CHINHOYI University of Technology (CUT) finished the Zimbabwe Volleyball Premier League (ZVPL) unbeaten as they seized the baton stick from the police outfit, Support Unit, and ran riot to complete a 3-1 rout in the women’s final at the UZ Courts on Sunday.
On the other hand, UZ Wolves men completed a double over Non-Academic Bachelors Association (NABA) inside seven days to lift the ZVPL trophy. Aided by the never-say-die attitude and merry band of the vociferous crowd, there was no denying them the title.
UZ Wolves raced to a 2-0 lead, NABA pulled one back with the intention of forcing the match into the decider but they eventually surrendered in the fourth set where they lost 25-14.
The Season’s most valuable player and UZ Wolves star player Tanaka Hwara was excited at winning the double as well as his individual award.
“This is my first time to win such a prestigious award for such a big tournament at ZVPL ever since I started playing volleyball. I’m really grateful to my teammates and the Wolves family at large. You all saw what a huge difference our fans made and they really pushed us to perform to our best,” Hwara told NewsDay Sport.
“We were on a rebuilding exercise. We lost a number of talented players to the other clubs in the league but credit to our coaches, they made sure we quickly adapted to the situation and won such big tournaments. We started practicing as a team at the end of January and all the guys put in the hard yards, we played and worked as a team.”
The most inspiring tale of the season certainly belonged to CUT ladies who cut above the rest, ending the entire season undefeated. Heading into the final round of the season, CUT led the table with 32 points having played 11 games and winning all of them.
The Mashonaland West side beat their Midlands neighbours in the quarter-finals, Midlands State University, dismissed fellow students and former champions UZ Wolves 3-0 in the semis before running riot on the police Support Unit in the final.
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CUT took the first set 25-21, Support Unit levelled the sets one-all after winning the second set 20-25 but ran out of steam chasing the speedy and slippery students to lose the succeeding sets 25-12 and 25-20.
CUT winning captain Isabel Molebaleng said they are now looking forward to a good show in Maseru, Lesotho, for the Zone 6 Club Championships.
“It feels really good, we worked hard for this, our goal was to take the gold medal and we did it. The pressure was too much getting into the final round of matches having led right from the first day, but we thank God that we were able to handle it,” she said.
“I think everyone had pressure but with God we were able to handle it. The final against Support Unit was a tough one and before we even played, nobody gave us a chance to beat them but we kept the faith and let the basics do the talking during play. This victory means a lot for the institution, our sports director was here and he was super proud of us. Everyone is happy and so are the players and the technical team.”
Meanwhile, Harare City ladies and Highlanders men won bronze medals after finishing third in their respective leagues.
