close calls for men and women : round 3 : monash

Round 3 of the AVL continued for the Melb Uni Renegades teams on Friday night at Berwick against local team Casey Thunder. Several of the Melb Uni Renegades players had played for Casey Thunder last season so both clubs were out to prove a point.

The Casey Thunder women were yet to win a match, and with the Melbourne Uni Renegades women with just one win beside their name, it was a must win match for both teams. It went down to the wire at 14:14 in the deciding fifth set. Unfortunately, the ball managed to just fall the wrong way for the Melbourne Uni Renegades women and Casey won 16:14.

The Casey Thunder men had plenty of new faces for this season's competition, and inspired by their women's first win of the year managed to defeat the Melbourne University Renegades team in straight sets - a good night for Casey on their home court.

Monash University hosted the weekend's matches, with Melbourne University Renegades playing the Queensland Pirates. The Queensland sides travelled to Melbourne with reduced line-ups but still managed to play some excellent volleyball. For the Melbourne Uni Renegades teams though it was two more tough matches each, narrowly losing to the strong Pirates sides.

The Melbourne Uni Renegades teams can now look forward to a weekend off over Easter before two home matches at the Melbourne University Sports Centre on Wednesday April 3 and April 10 (7:15pm Women, 8:45pm Men).