Volleyball Horsham's summer season competitions are heating up as teams jostled for ladder positions with the school holiday break just around the corner.
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In A grade Rangers will sit back comfortable knowing they couldn't have done any better in the first phase of the competition winning all four games and sitting on top undefeated, before their bye.
Which made this week's games all that more important as teams were striving to keep in touch with the ladder leader.
Phantoms and Hellenic Nuggets battled first up followed by Heidelberg and Tsunami.
With one premiership point separating second and fifth, there was plenty to fight for.
Phantoms welcomed back the experience of Shaun Bray while Oscar Jackman and Noah Werry weren't coming into the game 100 per cent fit.
With question marks over Phantoms' two best players, Hellenic Nuggets were favoured to get over the line, and ultimately the side did, 76-61.
Demetrios Vettos and James Davidson were the standouts for the Nuggets, while Bray shone for Phantoms.
In the second game an unsettled line up for Heidelberg would have been a challenge against Tsunami.
Tyler Snowden and Jake Myerscough have been consistent so far while Tsunami are starting to build following the inclusion of Mani Singh into their team.
But Singh's inclusion wasn't enough to secure Tsunami the win, with Snowden and Tamikah Dockrill leading Heidelberg over the line, 68-49.
In the women's competition Ball Busters bubble was burst in round four, with the side going down to Lakers despite the efforts of Kymberley Murray and Rej Smith.
This week, they looked to bounce back when they took on the HTLC Ladybugs who are a young team on the rise.
The might of ball busters proved strong enough to secure victory, 88-54.
Thorns and Heidelberg was poised to be a close game with Janay Van Buuren and Rhianna Williams playing well for Thorns and Molly Carter and Scarlett Hand for Heidelberg.
Heidelberg came away with the win, 72-42.
Tamikah Dockrill's Tsunami sought to keep in touch with the four when they took on Laelah Robertson's Phantoms.
Jess Warrick and Hannah Sherry have been in good touch for Tsunami while Sophie Quick came in off the back of a strong showing in division one at a recent Ballarat tournament while Greta Van is ever consistent.
Van was strong again this week, but her side fell to Tsunami, 86-71.
BALLARAT PHANTOMS SUCCESS
The Phantoms female teams are showing good form as they prepare for round one of the Victorian Volleyball League on April 6.
The premier team with Tamikah Dockrill on board, pushed a slick Heidelberg all the way in the gold medal match, only to come up short to record successive pre-season silver medals, while the division three Black team featuring Mercedes Arnott went through the tournament undefeated in a positive showing going forward.
Volleyball Horsham teams had mixed results with a division one team finishing fifth with one win and a division three team finishing fourth with two wins.
Volleyball Horsham will have a break over the school holidays and return with selection trials for CC'24 with this year's event being hosted by Latrobe Valley in Traralgon, Churchill and Drouin.