Mahindra Australian Volleyball Super League | Round 4 Preview
The final two matches of the 2024 Mahindra Australian Volleyball Super League regular season will be played out over three weeks giving each team at least one week off before the Finals Series in Adelaide.
Canberra Heat and NSW Phoenix have this weekend off, giving the other four sides an opportunity to extend a lead over the bottom two side on the men’s and women’s ladders.
SATURDAY 21 SEPTEMBER
Adelaide Storm v Melbourne Vipers
36ers Arena, Adelaide SA
4:30pm ACST/5:00pm AEST | SBS On Demand
2023 Round 1 Results
Women: Vipers d Storm 4:1 (18-14, 13-18, 18-14, 18-17, 18-17)
> Bronze Medal Match: Vipers d Storm 3:1 (18-14, 13-18, 18-6, 18-15)
Men: Storm d Vipers 4:1 (16-18, 18-17, 18-16, 18-16, 18-17)
Fans heading to 36ers Arena and those viewing around the country on SBS On Demand are set for a pair of blockbuster encounters when Adelaide Storm play host to the Melbourne Vipers on Saturday.
Adelaide and Melbourne hold the top two spots on the women’s ladder with the Storm holding the advantage courtesy of one extra set won and one extra bonus point earned.
The Vipers will be ruing their last-start loss to Perth, dropping a 2:1 lead before ultimately going down and losing top spot on the table following their first defeat.
Conversely, Adelaide are riding high after rebounding from their only loss of the season in round two to take the maximum 11 competition points away from last week’s clash with NSW.
The Storm will also be looking to turn the tables on a Vipers outfit which denied them the bronze medal in the 2023 playoff match.
The men’s clash is set to be equally absorbing with competition points and set quotient unable to separate the Vipers and Storm who sit just behind Queensland on the Super League ladder.
Melbourne sounded a warning to the rest of the competition last weekend when they delivered Perth their first defeat in over a year. Their only loss this season came on the 35th and final point of the fifth set of their opening round contest with the Pirates.
Paul Sanderson has been a giant for the Vipers, only one of two players in the men’s competition to twice feature in the Mahindra Team of the Week.
The Storm are not without their stars either, with a mix of youth and experience guiding them towards a home Finals Series. Young gun Finley Bennett has been impressive while veteran presence Brendan Clewes continues to shine.
Ironically, Adelaide’s only loss of the season also came on the 35th and final point of their opening round match, eventually going down to Perth in a bonus point defeat in a rematch of the 2023 Grand Final.
Last weekend the Storm were near-perfect, scoring 89 out of a maximum 90 points in their 4:1 victory over NSW.
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SUNDAY 22 SEPTEMBER
Queensland Pirates v Perth Steel
Iona College, Brisbane QLD
1:00pm AEST / 11:00am AWST | YouTube
2023 Round 2 Results
Women: Steel d Pirates 3:2 (18-14 18-9, 17-18, 18-16, 17-18)
Men: Steel d Pirates 4:1 (18-13, 18-16, 18-9, 15-18, 18-14)
Sunday afternoon volleyball in Brisbane doesn’t get any sweeter with two mouth-watering encounters set to see fans flock to the courts of Iona College.
The women’s contest sees the teams placed third and fourth attempting to move north on the table.
The Steel have not been in their title-winning form of last season but have still won two of their three matches so far, including a come-from-behind win against second-placed Melbourne last Saturday.
The Pirates have only won the one match so far this year, however sit above Canberra on the ladder courtesy of sets won and a bonus point.
Two of the players to watch are certain to be Tessa Browne (Perth) and Scarlett Rudder (Queensland) who have locked out the middle blocker positions in the Mahindra Team of the Week for each of the opening three rounds.
The men’s contest sees first-placed Queensland taking on the fourth-placed still, however their positions on the table do not truly indicate how close these two teams are.
Both sides hold a 2-1 win-loss record across the season to date, with one more set win and one more bonus all that separates the two teams
A win for either side will give them one hand on the Finals Series door with Perth desperate to defend their 2023 championship.
“This week is a big one for us, we play the Steel at home which is great,” said Pirates coach Kylie Marshall. “Our first focus is getting to the finals and then obviously we’re aiming to get into that final game.”
“The guys are pretty hungry after last year and we’ve already gone a lot further than they did, so we’re treating the remainder of our games as an opportunity to show our depth and talent.
“We’re going to take on everyone and see if we can win the thing.”
