Seychelles Volleyball Federation (SVF) Cup finals |13 November 2017

Swimblue Pals retain title, Cascade new women’s champs

Swimblue Pals retained the men’s Seychelles Volleyball Federation (SVF) Cup title in an all-conquering season ‒ their first in the top flight ‒ while Cascade have succeeded Arsu as the women’s champions.

In the finals played on Saturday afternoon at the Palais des Sports and beamed live to almost all homes by the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), Cascade beat Praslin Girls 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 27-25) and Swimblue Pals easily won on the same scoreline ‒  3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-18) ‒ against Premium Spikers.

The chief executive of the National Sports Council Giovanna Rousseau presented Cascade with their winning trophy while the president of the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association, Antonio Gopal presented Swimblue Pals with theirs.

Cascade v Praslin Girls

The game between Cascade and Praslin Girls was a balanced affair but the former had a slight edge in consistency and concentration as their service, ball reception and blocks on the net worked to their advantage.

Cascade’s tall players, Petra Richard and Cathrina Simon scored with some rapid attacks and linked up with captain Terille Songoire and others to marshal their defence at the net.

Praslin Girls, who were relying too much on their tallest player Angelique Adeline in attack, had their chance to change the course of the game but committed too many individual mistakes by wasting their service coupled with poor reception and a lack of concentration. They went on to lose the game in 1 hour 14 minutes.

Cascade took 25 minutes to win the first set 25-21 as captain Songoire placed the ball in the middle of the court. Praslin Girls raised the level of their game in the second and third sets.

In the second set, they closed an early 10-point deficit of 4-14 to one point ‒ 23-24 ‒ before Vanita Rose served the ball into the net to give Cascade a 25-23 win. The third set was also level at 24-24 and 25-25 and in crunch time when victory could go either way, Praslin Girls looked more eager to win to keep alive their chances of turning the match around and winning a first major title.

After Cascade led 26-25, Adeline placed the ball out of bounds to give Cascade a 27-25 win and immediately the Cascade players started celebrating winning a third title this year after they won the Curtain-raiser and Land Marine Cup earlier in the season.

Cascade manager Michel Pierre was very happy with his team’s performance and congratulated Praslin Girls for playing a good game.

“The girls just applied what they did in training. They did not waste a lot of service, reception and blocks were good. When all these departments work perfectly, victory is inevitable. We have attained our objective of getting three cups and I would like to congratulate the players,” said manager Pierre.

Praslin Girls coach Ralph Rosette was very disappointed with his team’s performance and said: “The players committed too many mistakes at the service line and in reception and they did not perform what they did in training even though some gave their best. I am also mostly disappointed as I did not expect to lose 0-3 against this Cascade team,” exclaimed coach Rosette.

Swimblue Pals v Premium Spikers

Swimblue Pals defeated Beau Vallon in last year’s final to close an incredible season as a second division side in their first year of existence and in their first year as a first division side they enjoyed another all-conquering season.

In Saturday’s men’s final against Premium Spikers who showed little resistance, Swimblue Pals easily won the match 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-18) in 1 hour 12 minutes.

Although Samuel Bijoux had a good game, Premium Spikers also committed too many unforced errors and they were punished by some strong attacks by Ian Furneau and Ricky Vel following some good setting by Seychelles international setter Jones Mangroo.

The win was the fourth title this season for Swimblue Pals as they won all competitions ‒ league, curtain-raiser, Land Marine Cup and SVF Cup ‒ without a single defeat. In fact they also did not lose any matches last year.

Manager Hughes Hoareau said: “We expected to win but not as easily. We expected Premium Spikers to give us some more resistance. It’s sad, but in our camp we are happy for the victory”. 

He added that good investment and discipline in the team are the result of their achievements this year.

Premium Spikers manager Eric Bastienne was very disappointed with his team’s performance as it was the last opportunity they had to win at least a title.

“We committed too many stupid mistakes and the score difference is too big. We should have given Swimblue Pals a run for their money even though we were the underdogs”.

P. J.