Adelaide storm into home Final against Pirates

AVSL

12/10/2024

Adelaide storm into home Final against Pirates

In contrast to the men’s contests which both went the distance, Adelaide Storm and Queensland Pirates were dominant en route to the Mahindra Australian Volleyball Super League Final, both recording three-set victories in the women’s semi-finals.

Queensland were first to book their ticket into the decider, accounting for defending champions Perth before Adelaide delighted the crowd at 36ers Arena to qualify for the Final on home soil.

Queensland Pirates d Perth Steel 3:0 (18-13, 18-16, 18-13)

Queensland Pirates exacted revenge on Perth from their 2023 Final defeat and now have the chance to make amends after winning their way through to the Sunday’s decider following a confidence-building 3:0 victory over the Steel.

Coming into the Finals Series with a negative win-loss record, the Pirates were underdogs against a Perth team which beat them 4:1 just three weeks ago.

How Queensland was the side which started on top, taking little time to rush to a set advantage.

The second set was a closer affair however Queensland maintained their composure when it mattered most and put the Steel in the same position their male counterparts were earlier in the day.

But while the Perth Steel men’s team fought back from 0:2 to secure the chance to go back-to-back, the Pirates never let Perth into the the third set and will now attempt to win their second title in the last three years.

Pirates’ opposite Emma Burton said that while Queensland’s regular season record saw them fall behind the Steel, Storm and Vipers in the three-way tie for first, their confidence in performing in the Finals Series was never in doubt.

“It’s a Pirate thing that we don’t start out the best but then we always seem to steady the ship towards the end of the season,” she said. “WA came out to us a few weeks ago and demolished us, but we knew what we needed to do in that game.

“We always have a really good match against WA and the last two years we’ve met them in the gold medal match so to meet them in the semi we knew would be really tough.

“It was one-national-championship-all, so it was nice to settle the score.”

Asked if the Pirates could go one better than 2023, Burton was emphatic: “Absolutely! We’re back!”

Adelaide Storm d Melbourne Vipers 3:0 (18-14, 18-11, 20-18)

Home-town fans will be out in force on Super Sunday after Adelaide Storm qualified for the Super League Finals with a stylish 3:0 victory over Melbourne.

While not possessing the sheer firepower of the Vipers, Adelaide’s court craft was superb in the opening two sets and they quickly set Melbourne a seemingly unassailable task to qualify for the final.

However the Vipers were determined to make a contest of the fourth and final match of the day, leading by as many as six points at various stages of the third set with the match poised to go to the fourth and possibly beyond.

Adelaide never gave up on the opportunity to close it out, gradually forcing their way back into the contest to eventually tie the set up at 16-all.

Melbourne were then able to deny the home side on their first two set points but the Storm would not be outdone, sending the boisterous home crowd into raptures.

Adelaide skipper Beth Carey was ecstatic following the game, specifically calling out her team’s ability to come back from well behind in the third set to make their way into the most important match of the season.

“We’re not a massive hitting team, but we’ve got that defensive skill so we just needed to chip away really and we did that,” said Carey. “Two points at a time is all you need and then finishing off strong at the end.”

Carey complemented her team which has gone from losers on this occasion last year to qualifying for a final on their home court with the Super League crown now in touching distance.

“The consistency and the relentlessness of this team compared to last year is just above and beyond and I’m really excited to go into that big gold medal match tomorrow,” she said.