Weekend Finishes Off Successful Season

City of Bristol Volleyball Club had cause for celebration at the weekend with the Men 1 team retaining their 'South West Champions' title at a regional tournament and news that the club were runners up in a national 'Club of the Year' competition.

City of Bristol women's team also triumphed at the weekend when they secured second place in the ladies contest having just lost in a final described as 'the match of the tournament'.

Unfortunately, the club's Men 2 team was knocked out of the tournament semi-finals.

Attracting teams from as far afield as Wiltshire, Croyde, Cardiff and Jersey, the Plymouth-based two-day South West Championships tournament proved an intensive competition for all involved.

Having earned their place through consistent tough play in all nine matches leading up to the final, Bristol's Men's 1 team used their depth of experience to overcome Plymouth's first team, comfortably beating them 2-0 with great structured play.

In the ladies competition, City of Bristol found themselves facing old rivals - Plymouth's women's team. This phenomenal match attracted a large crowd and saw both teams battle point for point. In a game where there was no room for error, City of Bristol put Plymouth through their paces, forcing them to put up a strong defence to powerful hitting. However, a few mistakes gave Plymouth the advantage and eventually City of Bristol lost by only two points in each set giving Plymouth a 2-0 win.

City of Bristol's women's coach, Paul Locke said, "I am really proud of what the women achieved this weekend. They fought hard for every point during the final and they deserved to win, and we look forward to taking this experience through to the next season."

Gary Burton, Men 1 coach, said, "We are delighted to be crowned 'South West Champions' for a second year in a row, and have thoroughly enjoyed the challenges of the weekend."

Run by the English Volleyball Association, the 'Club of the Year' result was announced at a Golden Jubilee dinner held in Birmingham on Saturday night to celebrate 50 years of volleyball in Britain. City of Bristol had been selected for the shortlist based on their work to develop the standard of the club teams - seen in the Men's 1 team coming 3rd in National League Division 1, Men's 2 and 3 teams holding their own in Division 3, and the Women placed 4th in Division 3, this season - and encouraging young people to play volleyball. Unfortunately they were just beaten to the title by Newcastle Staffs Volleyball Club, but still receive £300, money that the club will put towards financing their youth development programme.
Honorary President of the City of Bristol Volleyball Club Ron Richards received the Award and said, "It was particularly pleasing to receive the award on such a prestigious evening, where volleyballers looked back on the 50 years of their association and looked forward to the tremendous opportunities being offered by the hosting of the Olympics in London in 2012."

Men's 1 team player Jiri Petrasch was also awarded National League Division 1's 'Most Valuable Player of the Year' title at the dinner, a great accomplishment as there has not been a South West based team playing at this level in a number of years.