Champions Valletta San Antonio swept aside the challenge of Aloysians Defenders to clinch their fourth straight national title.
It took Valletta 67 minutes to secure a 3-0 (25-23, 25-11, 25-20) win in this deciding game which drew a sizeable crowd to the Cottonera Sports Complex.
Valletta were off to a sloppy start, committing unforced errors in reception and attack while looking static in defence.
Aloysians took advantage to go 5-1 ahead in the first set but Valletta fought back to narrow the deficit to two points, 8-6, before the first technical time-out.
Owen Spiteri tried to get his attackers in the best spiking position but Valletta’s reception left much to be desired as Aloysians piled on the pressure.
They punished their opponents with well-placed spikes down the line and superior blocking to lead 21-14.
But, Valletta were not done yet. They raised their game with Paul Tonna leading the charge as Aloysians struggled to cope with the high block of Dalton Caruana, Jonathan Chetcuti, Robert Balzan and Cedric Bondin.
The Reds sustained their fightback to level the score at 22-22 before Tonna, Balzan and Caruana dealt the final blows in attack and block to win the first set 25-23.
With Aloysians stunned by Valletta’s astonishing comeback in the first set, the Citizens cruised through the second set. They led 16-4 by the second technical time-out.
Player-coach Chetcuti showed his intentions to keep up the pressure on Aloysians as he brought on Karl Meilaq Brunetti and Spiteri to maintain three attackers at the net.
Valletta dropped three points on Louis Sciriha’s jump serve but with Vince Pace coming in to steady the reception alongside Guazzoni, Valletta strolled to a 25-11 victory.
With a 2-0 advantage, Valletta were now one set away from winning the league title. Aloysians kept the pace with their opponents until the first technical time-out, trailing 8-5, but the champions stepped up a gear to stretch their lead to 16-10 with Caruana playing a blinder in the middle.
Reuben Vella also left his mark in the final set as Valletta extended their advantage to 20-14 before Tonna sealed victory with a sharp crosscourt spike in the three-metre area that kicked off Valletta’s celebrations.
This was Valletta’s fourth honour this season after they won the John Bugeja pre-season cup, the Super Cup and the Fr Tony Parnis National Cup.
Tough season
Speaking after the title decider, Owen Spiteri, Valletta’s setter and club official said: “This was a season of up and downs. We started badly, losing our first game to Aloysians since 2008 but this served to shake the team and all the work we have put in over the past months came to fruition in the games that mattered.
“I would like to congratulate Aloysians whose strong challenge helped to improve the level of the league this year. Finally, I want to thank our supporters and the Valletta Local Council for their assistance.”
Jonathan Chetcuti, Valletta’s player-coach, said all the players realised that they had to raise their standards to remain on top this season.
“After our negative start, we modified our training schedule and our training camp in Milan in a way that ensured that everyone would be in the best condition possible for the season finale,” Chetcuti said.
“Every member of our squad played an important role during training and games to lead Valletta to another clean sweep.”