Another volleyball season has come to an end, and with it, the evaluation period every club and team goes through when assessing the performance throughout that season.
No less than 157 matches were played between September and April, with honours being awarded in 11 different competitions.
Sliema Wanderers managed to etch their name on the women’s First Division trophy for the first time in their club history, thus improving on last year’s showing when they had to settle for the runners-up spot.
The Blues had to overcome the fierce opposition put forward by Swieqi Phoenix, even if the latter never managed to beat the Wanderers in the three league matches this year.
However, Sliema’s defeat at the hands of Fleur de Lys 2 at the beginning of the campaign meant that this division remained tight till the very end, with only one point separating Sliema and Swieqi before the last match of the season.
However, Sliema won their final match 3-1 to seal their title triumph.
On their part, Swieqi Phoenix had a string of successes in the youth categories.
For the second year running, they managed to win all three age-group competitions organised by the Malta Volleyball Association.
Swieqi completely dominated these three competitions as they not only remained unbeaten in all three competitions but they also managed not to concede a single set.
Balzan Flyers, Paola and Sliema Wanderers finished runners-up in the U-18, U-16 and U-14 categories, respectively.
Balzan Flyers was once again the strongest side in the ladies’ senior competitions, completing almost an en plein of trophies with the exception of the Super Cup that was won by Fleur de Lys.
However, after winning the John Bugeja tournament and the Christmas Cup, Balzan managed to retain the women’s Super League for a second successive season with a perfect record.
The girls in pink were the most consistent side throughout the campaign, with only Fleur de Lys and Paola managing to push them to their limits in some of the matches but the latter lacked the necessary consistency to challenge for the major honour.
In the Men’s competitions, Valletta Mapei continued where they left in 2015-2016, winning all the competitions at stake.
Their main opponents, Fleur de Lys, lost precious points against Aloysians and Valletta in the crucial part of the season, thus not being able to put up a serious title challenge.
Valletta’s dominance was evident throughout the whole season, winning the John Bugeja Tournament and the Super Cup at the beginning of the season, and culminating in the Super League success.