Volleyball: Croydon Ladies close in on league crown

CROYDON Volleyball Club's ladies' team are now in a commanding position to claim their first title in their debut season in the London League.

A pair of wins over Malory Eagles inside a week has made it 10 victories out of 10, with a maximum haul of 30 points and without losing a set. Second-placed London Lionhearts trail by 11 points in Division Two.

The first match against Malory was in Tooting and despite an unconvincing first set, the visitors showed exactly why they remain unbeaten with a dominant second and third set performance to win 3-0 (25-15, 25-8, 25-5).

Outside hitters Rositsa Petrova and Lucia Pavelova improved as the game went on, thundering hits across the net to which the Wandsworth opponents had no answer.

Playmaker Mariana Ganeva worked extremely hard to get the best of Croydon's players and her linking with six-foot middle hitter Karin Olivier improves each game.

Croydon were handed a 3-0 walkover a few days later at Croydon Sports Club (25-0, 25-0, 25-0) as Malory fielded an incomplete team.

A friendly game ensued to give the squad's younger players some matchday experience.

The club's academy based at Thomas More School won the prestigious U15 Boys London Schools Finals in Wandsworth after a thrilling final victory against Ernest Bevin Sports College.

The girls just missed out on the final and settled for a very impressive third place.

Captain and England international Jermaine Miles led the team in style and Santino Broglia, George Kerr and Courtney Thorpemott made up the rest of the squad playing some fantastic volleyball.

With Riddlesdown Collegiate and Croydon High School also joining the club's junior programme, the future looks bright for Croydon Volleyball.