Super League Review - Darkstar dare to dream as Malory keep the pressure on league leaders

Malory Eagles kicked off the weekend with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Essex Rebels, closing the gap to just three points behind the league leaders. Essex took the first set convincingly (25-20), but Malory hit back with a tight 28-26 second set. 

The match remained on a knife’s edge, with Essex reclaiming the third set before Malory forced a decider. Digging deep, Malory clinched a 15-12 win in the fifth, with MVP Nathan Fullerton leading the charge with a team-high 17 kills as well as seven blocks. 

Jacob Kern claimed another MVP award for the season with a game high of 30 kills, hitting 0.361. The Canadian also passed 16 perfect passes and 7 good passes from a possible 24 receptions. 

Essex Rebels will look to bounce back on Wednesday in their BUCS semi-final against the University of Nottingham, a repeat of last year’s semi-final where Nottingham won 3-1. 

Both teams return to league action next weekend, with Malory hosting Nottingham and Essex Rebels welcoming Stockport. Malory will then travel to Stockport before Essex faces Nottingham in a crucial season finale.

Malory capitalised on their momentum, sweeping Richmond Docklands 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 16) on Sunday to go level on points with Essex.

Libero Ivo Dobra claimed the MVP vote for the Docklands side, with Eagles setter Brian Chong getting the nod for the visitors. 

Docklands, currently in a playoff position, must be wary of IBB Polonia, who trail by just three points with two games remaining.

London Giants solidified their Final 4 hopes with a dominant 3-0 victory over Durham. MVP for the Giants, Lovepreet Singh Sandhu, had a commanding performance with two aces and 14 kills. 

Chey Cooper, for Durham, responded with 10 kills, one solo bloc,k and a serve receive rating of 2.28 with 11 of 18 attempts being perfect passes giving the Palatinates outside the MVP award.

They now have one remaining match against Newcastle Knights, who come in with strong momentum after another 3-0 win over the University of Nottingham, repeating last week’s result at Super League Live.

Knight took the match comfortably with them now almost certain of a place in London in April. 

James Ledbury, claimed the MVP vote for Knights for back-to-back weekends with 15 kills from 30 attempts as well as one block. 

Returning from injury, Gustavo Cassou claimed the MVP vote for Nottingham with 10 kills and one solo block in the match. 

IBB Polonia’s playoff hopes suffered a setback with a 3-1 (20-25, 25-19, 25-21, 28-26) loss to Durham on Sunday. 

Rebounding from their 3-0 loss the day before, the Palatinates responded well to losing the opening set, with MVP Alexei Walisser revitalising the Northeast side and claiming the next three sets to give them some league security. 

IBB Polonia must now win both their remaining matches (against Newcastle and Essex Blaze) and hope Richmond drop points to get an outside chance of survival in the men’s top flight.

Meanwhile, Stockport secured a crucial 3-0 victory over Essex Blaze in a grudge match, bringing them level on points. Stockport and Essex Blaze still have an outside chance of making the playoffs, but they need to win everything and hope results go their way.

The Final 4 Picture

• Essex Rebels – 38 points (Final 4 confirmed)

• Malory Eagles – 38 points (Final 4 confirmed)

• London Giants – 30 points (1 game left, need 1 point to secure a Final 4 spot)

• Newcastle Knights – 29 points (3 games left, need 2 points to confirm Final 4)

• University of Nottingham – 22 points (3 games left, must win all games and hope Newcastle drop points)

Relegation Battle

No team has been relegated yet, with teams from sixth to tenth still in the fight for survival.

• Stockport – 12 points (Must win all three remaining games and rely on other teams dropping points)

• Essex Blaze – 12 points (Four games left; need others above them to drop significant points)

• IBB Polonia London - 13 points (Must win their final two games against Blaze and Knights to have a chance at a playoff spot—dependent on Richmond losing both their next games.)

• Richmond Docklands – 16 points (Need four points to stay ahead of IBB but also require other results to go their way, particularly Stockport and Blaze dropping points).

 

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At the bottom of the MAAREE Women’s Super League table, Darkstar Derbyshire pulled off two vital wins to climb out of the playoff danger zone. They defeated Durham 3-0 in a hard-fought match before edging Leeds Gorse 3-2 in a tense battle at the Ruth Gorse Academy.

The East Midlands side had already claimed victory over Durham this season with a 3-1 victory in the National Cup, which has been part of Darkstar’s progression up the table since Christmas. 

Darkstar have now won their last three games in the Super Leauge with their last loss coming to Durham at the start of February. 

Since Christmas, they have won six of their nine games, which has now put them just outside the playoff spot in sixth with still two games left to play. 

Darkstar’s MVP for the Durham match Alice Brand, helped her current team get the better of her old teammates with 13 kills and three blocks. 

Jamie Dailey got the vote for the Palatinates with 13 kills, one block and six digs.

In their match up against Leeds Gorse, Darkstar had to push all the way, claiming the final set 13-15 to confirm Leeds couldn’t catch Lionhearts Vinarius for the last Final 4 spot. 

Leeds’ number 8 Elizabeth Perfection Uwagboe Akuetiehme claimed the MVP vote for the Yorkshire side with 14 kills, one block and one ace, helping her team claim a point and seeing them almost guarantee their involvement in the league next year. 

Morgan Donaldson claimed the vote for the Derbyshire side with 3 aces coming in at vital points to help the team climb out of the relegation places.

The women’s Final 4 is now confirmed after London Lionhearts swept the University of Nottingham 3-0, securing the fourth and final spot.

Lionhearts have gone from strength to strength this season after only just remaining in the league last year in the playoff match against Stockport. 

Maria Sviridova claimed another MVP vote for the season with a dominant display, tallying 16 kills, three blocks and four aces. 

Despite making it to the Final 4, the seedings for the women’s table is yet to be decided, with all four teams in action over the next two weeks, with Essex having three matches left and the London sides having two. 

Nottingham see themselves relegated, knowing only a perfect weekend would have seen them keep their hopes of Super League action alive. Setter Abi Ketley claimed MVP for the Green and Gold in their penultimate away game of the season. 

Despite already securing their spot, Malory Eagles were pushed hard by Essex Rebels in their 3-1 win. The Eagles took the first two sets (25-23, 25-15), but Essex battled back to win the third (25-23). The fourth set was neck-and-neck, with Malory edging it 26-24 to remain just two points behind Team SideOut Polonia.

MVP for the match was given to Chloe Allen for the Eagles, and Alexis Diaz-Infante claimed it for the Rebels, with both American players racking up 15 kills each.  

Cambridge are now in the relegation zone after a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Wessex, which saw the south coast side claim their first victory of the season despite already being relegated. 

The match saw Wessex win the final set 16-14, sparking wild celebrations. Cambridge now faces a do-or-die situation, needing to win both remaining matches to avoid automatic relegation.

MVP for Wessex, Victoria Palmer, helped her Wessex teammates to an emotional result,t giving them some momentum going into the final games of the season. 

This is how the bottom of the MAAREE Women’s Super League stacks up with only a couple of games left in the season.

• Darkstar (6th) – 19 points (2 games left)

• Durham (7th) – 19 points (1 game left, v Leeds Gorse)

• Cambridge ARU (8th) – 16 points (2 games left, must win both to reach 22 points)

• University of Nottingham (9th) – 12 points (Relegated)

• Wessex (10th) – 11 points (Relegated)

Photos by Colin Tucker

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