5 Feb 2024
Super League round 11 review: Polonia stay in women's title contention
The London side were always comfortable in easing to a 25-17, 25-20, 25-16 victory over their East Midlands visitors yesterday and, while fourth in the table, still have plenty of games in hand on all their other rivals.
Their match with Durham on Saturday 2nd March looks increasingly vital, with Polonia knowing they will have to win in the North East if they are to stop them claiming back-to-back titles.
For their part, the Palatinates had already notched yet another success – their 12th in a row – the previous day to overcome bottom-of-the table London Lionhearts 25-20, 25-25, 25-13.
Emily Haber was chosen as the hosts’ MVP after making 10 digs, six out of six service returns and three of 10 assists, while Anu Munkhtur (seven assists from 26 attempts and five digs) took the honours for Lionhearts.
Camryn Carfino weighed in with an impressive 17 kills, 24 successful returns and two blocks for the Palatinates.
Below Durham, Essex Rebels stay second after securing a 3-1 victory over the University of Nottingham in a game played in front of 465 spectators as part of the men’s double header and Nations Unite campaign.
The home fans certainly went home happy after an MVP performance from Kathryn Attar (seven kills, eight digs, five successful service return attempts from six and two assists from five attempts) saw the Rebels clinch a 25-12, 25-20, 33-31 triumph.
Isabel Brown served one ace, made three kills, four blocks and two digs as she was MVP for the visitors.
One place further back in the table are Malory Eagles, who remain third after they were 3-0 winners over Darkstar Derbyshire on Saturday.
They eased to a 25-17, 25-19, 25-14 win at Ernest Bevin College, with Selena Batiste their MVP and Hajar El Alouani picked out from Darkstar.
The other women’s match played over the weekend saw Leeds Gorse arrest their recent dip in form with a 3-1 win over London Lionhearts.
The Londoners raised hopes of a first success of the campaign when they took the first set 25-20, but the purple and orange responded well to take the next three, 25-23, 25-16, 25-23 in a closely-contested match.
In the men’s Super League, IBB Polonia regained top spot by maintaining their 100 per cent league record and making it nine wins in a row.
In doing so, by beating Essex Rebels 3-0 on Sunday, they gained some kind of revenge after being knocked out of the National Cup by the same opponents last weekend in a thrilling 3-2 match.
On this occasion, they were in control to win 25-20, 25-21, 27-25, with middle blocker Ephraim Mills taking the plaudits as MVP and Lefteris Ioannou named in a losing cause for Essex.
But it wasn’t all disappointment for the Rebels over the weekend after they had recorded a 3-1 Saturday victory over the University of Nottingham in Colchester.
Ioannou again led the way with an MVP display – making 21 successful serve returns from 22 attempts, four from 10 assists and nine digs – while Rob Morgan (18 of 19 service returns, 10 kills, one block, five of 12 assists) was chosen for the visitors after the set scores had gone 25-16, 27-25, 16-25, 25-18 in favour of the hosts.
Also making valuable contributions for Essex were Thomas Shatimehin, who served two aces, completed all 29 attempts at service return and made 16 kills, one block and nine digs and William Ragland, who made 10 kills, three blocks, five digs and completed five of eight assists.
Richmond Docklands enjoyed an excellent weekend with two wins on the road, propelling them up to fourth in the table.
First, they were 3-1 winners at Durham Palatinates, a result that realistically ends any hope the hosts had of defending the regular season top spot they secured last year.
The Londoners raced into a two-set lead before dropping the third and then recovering to win the fourth in a 25-19, 26-24, 22-25, 25-17 scoreline.
Ayodeji Balogun (six kills, four blocks, one assists, four digs was MVP for the visitors, while Conor Dunn (36 assists from 77 attempts, three kills, two blocks, 10 digs) picked up the vote for Durham.
Others to chip in for Docklands were Richard Uhlir (41 assists from 90 attempts, nine digs, four blocks, two kills) and Abdimalik Shukri and Joao Alves (both 11 kills).
On Sunday, Richmond moved on to West Yorkshire, where they beat Leeds Gorse 3-1.
Again, after taking the first two sets 25-19, 26-24, Docklands were pegged back in the third 25-22, before closing out the match by taking the fourth set 25-17.
The weekend’s other match took place in Stoke-on-Trent (pictured), where Stockport were worthy 3-0 victors over Newcastle Staffs – 25-23, 25-20, 25-17.
Haydn Lawson was MVP for the Cheshire club, while Sebastian Bucowski was selected for Newcastle.
Pics by Julia Rychlak
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