A number of matches from the national leagues were played last weekend.

On Saturday, Valletta Mapei faced Sliema in the men's league. The match was a nervy affair and referee Marvic Micallef had a hard time controlling players from both teams.

Valletta started off well with powerful spikes from captain Jonathan Chetcuti. Sliema hit back with veteran David Caruana showing good form. Paul Vella and libero Antoine Cortis gave their utmost too.

Valletta defeated Sliema 3-0 with Paul Tonna, Dalton Caruana and Robert Balzan seizing the opportunity to attack with good sets from Owen Spiteri.

In the women's first division league, the clash between Paola Hibs Candy and Flyers Depiro was the highlight of the weekend.

Both sides began the match on a positive note. Carmen Gauci, Alison Borg and Gertrude Zarb made the most of sets from the experienced Tiziana Bonnici for Paola Hibs.

On the other hand, Flyers excelled in defence with libero Lindsay Cordina and Dorianne Bonnici produced good recoveries. Dorianne Grech also did very well at the net with effective blocks.

It was a nailbiting game as both teams won point after point. The experience of the Paolites told at the end of each set as these were always able to go the extra mile and win 3-0.

In another ladies' game, Fleur de Lys beat Playvolley Galaxy 3-1. Michael Magro's team did well during the first two sets, giving Playvolley no opportunities at all. Set scores were highly in favour of Fleur de Lys.

However, in the third set, Playvolley put up a fight and even managed to win it 25-22. This filled Luca Randazzo's girls with enthusiasm as Fleur de Lys were shaken out of their comfort zone.

Magro restored order to his team by playing his usual rotation in the fourth set with Belinda Milton winning several points as Fleur de Lys won 3-1.