Phantoms Volleyball Club will take great confidence into the next round of State League on April 27, after experiencing mixed results against Melbourne Uni Renegades in Horsham.
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The club took five wins across the weekend's 17 matches, but coaches were impressed with how their teams performed against high-quality opposition.
In the showcase match on Saturday night, the premier men recorded their first victory over Renegades in a powerhouse display that had the crowd on their feet.
"The boys were up for the fight and they didn't take a backward step," coach Todd Broadbent said. "In the past when the boys lost momentum they would just fall away, but to their credit they refused to yield under some pretty intense pressure."
While the side couldn't repeat the effort on Sunday, going down in five in a two-hour dog fight, they will take great heart into their next match against Dandenong.
The premier women showed great tenacity in their four-set loss against Renegades, being first to 23 in the first set and taking the third set, to take their more highly fancied opponents into a fourth set.
"The Renegades women were just too tall in the end, with their six footers plus hitters in Athy Henshaw, Xi Xi and Eliza Smith overpowering our girls," coach David Berry said. The girls let themselves down in the afternoon match, going down in straight sets.
On the positive side, the reserves men scored two hard-fought wins to stay undefeated after three matches, and the division 2 Black team scored a good straight sets win to take their record to three and one.
The reserves girls suffered two losses, but had the crowd on the edge of their seats when they served for the match in their Sunday game, only to be denied by a very good Renegades team.
"The girls were great in both matches, especially given that the same team toweled them up in Warrnambool only last month. To fight back the way they did on Sunday after going down the night before shows great character," coach Paul Byrne said.
The division 2 girls split their results over the two days, losing on Saturday and bouncing back on Sunday.
The two young division 3 teams both suffered losses across the weekend against more experienced opponents, but pushed hard in all their games.
Volleyball Horsham volunteers and members did a power of work to ensure the success of the weekend.
State League will return with matches at the State Volleyball Centre on April 27.
