Plymouth Marjon Volleyball Club’s Ladies Team secured their first ever SW Championship title this weekend in historic fashion.

 

The competition is the South West Volleyball Association’s flagship event and is hosted every year by Plymouth YMCA Kitto Centre. The competition welcomes Mens and Ladies teams from all over the SW region who represent in either the SW or National Leagues. This year was an exceptionally high standard with more National teams represented than any other year.

 

The competition is in its 44th year and PMVC’s win has secured the first silverware for the city since rivals Plymouth VC won in 2008.

 

In the round robin stage on the Saturday, PMVC were unbeaten in all 7 of their timed games including a first ever win over their city rivals, Plymouth. On the Sunday, they started strongly but lost to Bristol and Bath Mavericks who are NVL Division 1 and 2 teams respectively. That meant that they finished in 3rd position in the round robin stages to set up a semi final rematch against Plymouth while Bristol and Bath played in the other semi final.

 

As expected it was another close game with both teams playing for the pride of being the best team in Plymouth – as the game was timed at 20 minutes, it was set for a frenetic finish. PMVC led throughout until Plymouth drew level towards the final moments however, PMVC secured their place in the Final by scoring the final point and winning 22-21.

 

Their opponents in the Final were Bristol – a team who knocked PMVC out of the National Cup earlier in the season. With both teams physically and emotionally drained they had one last obstacle in a best of 3 sets match to decide the title. The first set was close but PMVC dominated the closing stages to win 25-23. The second set was all about PMVC Ladies and their pursuit of the title. Bristol weren’t able to get a foothold as PMVC powered their way to win the set (25-14), the match and the Championship.

 

PMVC Ladies have had their best ever season in winning their first ever SW Championship title as well as retaining their SW League title unbeaten and their amazing run to finish as Runners up in the National Shield Finals. As half of the players in the PMVC Ladies squad are 16 years old or under, the club has proven that their investment in a Junior Development program has created a legacy for other junior members in the club to follow.

 

Head coach Steve Allen was elated at the Team’s success “They outplayed Plymouth in the Semis and Out hit Bristol in a thrilling Final - it was an outstanding overall performance and what pleased me most was that they overcame their emotions to play pure volleyball when it mattered. Over the weekend they have not only proven themselves as the best team in Plymouth but also as the best Ladies team in the Southwest of England.”

 

In other action, PMVC men had their most successful run in the SW Championships by winning 4 out of their 12 games to finish 10th Overall. They had very strong performances against some of the top teams and gained revenge on Lydney Lynx who were the only team to beat PMVC twice in the SW League this season by comfortably beating them in the round robin.

 

The standard for the Mens competition was incredibly strong this year which saw City Of Bristol regain the Title after beating their rivals Bristol Men in a thrilling 3 set final.

 

Steve Allen was impressed with how the Men played “It was a really impressive display for the Men as the standard was very high – they showed great character and improved more and more as the competition went on”.

 

For more information and news about PMVC or to know about how to get involved, please visit the website - pmvc.co.uk.