Australian
Masters
Games 2009
Geelong - 35+ Women.
Well, there was the usual suspects this year with
Cheryl, Lisa, Lyn E,
Lisa, Nadia, Rosemary, Rossy,
Shireen & Vera. We were the only
Women's team
entered in any age group - so we were already
WINNERS! And
to make things interesting, we were
allowed to be entered in the Mixed
competition - as
we met the criteria of having at least 2 women on
the
court at all times :) With minimal blocks, and a
higher net (U/17
Men's) we started out making
our targets achieveable. On Thursday we
played
Camberra Hornets 30+ first up, we got to 15 points
in the first
set so our next aim was to beat that
mark. Not only did we beat it - we
won the next
set - Whoo Hoo! We were unable to win the 3rd,
but were
really pleased with how we adjusted so
quickly to a different game. We
played Korumburra
35+ later that day and came away with the same
result
- so 2 sets were good. Friday had us play
Mixed Stunts 35+ - and what a
game! We won all
3 sets 25-18, 25-11 & 15-10 - just fantastic!
We
played Illawarra 30+ that afternoon and took a
set off them as well
which was good - and got very
close in the 3rd set only losing 14-16.
Saturday saw
us take on North West Pumas - and it was just
fantastic -
another win 25-5, 25-10 & 10-15. Even
tough we lost the 3rd set, we
already knew we have
won the Bronze medal in the Mixed 35+! Our last
game was against Croydon Silvers 35+ and we got
to play against George
Santamaria - it was a terrific
match - Shireen loved picking up his
hard spikes and
she set one over his head into Position 1 for a winner,
priceless! We did lose that game - they were a class
side, but just
had the best time! Afterwards it was
agreed it was once of the most
terrific experiences
in our volleyball careers and we were so pleased
we
decided to play anyway. Even better going to the
Closing Ceremony
that night with 2 medals around
our necks - that sound is wonderful of
the medals
clinking together!
Phantoms
MVP - Winner: Cheryl
Moore - R/Up: Vera Rava
3rd: Shireen Longley
The guys competed for the
first time since
World
Masters in 2002 - Aaron Krahe, Chris Murnane,
Rod Christy, Semir,
Tony V and a big welcome to
Darren, Shane & Tim who had their first
tournament
with Phantoms and for some their first ever
tournament! They
won and lost games, and played
their 40+ final against Gippsland
Fossils losing 1-3
but coming home with a Silver Medal - well done
fellas!!
Phantoms
MVP - Winner: Aaron
Krahe - R/Up: Chris Murnane
3rd: Tony V
Warrnambool
2009 - Div 1
Women.
Our team this year - Blair, Cheryl, Claire, Jolyne,
Lyn E, Lisa &
Nadia and a big welcome to Vicki Baran
from the Vostok girls in Geelong
and Janelle Vavrek
from Camberwell Cobras Honours Team. Division 1
Women was divided into 2 Pools with Crossovers at
the end of the round
games. We were in the toughest
pool again and lost 2 games and won 3
beating
Warrnambool, Cossacks & Renegades - finished 3rd
in our
Pool. We didn't play in Cross-overs as we
were out of the finals, and
I'm not sure where we
finished - 5th/6th overall maybe?
Australian
Volleyball
Masters 2009
Gold
Coast - 30+ Women.
Our
team this year was Andrea, Cheryl, Jo, Lisa,
Rosemary, Suzi and
welcoming Kath Sharpley from
Barinsdale and previously Monash Honours
Womens and
KC Chong from Monash Div 1/2. We just had the one
game on
Friday - played Samoa 25+ who were an
impressive team, it was a tough
game and we went
down 1-2. Saturday we played Monash 25+ - just
not
quite as good a game as Samoa, we lost 0-3. We
had been looking forward
to playing Mixmasters 30+,
but unfortunately they struggled to have a
full team,
we did play a game and won 3-0. Sunday had us play
Relics
25+ - a terrific game by the team with
Phantoms winning 2-1, and again
we were to play
Mixmasters 30+ but they could not field a team for
this
game and we won on forfeit. On Monday we
had another game against
Relics 25+ and it was a
good game, but we couldn't beat them this time,
they played well. Our final in the afternoon against
Mixmasters 30+
was just a hit as they could not field
a team, so we won the Gold Medal.
Phantoms
MVP – Winner:
Andrea Best - R/Up: Cheryl Moore
3rd: Kath Sharpley.
Out for
tea Sunday night
World
Masters Games
2009 - Sydney
35+ Women.
After
over 4 years of waiting we were ready for
our 3rd
World Masters Games – this time in Sydney.
Our team had many
familiar faces – Andrea, Cheryl,
Lisa, Nadia, Rosemary, Shireen, Sue
& Vera. 10
teams had been divided into 2 pools – and we just
love pool play don’t we girls! The aim was to finish
in the top 3
of your pool, then you would go into a
new pool with the top 3 from the
other
pool, and
these results of the games you had against the
other 2 in
your pool
carried across – get it?! So
our first game on Thursday had us
play
Funky Moa’s
from NZ – a tall team who played some great
volleyball –
we lost 0-2 but the game was a good
hit out for us. (MMM – Sue’s
outrage at being
called for a double, Sue’s first serve was an ace
yay!,
telling them off in warm-up about hitting down the
line,) The 2nd
game
of the day was against
Sydney Slappers – an easy win for us 2-0 (MMM –
The
ref slowing the game down so scorers could keep up,
the team’s
name,
Vera’s spike around the net,
and – the duty following the
game men’s rec comp
and the coach on the bench yelling “pick up
your
balls girls” in a very camp voice) On Friday we
played Manly
Legends which were girls from our
nemesis teams from the past - Manly Belles
and
Sydney Tigers! A tough game, we just lost the 1st
set,
worked really hard in the 2nd and came home
with the goods
in the 3rd
– it was a terrific game
(MMM – Rosemary’s hit down the line –
right on it!
The bench getting in trouble for yelling about the
double
hits,
Vera screaming, Vera squealing, Winning!
I love winning!). Our 4th
game was against Amazons
from Canada – as their name suggests they were
a
tall group of girls and we played the first set
well, and leading 24-21
we were
just not able to
close the set out. We ran out of steam in the 2nd
set and lost the game 0-2 (MMM – Nadia’s 2 blocks,
awesome,
Buying new thongs at DFO 2 for $20 what
a bargain!). Funky
Moa’s
finished top of the pool
and as Manly had beaten Amazons, we had beaten
Manly
and Amazon’s beating us 0-2 mean’t that
because we didn’t win
a set against them we
finished 4th and out of the medal
round –
bugger!
On Saturday we
faced up to Crazy Girls who played
really
well and we lost 0-2 having a bit of game
hangover from the previous
day, we
played WA
Chequers later on and won that comfortably 2-0
meaning we
would play
Crazy Girls for 7th spot on
Sunday. Sunday came around
and all
the team
played well, we had a great game and defeated Crazy
Girls 2-0
to finish
overall 7th in 35+ Women’s.
And after 8 years we have retired MVP and
most memorable
moments
…. Thanks for the memories girls ….
World Masters Games 35+ Women
Rosemary,
Shireen, Sue, Lisa, Vera, Nadia, Andrea & Cheryl
Bendigo
Dragon
City 2009.
On a dark and
stormy night we headed up to Bendigo
for
another crack at the silverware (or pottery) as it
were in womens Div 1. Our team was Blair,
Chelsea,
Cheryl, Emma, Lisa, Lyn, Melissa & Vicki. We had
4 games on
Saturday – first was Golden Square, and
terrific team who took us apart –
we lost 0-2.
Next was Heidelberg – we played well and won 3-0.
3rd
was Kafo and we played really well, we lost
0-2 but this was a terrific
game. Last game for the
day was against Renegades, a tough game to finish
and we lost 0-2. We just had one game on Sunday
against Heidelberg again
for 4th position, we won
2-0 again and finished on a good
note.
In the Men's Division 3 final, Melbourne Phantoms
took on Sioux Spikers from Bendigo.
Phantoms dominated
the Sioux side in the 1st set, yet Sioux challenged hard
in the next 2 sets but to no avail, as the Melbourne
Phantoms took the match 3
sets to nil.
25-11, 25-20,
25-23.
Horsham
2009 -
Div 1 Women.
Off to our 12th Horsham
tournament – with just
7 of us
we were going to have a challenging weekend ahead of us
with 6 round
games. Our team is Cheryl, Jess, Lisa,
Lyn, Nadia, Rosemary & for her
first tournament as a
Phantom we welcomed Elise Henry! We also picked up
Maree Lyne along the way and she was able to play a
couple of games as well.
Cheryl was still working
through her torn hamstring and was taking each game
as
she could.
Our
first game was against Kafo – we had not been able
to beat them in Bendigo several weeks ago, but today
was a different story –
our team played so well and
we won – what a terrific start. Our
next games for
the day were Renegades – a tough game – they were
hard to play, but we were still happy with our 1-1 ratio.
Our last 2
games for the day were against Warrnambool
& Ballarat – both good
wins. Sunday saw us play
Golden Square and Burgercons – both good
wins again
to put us into the final against Renegades.
We
knew it would be a tough game – we had lost 0-2
in the rounds and we
going to give it our all in the
final (thanks to Sports Trainer – Kevin for
keeping on
the court!). It was a very close game – we won the
first
2 sets but losing the next 3 with the last 2
being close - Renegades defeated
Phantoms 3-2: 14-25,
23-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-13.
GAVA
Spring Season - Div 1
Women.
We had a tough season to end the
year with injuries
and lack
of players at times. Chelsea & Melodie played
the season and headed
back home to Canada just
before the final. We made the final with our
bare
6 – Cheryl, Elise, Lisa, Louisa, Michelle & Shireen.
It
was a very close final with sets going down to the
wire – USC Lion
victorious 3-1
Footnote:
With several players leaving/resting the
first
season of 2010 we will not be fielding a team
at GAVA for the only time since
the Women’s comp
started. Thanks to all the girls who have played
over the years.
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