It was high-energy, competitive and lots of fun. Weeks before the current lockdown, residents of Uniworld City took part in a volleyball league that was its fifth edition and the first time women took part too.

Uniworld Volleyball League had five teams in the women’s category and eight teams in the men’s. The women’s teams had seven players in all — six on-field players and a substitute. Their matches consisted of three sets in which, the first two sets were of 25 points and the last set was of 15 points.

The men’s teams had six on-field players and seven substitutes. Their games had five sets of 21 points each.

Aarushi Sarda took home individual trophies for Best Setter, Emerging Player and Player of the semifinal match Sourced by the correspondent

Women on top

The final in the women’s category was between Net Assassins and Blitz. Net Assassins comprised players from diverse age groups whereas Blitz comprised of the veterans, most of whom were above 40 years of age.

The game started with Net Assassins picking up two points from the first two serves. The setters and smashers did not have much to do as the ball could not be received by anyone from Blitz. Two time-outs were allowed per set and that was when players from Blitz were making changes in strategy to counter the opposition. The tactics did not help much as Net Assassins won the first set with a score line of 25-16.

Blitz had to win this set to be in the game and that was when the server Poonam Yadav was making long serves to make it difficult for players from Net Assassins to make the returns. The setter from Net Assassins, Aarushi Sarda played a big role in lifting the shots up high so her teammates could return with smashes or placements. A methodical change to control the pace of the game helped Net Assassins as they won the second set 25-15 to further win the game.

“We were playing against a very young team. For us, making it to the final was an achievement in itself and our aim was to fight till the end. We lost but ,” said Laiza Boney, captain of Blitz.

The players from Net Assassins were delighted to win the match through two sets instead of three. “We had been winning the league games and won all matches till the final. The change in weather did come with its challenges but in the end we as a team did overcome all the odds and win the game,” said Meera Joseph, captain of Net Assassins.

Men fight it out

The men’s final was between Raiders and Team X. Both the teams had very high expectations from the respective servers and smashers. With Baljeet Singh, server of Team X, serving towards the sides of the mid-zone, it was tough for Jayanta Shaw, the setter of Raiders, to go out of court and lift the ball for his teammates to smash or return.

The close range blocks from either team helped on not giving away points but it was Raiders who won the first set 21-17. The second set started with aggressive shots from Team X and there was a huge dependency on the smasher and captain, Anshuman Singh, to score points for the team.

Team X was scoring points through this strategy but in one of the shots returned by Raiders, Anshuman jumped high only to sprain a muscle. This would prevent him from playing effectively for the rest of the game. Raiders won the second set with a better scoreline of 21-15.

The third set was intense for both sides as a win for Team X would keep them in the game but a loss would crown the Raiders. Players from Raiders got more defensive in this particular set and ensured that the long balls were returned short. This led to points coming in which ultimately led them to win the set with a scoreline of 21-17 and further win the match.

“Initially we didn’t have a setter during the first few league matches and didn’t perform too well in the group stage. But once we got a setter we could score points as the returns were lifted up for smashes,” said Anshuman, captain of Team X. “We expected the same to happen today but my injury turned against us.”

The captain of Raiders, Trinanjan Maity, credited the bonding of his teammates for the win. “We have been featuring in the finals for the last three years and this is our second consecutive win in Uniworld Volleyball League,” he smiled. “We had a balanced performance in the group stage with four three-set wins and the co-ordination between our server, setter and smasher was fantastic.”

A dance item presented as part of the closing ceremony

The closing ceremony was preceded by a dance performance where women shook a leg to Bollywood songs. Finally, there were trophies for emerging players, best setters, individual awards for runners-up and winners along with the team trophies.

Jayanta, who was the setter from Raiders as well as an organiser, won the best setter for the third consecutive year. “We are overwhelmed with the kind of participation we got. No doubt we had fantastic games in both the categories and going forward, we would like to see more women take part in this tournament,” said Shaw.