Volleyball: Curtain-raiser tournament-Neo Boyz and Friends win inaugural tournament |14 March 2012

Winners in 2010, Friends secured the title for a second time, while Neo Boyz finally got their hands on the title after losing 2-0 to Premium Spikers in the 2010 final.

The curtain-raiser tournament was not held last year as the traditional league competition was replaced by special knockout tournaments, due to the hosting of the 8th Indian Ocean Island Games.

This year’s competition was played on a straight knock-out best-of-three format.

The first half of the ladies matches were played at Palais des Sports on court B, while the second half was played at La Promenade Gymnasium. The men’s teams competed at the Palais des Sports.

In the finals on Sunday at Palais des Sports, Neo Boyz defeated Beau Vallon 2-0, while Friends were victorious over Rainbow by the same score.

Neo Boyz started the competition with a 2-0 (25-23, 25-17) victory over Anse Royale, before eliminating Outsiders 2-0 in the semifinal. The set scores were 25-15 and 25-15.

Beau Vallon on the other hand started the tournament with a 2-0 (25-18, 25-19) win over Juniors in the quarterfinal, before eliminating Premium Spikers 2-0 in the semifinal. The set scores were 25-20 and 25-13.

In the final, Neo Boyz took 50 minutes to get rid of Beau Vallon 2-0 (26-24, 25-19) to win the first silverware of the season.

Friends started the competition with a 2-0 (25-13, 25-19) win over Juniors in the quarterfinal, before meeting Cascade in the semifinal match which they won 2-1 (25-18, 20-25, 15-10) to book their final spot.

As for Rainbow, they started in the preliminaries with a 2-0 (25-17, 25-11) win over St Louis Bombers, before eliminating Roots Sisters 2-0 in the quarterfinal. The set scores were 25-16 and 25-16. In the semifinal match, Rainbow’s opponents were OSC Comets. Even after slight resistances from their opponents in the first set, Rainbow managed to win the match 2-0. The set scores were 25-22 and 25-15.

In the final rendez-vous which lasted 37 minutes, Friends came out stronger to win the match 2-0 and win the first title of the season. The set scores were 25-23 and 25-17.

The winners received their trophies from SVF chairman Jude Florentine.

Meanwhile, the SVF Shield will be played on Sunday March 18 at the Palais des Sports. The men’s match will be between Premium Spikers and Beau Vallon at 5pm, while the women’s match will feature Arsu against Cascade at 3pm. 
 
The national league on the other hand will start on Saturday March 24.

For the 2012 season, the women’s division one, men’s division one and women’s division two will play on a two-leg basis, while the men’s  division two league will be played on at three-leg basis.

Meanwhile, the list of transfers for the 2012 season is as follows:.
Anzel Melanie (from Friends to Arsu)
RInette Ernesta (from Mont Fleuri to Arsu)
Sharon Esther (from Praslin Volleyball Club to Friends)  
Daniella Quatre (from Mont Fleuri to Rainbow United)   
Rosemonde Morel (from Santa West to Rainbow United)      
Elsia Vidot (from Santa West to Rainbow United)      
Jones Mangroo (from Premium Spikers to Neo Boyz) 
Ronny Essack (from Premium Spikers to  Neo Boyz)