Melbourne Falcons Volleyball Club

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).