nayeli Etienne to give Arsu their sixth title in an all-conquering season, while SwimBlue Pals made history by becoming the first division two side to stay unbeaten all season and win one of the major cups.

Both Arsu and SwimBlue Pals wrote a new chapter in their history books on Saturday at the Palais des Sports as they captured the women’s and men’s Seychelles Volleyball Federation (SVF) Cup in front of Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Idith Alexander, sports special advisor Jean Larue, Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association president Antonio Gopal, National Sports Council chief executive Giovanna Rousseau and SVF chairman Ronald Wong who were all part of the crowd that saw quite a good end to the 2016 season.

Having already won the SVF Shield, Curtain-raiser tournament, first division league, Land Marine first division cup and Indian Ocean Zone 7 CAVB club championship crown, Arsu, coached by Julien Onezime, wanted to go all the way and win the last trophy of the year, but this time their eternal foes Cascade came into the match with other ideas – probably to stop them from conquering all the titles for a second year running.

Better prepared and at full strength compared to when they played the Land Marine division one cup and lost, Cascade proved that they have the talent but with a little more cohesion can be real title challengers as they managed to grab a set despite losing the match against the more organised Arsu who went home 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 25-17, 25-19) winners after 92 minutes of play to retain their title.

It was fitting then to see Marielle Bonne, the Indian Ocean Zone 7 CAVB club championship MVP (Most Valuable Player), best attacker and best receptionist, being named female player of the year. Her mother Jerina Bonne finished as the runner-up, while the young female player of the year title went to Diguois Nayeli Etienne whom Arsu recruited late this year and has played a big part in the SVF Cup, Land Marine division cup and Indian Ocean Zone 7 CAVB club championship wins.

“It’s been a very good season for us as we have managed to defend all our titles won last year,” said 42-year-old Jerina Bonne who had retired at the end of last season but decided to come back and help her team capture more titles including the Indian Ocean Zone 7 CAVB club championship which she has won a record 10 times.

SwimBlue Pals dethrone Beau Vallon

Many volleyball followers wanted to see if SwimBlue Pals would win probably the most important trophy in their first year of existence and in their way were the once mighty Beau Vallon.

Having already won the men’s second division league title to gain promotion to the top flight next year and the Land Marine men’s second division cup, SwimBlue Pals had beaten men’s division one league champions Premium Spikers in the semifinals and a win against Beau Vallon would see them end the season unbeaten.

With former Beau Vallon stalwarts Ian Furneau and Guilly Bijoux in their ranks, SwimBlue Pals completely dominated the first set but were stretched to the limits in the second and third before winning the match 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-23) after 65 minutes of play to dethrone Beau Vallon.

As SwimBlue Pals players celebrated their win and claimed a third piece of silverware, Beau Vallon will surely have to go back to the drawing board to rethink not only tactics but also how to rebuild the team after also losing Daniel Lozaique who has signed with the Pals but sat on the bench on Saturday. Also missing on Saturday were veteran libero Perrin Sophola and seasoned rapid attacker Benjamin Bijoux who failed to make it to the venue and could not be reached despite being present for the team’s final match practice on Thursday.

Beau Vallon manager Lorenzo Laurence said he “can smell something fishy”.

Are they too on the way out?

We’ll see if this is the case at the start of the 2017 season…

Meanwhile, Premium Spikers wing attacker Kenneth Sinon is this year’s male player of the year and his runner-up is diminutive Beau Vallon setter Hank Panagary.

The best young male player of the year is Adrian Cesar.

G. G.

Captions:

SwimBlue Pals and Beau Vallon players in a souvenir photo with Minister Alexander

ARSU … A second all-conquering season