Mapei retain title

Valletta Mapei have underlined their dominance of men's volleyball after claiming the national league title for the second year running.

This season, Mapei also won the other major honour at stake, the Tony Parnis National Cup, while also having eight of their players selected to form the backbone of the national squad.

Last Sunday, Valletta beat Sliema 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-18) in a game that was a reflection of their consistency throughout the season and which left them at the top of the table, 13 points ahead of the same Sliema.

In fact, Mapei were streets ahead of their opponents all year round, winning all their games and dropping only five sets, a feat that will be hard to match.

"This was a very important year for Valletta because we have strengthened our position in local volleyball and did our best to keep the players motivated," Owen Spiteri, a club delegate, said.

Valletta Volleyball Club is also supported by the Valletta Local Council. Their winning team was made up of Robert Balzan, Cedric Bondin, Dalton Caruana, Jonathan Chetcuti, Anatoly Gatt, Par Hoglund, Karl Meilaq Brunetti, Keith Mifsud, Vince Pace, Josef Pirotta, Stephen Riolo and Anatole Scerri.

Meanwhile, the women's Division Two will reach its climax tomorrow with the final match pitching Birkirkara and Flyers Depiro II.

After Birkirkara's 3-2 win over Paola U-18, both teams are now separated by just one point at the top of the promotion play-offs. During the regular season, Birkirkara and Flyers have won one match each, both matches finishing with the identical score of 3-1.