Senior Volleyball Championships

The Newfoundland and Labrador Volleyball Association is hosting the Labatt Senior Men's A, B and C and Women's A and B provincial championships this weekend March 16-17. The tournament will be held in Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor.

Senior Men's A will be a very exciting five team tournament to be played at St. Paul's Intermediate School. The teams to watch for in the Men's A will be Benders, who are the defending champions, they will be lead by Tommy Kelly, who was a red shirt for Memorial and Mike Hayes. However the other four teams will certainly be competitive, Gander, will have former national team player and MUN star Deon Goulding and current Memorial player, Russ Jackson. Port Rexton will also be lead by two Memorial stars, Brad Piercey and Matt Downton. The Canada Games team will certainly surprise everyone with MUN first year players Chad Vivian and Matthew Noseworthy along with Doug Duffett, who was selected to Canada's Youth Team during the past summer, leading the way. Finally, Marine Institute, who move up to Men's A this year after winning the B Championship last year will be lead by Ryan Smith who was the MVP in last years Senior B event.

Senior Men's B is going to be a fight to the end, when 14 teams take to the courts in Grand Falls-Windsor with gold on their minds. The teams to keep your eyes on are, the East Enders who lost a well-fought battle against Marine Institute in the finals last year. The number one ranked team Peddlers, who are one of the top teams in the Labatt St. John's Men's League, will have something to say about that when they go out fighting. Other teams that will certainly be in the running for the title will be Corner Brook, Harbour Breton, Grand Falls-Windsor, Starlite Electric and Onca.

Senior Men's C will have five teams competing at the Canadian Forces Base in Gander. This division will be interesting, as there are two teams from St. Pierre along with the very competitive team from Clarenville, SHANCO.

Ladies A is going to come down to who wants it more when the 15 teams go out to claim the gold. The top ranked team will be Jungle Jim's the defending champions and leaders in the St. John's Ladies League. The second ranked team will be the Canada Games Team lead by Memorial player Catherine Hennessey and high school stars Charlene Tilley from CBS and Rebecca Hayes from Brigus. Sports Tech, who were the winners of the Senior B last year, have moved up to the plate and feels it's time for them to be Ladies A Champions. This tournament will be a very close right from the start when the ladies take the courts in Gander and Glenwood.

Ladies B will be sweating it out on the courts in Grand Falls-Windsor. Ladies B is made up of 12 very competitive teams, which will prove to be a very exciting tournament. The teams to watch for will be the team from Deer Lake the Blue Ladies who are last years Ladies C champions, but let�s not forget the team from St. Pierre, who were denied by Deer Lake in the finals last year.

All tournament will be starting Friday evening between 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. and ending late Saturday evening, so come on out and watch this great tournament. Labatt Breweries, who are the provincial senior sponsor for the NLVA, supply all awards for the event. For more information or schedules please contact the NLVA at (709) 576-0817 or via e-mail nlva@nfld.com or nlvacraig@sportnf.com. 

2001 03 15                                11:00 a.m.