Volleyball: League championship-Beau Vallon burst Premium Spikers’ bubble |20 September 2005

This season’s title could still elude them, but Beau Vallon set the cat among the pigeons by bursting Premium Spikers’ bubble with a 3-0 win last Saturday and at the same time put an end to coach Bernard Denis’ team’s 100% record.

In a late fixture the same day, Arsu withstood the challenge of their sister team Anse Royale Youth to get a 3-0 win and they are poised to lift their 11th league championship title  in 14 years when they play Cascade ‘A’.

Beau Vallon end Premium Spikers’ unbeaten run

After Premium Spikers had rushed to a 6-0 first set lead, it took a time-out and a collective effort from Beau Vallon to get back into the match. They did it in style, playing some intelligent and top-class volleyball with hard smashes and staunch block at the net, reminiscent of the volleyball they displayed last December to win a fourth Indian Ocean Club Championship (IOCC) title. The final score was 3-0 (25-23 25-23 25-20) after 69 minutes of play inside the Palais des Sports.

With left-handed Alison Alcindor, who played a big part in Premium Spikers’ first-round victory with some strong jump services, hard smashes and great blocks at the net, unable to perform to the same level, coach Denis tried different options but he was unsuccessful.

On the other half of the court, defending champions Beau Vallon, captained by dreadlocked rapid attacker Guilly Bijoux who rallied his teammates after every point scored, were able to punish Premium Spikers.

Having done their homework, Beau Vallon have now avenged their first-round 1-3 defeats to both Racing Club and Premium Spikers with 3-0 victories and they did that in exactly eight days.

“I’m happy with how my team played today (Saturday) and we are sure of finishing at least second in the league championship,” Beau Vallon’s coach Antonie Panagary told Sports Nation after the match.

As for coach Denis, he attributed his team’s defeat to “complacency and my big man did not play well and the rest of the team failed to respond.”

With the win – their ninth in 11 games - Beau Vallon have shot to the top of the league standings with 29 points, one more than Premium Spikers who have a game in hand.

Things are now getting a little complicated at the top of the table especially with Seychelles expected to be represented by three teams in this year’s IOCC in Madagascar if  defending champions Beau Vallon finish third.

Not expected to drop points in their last match against La Digue, Beau Vallon will most likely finish the season with 32 points and have a remote chance of retaining their title if Premium Spikers falter.

For Premium Spikers to lift the league title, they have to win their two matches left, including one against third-placed Racing Club who are also challenging for the title and their tickets to play in the IOCC.

With victories in their remaining two games, Premium Spikers will finish the championship with 34 points, meaning that Beau Vallon will take the runners-up position and Racing Club third place. The latter will thus miss out on participating in the annual IOCC.

But if Racing Club happen to beat Premium Spikers 3-0 and go on to get a win in their other match and coach Denis’ team do the same, the top three teams will all end the season on 32 points.  Therefore, the calculator will have to come out to decide the placings and who are going to receive the tickets. Mathematically, all three teams stand a chance of going to Madagascar.

Arsu close in on 11th championship win

They still have a match to play against old foes Cascade ‘A’ whom they beat 3-1 in the first-round match-up, but Arsu can start buying the champagne to celebrate their fifth championship win in a row and their 11th in 14 years.

After winning their derby 3-0 (25-15 25-6 25-10) against Anse Royale Youth to bring their points tally to 36, Arsu, unbeaten in 12 games, can afford to lose their second-round fixture against Cascade ‘A’ on a 3-0 score and still win the championship by virtue of a superior set score difference as both teams will finish the season with 37 points.

Like Arsu, Cascade ‘A’ also dominated their sister team Cascade ‘B’ but only after having survived a scare in the first set, winning 3-0 (25-23 25-15 25-12).

Cascade ‘A’ are second in the standings with 34 points, while Cascade ‘B’ are in fifth place with 22 points.

In two other women’s first division matches, La Digue consolidated third place with a 3-0 (25-7 25-11 25-14) win against basement team Glacis and St Louis Bombers beat Anse Royale Youth 3-0 (25-11 25-19 25-20).

There were two other men’s first division matches last weekend. United Brothers collected a 3-0 (25-18 25-16 28-26) win against winless La Digue and St Louis needed 115 minutes and five sets to beat Roots 3-2 (25-20 21-25 23-25 25-19 16-14) as coach Bernard Denis twice finished on the losing end in one day.

Juniors, United Sisters lead bottom divisions

Juniors top the men’s second division table with 38 points after beating Baie Lazare 3-0 (25-21 25-21 27-25), but they aren’t going to win the title because they have 38 points after having played all their 16 games.

With two games in hand, runners-up Pointe Larue were able to put the 0-3 defeat suffered to BSA Spikers a week ago behind them, coming out stronger to beat the Praslin-based team 3-0 (25-17 25-14 25-21). They have 37 points and will finish as second division champions even if they lose their remaining two games.

In the other matches played, BSA Spikers beat Baie Lazare 3-1 (25-16 17-25 25-23 25-21), Anse Royale beat Takamaka 3-2 (14-25 17-25 25-20 25-23 15-10) and Plaisance walked over Anse Boileau.

In the women’s second division, RC United’s chances of challenging for promotion to the top flight are quickly fading after they fell to leaders United Sisters. Under former Arsu trainer James Camille, United Sisters won the match 3-2 (25-27 25-21 16-25 25-6 15-10) to bring their points tally to 53  after 17 wins and two defeats in 19 games played.

The following are the other women’s second division results: BSA Sisters beat Santa West 3-0 (25-22 25-20 25-12), Mont Fleuri Husslers walked over Bel Ombre Shadows and Juniors beat LMS Sisters 3-0 (25-17 25-21 31-29).

G. G.