Beach gives way to indoor courts for winter contest

The Busselton Volleyball Association has headed into the indoor season at the Geographe Leisure Centre, after a successful summer on the beach. Coaches, players and committee members worked solidly during the off-season planning exciting indoor volleyball endeavours in the local competition and the WA Volleyball League. This season four teams have been entered in the WAVL, with a men’s and women’s team in both the State league, reserves and division one competitions. Players from Margaret River and Bunbury have joined the Busselton teams in their home and away matches. Last Sunday saw the first WAVL home games at the Geographe Leisure Centre in front of a sizeable crowd. The men’s State league team won a tight five-set match against Northern Stars, taking the final set, 15-12. Brett Lewington and Wes Combridge were stand-out players. The local league women had a convincing win in three sets, showing a lot of promise for the season ahead. Dunsborough all-rounder Youjin Lee was impressive in both passing and hitting. Busselton’s division-one teams were competitive in their tough matches against Murdoch University. The women’s teams had some great defensive plays and showed plenty of improvement through their three set loss. The Busselton men were outplayed by their strong opponents in the first two sets, but came back to be a threat in the third, going down 26-28. The Thursday night local competition is into the fourth round. A mix of youth and experience is evident in all three grades, with students from local high schools getting in practice for the high school country week competition in June. A-grade team Walk the Plank, led by veterans Stuart Luff and Rhys Hitching, is dominating the competition so far. Training and social games for Year 7-10 students is held on Thursdays from 4.30pm. For details email busselton volleyball@gmail.com or see the BVA Facebook page.