The Queensland Pirate’s Men have won their 4th AVL title in five years beating Canberra Heat 3-1 in the Gold Medal match at the 2018 AVL Championships.
Captain Andrew Maclean led the Pirate’s Men to victory with a stellar performance by the team throughout the round games and finals series. The Pirate’s went undefeated during the tournament, only dropping 2 sets including the first set of the Gold Medal match. The Heat got off to a good start in the final before the Pirate’s hit back and got better as the game continued. The fitness and concentration levels of the team were second to none, which is a credit to all of the players for their attendance and attitude at training. All of the players contributed to the final result with excellence in blocking and team defence. The Men beat Canberra Heat 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-19) to take out the Gold and be crowned AVL Champions for 2018.
Our Pirate’s Women team finished top of Pool A beating both UTSSU Shield and Sydney Amazons in the pool matches before coming up against Melbourne Uni Blues who beat our women 3-0 in the Quarter Final, and then went on to win the title for 2018. The Pirate’s versed UTSSU Shield in the placing match and finished 6th overall. The Women were impressive with how they played across the weekend, bringing an aggressive style of game to the court. The young side did an exceptional job and were unlucky to place after such a great start to the tournament and losing key players in Captain Jess Ryder during the home and away series and starter Kara Inskip on the eve of the tournament.
Our Men’s and Women’s Buccaneer sides also competed across the weekend and showed off their talents in Melbourne. The Women finished in 11th place going down 3-1 to Tasmania in the play-offs and our Men finished with an impressive 6th place finishing higher than other state’s first string sides. This tournament was a good experience for all Buccaneers players and shows that the futures of the Pirates sides are looking very bright.
Overall the tournament was a tremendous success and all teams took big steps forward on and off the court. The Men really picked up where they left off last year and continue to be the dominant force in Australian Volleyball, and this is now being reflected across our Women and Buccaneers sides bringing a fast and aggressive style of play across the teams. Congratulations to all of the athletes who were involved in the 2018 Pirate’s and Buccaneers teams.
Thank you to the coaching staff of Dean Bielanowski, Chris Carlill, Rhys Cox, Craig Marshall, Kylie Marshall, Luke Shorten, Chris Todd, and Brad Tutton for their continued support of the Pirate’s and Buccaneers teams. Without their hard work and dedication our teams would not have been able to compete at the high standard that they have throughout the tournament.
A special thank you to our QLD Pirate’s Sponsors Suzuki, Fit Lab, Game Clothing, and Pivitol Motion for their continued support – the success of our teams is not possible without their contributions.
For a full list of results, head to the AVL website.