Lankan spikers down Maldivians 3-0

Bernard Perera

VOLLEYBALL: Sri Lankan volleyballers who are preparing to compete at the forthcoming Central Asia Volleyball Championship came up with a fine performance yesterday to beat the visiting Maldivian spikers three sets to nil. Maldivians too are on their way to Pakistan for the same tourney.

Sri Lankan spikers led by Nalin Sampath played a fine game from the word go. In the first set Maldivians could not pose a big threat at any stage Lankans opened scoring, but the visitors equalled immediately.

The only stage the visitors managed to level the score was at two all. The local spikers gave no room for their opponents to come to terms there onwards and kept on increasing the lead. The visitors again cameback strongly to level at 6 all but could not cope up with the smashes directed by the Lankans.

Lankans in this set collected eight points continuously from to go for a strong lead of 11 points and finished the set 25-14.

The second set commenced once again with the Lankans moving forward. Maldivians were never in line to come to close terms at any stage of this set. This set too ended at 25-14. At one stage it looked like the Lankans were heading for a win restricting their opponents to less than 10 points. A late onslaught saw them reach a respectable 14 points. This victory gave the locals a 2-0 lead.

The third set too became a one sided affair. Here too the defence of the visitors was no match for local spikers. Their blocking and smashes were not up to expected standard. Most of the smashes that was made by the Maldivian spikers were well blocked by the Lankan defenders.

The wall set by Nalin Sampath, M.E. Kodagoda, Sameera Dissanayake were upto standard. Also it should be noted their spiking has improved very much and they should maintain this consistency throughout if we are to make an impression on the Asian circuit.

Morris Chaminda did a good job as a setter. His setting helped well for the spikers to collect points at will. All together it was a combined effort that produced a fine victory in the three test series which also gave the local team a 1-0 lead.

All in all the exposure that the Lankan spikers gain in playing a team competing in the Central Asian Volleyball Championship will be of vital importance for the team. The Lankan spikers will have to maintain this winning streak and should go out for a clean sweep in this series.

On the other hand, the visitors too will be happy to confront a strong outfit before moving for Islamabad, Pakistan. They are in a position to correct their faults while playing here and could improve a lot before the championship.

Maldivians should adopt new ploys today in a bid to come to terms with the local team. The visitors will have the opportunity to try new tactics at least to reach respectable totals even if they lose this game. They too must be considering three tests will give them immense experience to make new avenues for the game.