VOLLEYBALL’s representative season is back underway, and Sunraysia players are littered across the competition in Victoria and South Australia.
The majority play with the Phantoms, who incorporate players from Mildura, Bendigo, Ballarat, Horsham and Warrnambool in this year’s Victorian Volleyball League.
Adrian Fox, Kade Zrna and Angus Hermans will represent the regional side in the top division, Premier 1 men’s, and started their campaign with two good wins over La Trobe University last week.
Will Price, Joshua Ellis and Dustin Freckleton will play Premier 2 men’s, while Charlotte Hawson will suit up for Premier 2 women’s, and Brock Nokes and Derek Bagacay will play State League 1 and State League 2 respectively.
Sunraysia graduate and Volleyball Super League player Dylan Lucchesi will represent Monash Uni.
In the South Australian Volleyball League, Molly Klams will play for Austral Phoenix, while Poppy Wilkes will play for USC Lion.
Fox said it is fantastic to see how many players from Sunraysia are playing in the top leagues for both states.
“It’s a huge commitment, and it’s one of the only ways to play the level of volleyball that these players are truly capable of,” he said.
“Everyone can improve not only by playing a really quality competition, but also by watching other games.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to see this improvement at country champs when everyone pulls on the Sunraysia uniform.
“I’m really looking forward to going a little deeper into the season.
“Last year (in P1M), we lost our first elimination final in five sets, which still hurts a little bit, we’ve recruited well and should be able to go the distance.
“The Phantoms have great depth in their men’s program this year with a few people fighting for positions in the P1 team, which filters quality players down into the P2 and SL1 and 2 teams.
“We can expect to see a lot of player movement between teams throughout the year based on player performance and availability.”
Fox said he is excited to see what his side can accomplish under new coach Matt Berry, with the team off to a flying start.
“He (Berry) is using really in-depth statistics from our games to establish benchmarks, and he’s encouraging us to play really modern volleyball,” he said.
“These stats highlighted that we got a little bit lucky in our second game with how our passing and hitting efficiency.
“We need to hit those targets to win games against some of the better teams in the competition.”
Fox believes the talent level at Sunraysia level is at an all time high.
“We currently have the largest player base outside of Melbourne in the state,” he said.
“The Sunraysia Academy of Sport is about to restart its volleyball program, and we’re coming off of a Division 1 men’s win at the Victorian Volleyball Country Championships last year.
“We’ve now set our sights on winning the Chairpersons Trophy (the most successful association across all divisions).”
