Volleyball
25 June, 2026
Heat impress at home
The Horsham Heat men’s and women’s sides both came away with victories in round 10 of the Victorian Volleyball League at Horsham Basketball Stadium on Saturday June 20.
The men’s side recorded their first victory of the season, defeating the Western Region Wolves in their morning clash 20-25, 25-21, 25-12, 30-28.
Volleyball Horsham president David Berry said it was a well-earnt win for the side, highlighting the performance of Dimitrios Vettos.
“It was great for the boys to get their first win; I was so pleased for them,” Berry said.
“Whenever you win a 30-28 set, as they did to win the game, that’s a really good test of character.
“Dimitrios Vettos probably played the best game of volleyball I've ever seen him play.
“He rallied the troops, kept them on their toes and kept encouraging them to keep focused, so he was unbelievably good in the first game.
“The boys couldn't quite back it up in the afternoon but the fact they're off the bottom of the table now is good, and that it left their opponents on the bottom of the table, that's even better.
“It’s a good reward for effort and it shows they’re improving.”
In their afternoon game, the Heat were defeated by the Wolves 18-25, 25-13, 26-28, 22-25.
The women’s side continued their fine season, winning both their matches against Melbourne University Renegades White.
The Heat won the first game 25-13, 25-14, 23-25, 25-17 before defeating the Renegades in straight sets in their second clash, 25-12, 25-14, 25-18.
As the coach of the women’s team, Berry said some lineup decisions contributed to their set loss in the first game but he was otherwise pleased with the team’s weekend.
“The girls got there eventually,” he said.
“In the first game, the third set wasn't pretty, but they showed what they should have done in the second game and won in straight sets.
“The mistake I made in the first game was taking too many of the senior players off at the one time and that's why the Renegades were able to win that third set.
“You want to test your players out in different situations and see where they're at, and the younger ones didn’t quite take their opportunity at that time.
The second win on Saturday marked the team’s sixth straight win, and with nine wins from 10 games, the Heat are currently placed at the top of pool B.
Looking towards the quarter-finals in August, the women’s coach said he was pleased with how the team was progressing, adding there was plenty more improvement in the team to have them prepared for the finals.
“We’re lucky to have two extremely good players at this level in Cleo (Baker) and Laelah (Robertson),” Berry said.
“We have one experienced player in Molly Carter still finding her feet who can’t seem to catch a break at the moment, but she’s only going to get better.
“Then we have the younger players who continue to develop around the senior players.
“Our setter, Amelia Van Buuren, is improving all the time, as are Bonnie Grieger, Serena Johns, Ingrid (Ferguson) and Lucinda (Ellis).
“Even Eadie Garth-Lindsay in the middle is slowly finding her best form, as she displayed in the afternoon game.
“We know where we’re at and we know that we’ve got plenty of room for improvement that hopefully in two months time, when we hit that first quarter-final, we should have a pretty strong list that can take on whoever we play against, irrespective of where we finish.”