By David Berry

Volleyball Horsham Heat’s women’s team has finished fourth in the state league one competition following a straight- sets bronze medal match loss to Monash Uni.

When the team got its final off to the perfect start, leading 7-1 on the back of some Molly Carter spike success and brilliant serving from teenage middle blocker Bonnie Grieger, it looked like a bronze medal win was in the offing.

But to Monash Uni’s credit, it polished up its service reception, which enabled its setter to have more options in attack and before long that ascendancy was wiped away and the game became a point-for-point contest.

The Heat team showed great resilience in defence, often running balls down and keeping its chances alive in the rally, but could not land the winner needed to score points, and Monash took the first set 25-23.

Monash carried that momentum into the second set and soon established a four point lead that the Horsham team could not bridge. 

Monash established its middle attackers early and was able to keep the Heat team’s defences guessing as they continually hit deep to corners, resulting in a mid-game change by the Heat team. While the team worked hard in defence, keeping the ball alive and staying in the rally, it could not land the telling blow in offence.

Monash took the second set 25-21, but given the history between the two teams, the Heat team knew it had been there and done that before, so the mood in the huddle at the end of the second set was one of optimism.

A change in line-up saw Molly Carter start with the serve and Cleo Baker onto the front line, to see if the team could arrest the momentum from the other side of the court and get off to a start. Monash continued with its relentless attack and by the mid-point of the set, the Heat team had fired all its bullets and could not get a winner no matter what it threw at the opposition, as the score ballooned out to 19-11.

The end came quickly with Monash powering away to win 25-14 and taking a well deserved bronze medal.

For the Heat team, a season that promised so much came to a crashing end and ironically their worst result – a three-set loss – came in the match that mattered the most.

Twenty-eight teams started the state league one season, and for Volleyball Horsham Heat to finish top-four in its first season, can be given a huge pass mark.

The result should spur the team on for next season and give the girls the fire in the belly to come back hard and strong.

Fifteen wins and four losses in the team’s first season shows it can compete at the level, and ironically, the competition winners were Dandenong Red – the team that beat the Heat girls in four-sets in their semi-final. 

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