The Rosters will be updated and uploaded sometime during the week.

Just a reminder for League teams, that it is the responsibility of Duty teams of the first game to arrive early enough to set up the net for warmup at 6:20.

On the Friday evening and Saturday we saw the teams compete in a double round robin of  preliminary matches. The was some heated competition and a number of closely contested matches.

The end of the weekend saw an end to the games and the winners were:

Mens: Vypers (1st); Palmos (2nd); Uni(3rd)

Womens: Kankles (1st); Mixed Lollies (2nd); Frangipani (3rd)

A big thankyou to all the Alice Springs players who made the trip to Darwin and to the ladies from Kankles who ran the BBQ and the drinks esky.

Our local teams played well but were unable to come out on top. NT men started things off in the morning against Papua New Guinea who controlled the first set, winning 25-17.
NT rallied and fought hard to keep toe to toe with PNG who won the second set 25-22.
PNG started the third set firing, winning successive rallies to gain a 6 point advantage. Our boys fired up and fought to get back within 2 points but were unable to chase down their opponents who won 25-21.

While many of us were having lunch, the NT women were warming up for their match against defending champions Macau.
NT Women started strongly and took the lead in the first set, scoring some great points but were unable to to contain Macau who rallied to take the set. The Macau defence only got better as they managed to continually keep the ball alive to win the next two sets and the match.
Set scores were: 25-21, 25-17, 25-16.

The NT Men were ready for their 1:30pm match against Macau, but were forced to wait as an epic battle of wills took place between South Australia and Papua New Guinea – National Capital District.
PNG had already managed to win the first two sets of the match and looked as though they would also take the third when South Australia fired up and won successive points to come from behind and take the third set. Souths kept the momentum going and quickly took the match to a 5th set race to 15.
With the game on the line, both teams fought tooth and nail and Souths had managed to reach match point with a 1 point lead. PNG managed to win the rally and tie it up at 14 all, before winning the next two rallies to win the match. Set scores: 21-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-16, 14-16.

After their longer than expected wait, NT Men hit the court eager for their encounter with Macau. Unfortunately for the NT Men,  their opponents proved to be the better team, defeating them in straight sets

You can see the results for Day 2 mens here and here. The women’s day two results are here.

NT Setter John Lay sending the ball to the awaiting Matt O'Brien. Pic from DarwinHub.com

Our NT Women played against Papua New Guinea – NCD, and despite taking the first set, were unable to win the match, losing 3 sets to 1. The set scores were: 25-14, 13-25, 12-25, 15-25.

The NT Men’s team had two matches today. Their first was against Torres Strait Island, which they won convincingly in 3 straight sets. The set scores were: 25-11, 25-18, 25-17.
In their second game, they were unable to continue their good form losing to Papua New Guinea – NCD in straight sets. The set scores were: 15-25, 18-25, 16-25.

You can find the full results information at the Arafura Games Volleyball Results Page.

Tomorrow we will see the Northern Territory women square off against Torres Macau at 12 noon. The NT Men will again play two games, starting at 9am against defending champions Papua New Guinea. They will hit the courts again at 1:30pm to battle Macau.
A full volleyball program guide can be found here.

Tomorrow we will see the start of the Volleyball Tournament. This year we have 8 men’s teams and 6 women’s teams.

The men’s teams are:

Australian Defence Force
Northern Territory
Macau
Papua New Guinea – NCD
Papua New Guinea
South Adelaide
Timor Leste
Torres Strait Island
The women’s teams are:

Australian Defence Force
Northern Territory
Macau
Papua New Guinea – NCD
South Adelaide
Torres Strait Island

The teams will play a round robin during the week before the playoffs on Friday and Finals will be held on Saturday.

The Arafura Games website has a full draw which you can find here.

So if you have some free time, come down and check out the Volleyball.

Each morning we will also broadcast on our facebook and twitter pages the times that the NT teams will be playing.

If you want to come down and support the NT side, then these are the times you will want to be down at the Marrara Indoor Stadium.

Sunday 9th

NT Men: 9 am and 12 noon
NT Women: 3pm

Monday 10th

NT Men: 9 am and 1:30pm
NT Women: 12 noon

Tuesday 11th

NT Men: 8pm
NT Women: 6:30pm

Wednesday 12th

NT Men: 6:30 pm
NT Women: 6:30 pm

Thursday 13th

NT Men: 6:30 pm
NT Women: 6:30 pm

In the Women’s League, competition leaders Kankles playoff against fourth placed Vypers Seniors. Kankles won the first two sets, and looked as though they would have to concede the third set to an aggressive Vypers, but they managed to fight back to take the third set and the match.
In the 2nd vs 3rd playoff, strong volleyball was demonstrated by both teams Uni were unable to defeat Gecko’s losing in straight sets, who went on to play Kankles for the Gold Medal.
The ladies grand final kicked off with a more rested Kankles starting strongly to take the first set. Gecko’s stood their ground to take the second set. Kankles kept their season’s consistent form with them into the third and fourth sets to win the Gold Medals.

This season was a three team Men’s finals. A playoff between second place Uni and third place Palmo’s for the right to challenge Vypers in the Finals.
Palmo’s ground defence was strong and they took the first set, before losing the second. Uni picked up the pace to even the scores to one set apiece. Palmo’s regained the lead winning the third set, and with the time limit approaching, Uni had to win the fourth set quickly but were buzzer.
Confident from their win, Palmo’s played very well keeping toe to toe with Vypers but were unable to beat their opponents to 25.  The second set saw Palmo’s take a slight lead against Vypers, but did not capitalise, losing the set. Vypers made a strategic substitution that allowed them to dominate at the net and win the third set, the match, and the premiership.

In the Mixed Social Finals, we had playoffs between Kindred 2 and Uni, and Drink More Red played off against Kindred 1.
With both Kindred teams losing to their opponents, we had the first finals match in a long time without a Pattemore team competing. The bronze medal match between Kindred 1 and 2, went to three sets,with Kindred 2 showing a little more form to win the Bronze Medals.
In the finals match, we had Uni take on newcomers Drink More Red in two very closely contested sets. The strongest and most consistent team on the night was Uni, who rose to the challenge and claimed the gold medal from from a fourth place position on the seasons ladder.

Unfortunately we were unable to announce the seasons Best & Fairest during the League Presentation, so we are announcing them here.

Women’s League Best & Fairest

Best Server: Kylie Cunnington (Kankles)
Best Hitter: Amanda Graham Sutton (Gecko’s)
Best Reciever: Guin Cowan (Vypers Seniors)
Best Blocker: Draw between Ailsa Robertson (Defence Crocs) and Alex Billiter (Vypers)
Best Setter: Carolyn Knutsen (Gecko’s)
Most Valuable Player: Deanna Hawkins (Kankles)

Men’s League Best & Fairest

Best Server: Kyle Nelson (Uni Stingers)
Best Hitter: Greg Holt (Palmo’s)
Best Reciever: Mark Trobbiani (Vypers)
Best Blocker: Chris Stewart (Vypers)
Best Setter: John Lay (Vypers)
Most Valuable Player: Greg Holt (Palmo’s)

Volunteer registrations close on the 8th of April so time is running out.

Please go to www.arafuragames.nt.gov.au to register or contact Linda Lukitsch through the VNT email at volleyballnt@gmail.com

Here is a copy of the letter sent out by Jonathon Uptin and you can visit www.lifestylent.nt.gov.au for more information.

This is a great opportunity to get your team noticed in the community and possibly raise some funds.

LifestyleNT

You can follow us our twitter account: @DVAVolleyball

We also have a Facebook Page that you can “Like” to have weekly reminders about game times right in your news feed!

We will still be posting our regular emails to those people on our League and Social mailing lists.
If you would like to be be added to our mailing lists, send an email to darwinvolleyball@gmail.com asking to be put on our social or league mailing list.

The course goes over 13 days at the end of May through the start of June. The costs will be $1452 including accomodation at the AIS and 3 meals a day. Or just $776 for just the meals and no accommodation.

After looking at the FIVB website, I have been unable to find evidence of any clinics run in Australia since 2006. Though there have been reccollections of courses held in 1981 and ’88.

This is a fantastic opportunity to improve your volleyball coaching skills as well as build fantastic connections to the wider Australian Volleyball community.

For more information hit up the links below.

From the AVF [via Ozvolley.org]