Mixed bag in volleyball

For one Volleyball Horsham Phantoms team grand-final glory awaits, for one other it has another chance this week, while for two teams, the season is over.

That is the outlook of the four Phantoms teams that contested the first week of Victorian Volleyball League finals.

The Phantoms’ division three men’s team, with Volleyball Horsham members Shaun Bray and Will Saligari contributing, won their way through to the grand final with a five-set comefrom-behind win over Monash.

Trailing two sets to one, the team had to dig deeply to wrest the momentum back from Monash, which is what they did, smashing their opponents in the fourth set before holding on to win the fifth set 15-13.

The team now awaits the winner of a Monash versus Southern Cross Cobras preliminary final on Saturday.

Tim Popple’s division-two men could not get the job done against Dandenong, going down in three sets in the second semi final 25-27, 20-25, 20-25.

Popple’s team got tight at crucial stages of each of the three sets, while its opponents kept swinging to get the win.

Popple would have learned plenty from the loss and his team will now battle Monash in a preliminary final on Saturday, a team it has beaten twice this year.

For premier women and reserves men teams the season is over, after both suffered first semi-final losses. The women were never in the hunt against a fired-up Yarra, going down in three sets, while the reserves men made crucial errors at the wrong time in their four-set loss to Monash.

For both teams they were much improved throughout the season and will take plenty of positives going forward.

Now the attention turns to the division two men and giving them the support they need to make next week’s grand final.