Falcons Men name new Head Coach
We are proud to announce Phill DeSalvo as the new Head Coach for the Mens program in 2010.
Phill joins the club after representing Australia as Libero in the senior team for 150 games and junior team for 100 games. During this time he competed in the 2003 Youth World Championship (ranking 5th as individual best digger in the tournament), 2006 World Championships, 2007 World Cup, and was also part of the team who were 2007 Asian Champions and also 2007 Commonwealth Champions. This national team was also ranked 11th in the world in 2007. He was also part of the Olympic Shadow Squad in 2004 and 2008.
Over the recent years Phill has been playing professionally in Germany and the Czech Republic. He played for:
- Sonneberger Volleyball Club – Germany (2nd Bundesliga)
- Volleyball CZ Kladno – Czech Republic (Czech Superliga)
- Volleyball CZ CZU Praha - Czech Republic (Czech Superliga)
- Volleyball SG Eltmann – Czech Republic (1st Bundesliga)
Phill has now come back to Melbourne for study, and has great plans for a revamped Mens program in 2010. This year Falcons should be represented in Honours, Division 1, Division 2 and Junior State league in the mens competition.
2010 Melbourne Falcons Coaching Structure
The Coaching structure for the club for 2010 has almost been finalised, but there are still a few positions available if you would like to be involved in coaching Falcons teams this year.
| Position | Mens | Womens |
| Head Coach | Phill DeSalvo | Bill McHoul |
| Division 1 | position available | Grace Sobolewski |
| Division 2/Juniors | Liam Sketcher | Petrice Fatchen(1 more position also available) |
| Mentor Coach | Allan DeSalvo | Allan DeSalvo |
| Manager | Michael Robertson | Bill McHoul |
If you would like more information, please contact Bill (bill(at)i.net.au) or Michael (“Robbo”) (michael(at)mjrphoto.com.au)
Mens Pre-season Training
After a great turnout and solid session at the first of the mens pre-season trainings tonight, the boys are ready to take on another big year! For the remainder of pre-season, trainings will be as follows:
- Monday 7pm – Ivanhoe Grammar – The Ridgeway, Ivanhoe
- Thursday 7pm – Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre – Albert Park
These are for the Seniors in the mens program. Junior training will start on Tuesday nights at Luther College in a few weeks.
See you there!
Falcons win Silver at National Junior Beach Titles
Falcons girls Jamie-Lee Morrow and Monique Stojanovic (“Team Falcon“) won Silver in the Girls U19 competition in the National Junior Beach Volleyball Titles last week in Adelaide.
In the U17 boys competition, young Sam “Vegas” Brisbane also won Silver.
Congratulations to all the Falcons who competed in Adelaide! Hopefully this is the start of a great year!
Time to take on the 2010 season!
Well its now that time of the year to start getting back onto the hard court. Both the Mens and Womens programs will be starting preseason over the next few weeks so it’s time to get back into shape (if you over-enjoyed your Christmas season, like me) and get ready to take on the 2010 State League Season.
Please check out the following documents for all the latest information:
Mens Program
Womens Program
Falcons take on Australian Schools Cup
Next week sees the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup come back to Melbourne for the 2009 week of competition. The games will take place at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre along with the State Volleyball Centre in Dandenong.
The games start on Sunday the 6th of December and go through the week, with the Finals being played on Friday the 11th of December.
There are a huge number of Falcons taking part in the competition, so we wish Good Luck to the following boys:
Representing Billanook:
- Aaron Morrow - Under 16 Honours
- Drew Waters – Under 15 Honours
- Kalan Davenport – Under 15 Honours
- Tom Dettman – Under 14 Div 1
- Darcy Rodgers – Under 14 Div 1
Representing Eltham:
- David Fletcher – Open Honours
- Sam Brisbane - Open Honours
- Jordan Richards - Open Honours
- Luke Brisbane – Under 15 Honours
- Matt Lester – Under 15 Honours
- Nathan Dorman – Under 15 Honours
- Tom Ross – Under 15 Honours
- Cale Skidmore – Under 15 Honours
There are just too many girls to list so we wish good luck to pretty much all of our Womens program who are under the age of 20 along with all of the volunteer coaches who are coaching school teams.
We advise everyone to try and get down to MSAC or the State Volleyball Centre next week to support all the kids and see some great School Volleyball. See you there! For full Draw/Results details check out the 2009 Australian Volleyball Schools Cup page.
Also a big congratulations to all the Eltham juniors who participated in the Victorian Secondary Schools Sports Association Volleyball Cup last week. Eltham managed to get 4 competition wins out of 4 teams entered. The year 7 and 8 boys and girls teams featured a number of Junior Falcons, who will go on to the National Schools Cup Competition next week! Well Done Guys!
Falcons Junior Boys Return to the Mix
Over the Melbourne Cup weekend, the Falcons Junior Men’s program reached it’s culmination by participating in Division 3 at the annual Dragon City tournament, hosted by the Bendigo Volleyball Association. The team was made up of players from Billanook and Eltham High School, with ages falling between 13 and 15. For almost all the boys this was their first tournament playing against open age players and on a full height net.
A very long and hot Saturday kicked off with an 8am game and, after a slow start in their full first game together, narrowly lost to Walkers (from Mildura) 2-1, followed up with a close contest between the eventual champions, Melbourne Phantoms. Despite many efforts not showing up on the scoreboard the boys more than held their own against a much bigger and more experienced side. Next up were the minor premiers, Sioux Spikers, who managed to make their way through all pool games undefeated. Experience was the difference in the end, with Spikers able to score crucial points in broken play that proved to be enough for a victory.
At the half way point, despite only one set win on the board, the boys remained upbeat and focussed on the positives of what they had achieved in the mornings play. This attitude served them well going into the game against FOS (Albury-Wodonga), pulling off a 2-1 win on the back of some great serving and defence. The first set was a gutsy come from behind performance where the Falcon’s boys were able to score many points through sheer hustle and determination. The positive attitude and energy carried through to our fifth game of the day against a Renegades team made up mostly from older high school age students. Despite being smaller and younger than the Reds, the boys overcame their exhaustion and backed up some fantastic serving from Kalan Davenport for an emphatic victory, finishing the day on a high note.
To finish off their tournament, the boys played Riddell’s Creek on Sunday morning and came away with a 2-1 win to bring their record to 3-3. In the end, the team was only denied a top 3 finish by set percentage, a fantastic achievement for a very young team playing their first tournament together where every player managed to make an important contribution over the course of the weekend. A massive thankyou to EIV for assisting us with our arrangements for the weekend, and all the parents who came along to support, particularly the Morrows and the Rodgers for their assistance.
The team was: Luke Brisbane, Kalan Davenport, Tom Ross, Tom Dettmann, Darcy Rodgers, Matt Lester, Nathan Dorman, Aaron Morrow and Liam Sketcher (Captain/Coach).
End of 2009 State League Season
2009 started early for the Women’s program, in particular the Honours team, Monday 12th January with outdoor preseason fitness training !!! We hit the indoor boards the first week of February.
A combined honours and div 1 team headed off to Warrnambool with only 2 honours players from 2008, plus our new signing Jess Lampe from Mornington. We played div 1 and took out the title, 3-1 against Austral from SA, felt even better as ex falcon, Jason Potts (if he ever comes back to Victoria he will become a falcon again), is the head coach for the Austral women’s program.
The new VVL State League tournament was our first opportunity to get our entire honours team together (minus Skip overseas & Erica injured).
This was a successful tournament coming second to Renegades.
So to the actual season………
In 2008 the honours team finished 5th. 2009 saw the blooding of some youth with Jaimee-Lee, Monique, and Jacinta joining the Honours team.
The actual round robin phase of the season was very up and down, players injured or away at times, we started off like a house on fire, had a lull in the middle, and then came home with 3 straight wins. We played 12 matches, 7 wins and 5 losses.
Our semi final was against Heidelberg, and this turned out to be our best performance of the season. Tactical serving and dominant blocking saw us 3-1 victors.
Now onto the preliminary final against Yarra Ranges, the only team in the competition we hadn’t beaten in 2009. From two nil down, we came back to take it to the 5th, where we went down 15-8.
While we know we could have won the premiership, the fact is we weren’t good enough on the day BUT the future is very bright…… bring on 2010 !!!
Finally, I would like to say a special thank you to Grace, who is there all the time when I need her, no matter how big or small the task is, and I did enjoy the coaches meeting every Saturday at the Dandy Club.
Club Awards for the 2009 Season
Thank you to all those who attended the 2009 Awards Presentation Night. Following is a list of the awards that were given out this year:
Mens Program
Honours MVP: Steve Brooks
Honours MVP: Sam Brisbane
Coaches Award: Victor Andonopoulos
Rising Star: David Fletcher
Best Clubman: Elliot Winfield
Most Improved: Ramsay Willmott
Most Committed: Liam Sketcher
Womens Honours
MVP: Laura Simpson
Coaches Award: Jaimee-Lee Morrow
Rising Star: Monique Stojanovic
Womens Div 1
MVP: Hayley Pringle
Coaches Award: Sabrina Bondini
Rising Star: Alice Ritchie
Womens Div 2 Navy
MVP: Elsie Rodgers
Coaches Award: Sarah Teklenberg
Rising Star: Caitlin Miller
Womens Div 2 Gold
MVP: Grace Harries
Coaches Award: Zoe Scanlon
Outstanding Club Service
Cathy Doulgeris
Michael Robertson
Falcons Men into Victorian Volleyball League Grand Final
The Falcons Mens Honours team has made it into the Grand Final for the 2009 season. They will come up against long time rivals Heidelberg. This game is sure to provide all fans with an epic and hard fought match. The match will be played at the State Volleyball Centre in Dandenong at 4PM.
So every past and present Falcon (and family and friends) should be there to support the boys to take home the title. So get down there in your colours and make plenty of noise to get them across the line!!!
See you all there!!!
About Us
2009 Final Ladder Positions:
Mens Honours – 2nd
Womens Honours – 3rd
Mens Div 1 – 8th
Womens Div 1 – 5th
Womens Div 2 Navy – 7th
Womens Div 2 Gold – 8th
Melbourne Falcons Volleyball Club is based in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne and is one of Australia’s largest & most successful volleyball clubs.
Our primary focus is the Victorian Volleyball League (VVL) which is played on Saturday’s (April to September) at the State Volleyball Centre in Dandenong.
The club has a junior focus with over 80% of our members being below the age of 18.
Please see the HOME PAGE page for any updates and information.
-
Recent Comments
FIVB News- FIVB World Grand Prix stars to take part in Montreux Volley Masters February 9, 2010
- First SWATCH FIVB World Tour Grand Slam 100 days away February 9, 2010
- FIVB and CAVB in mourning after member passes away February 9, 2010
- Record numbers for Arab Men's Club Championship February 9, 2010
- Mario hopes for further success with Brazil February 8, 2010
- Devo’s News
Links
