The first phase of the 2018/2019 Nigeria Volleyball Premier League (NVPL) will finally kickoff on Saturday, July 13th at the Indoor Sports Hall of Stephen Keshi International stadium in Asaba, Delta State.
The League had been shifted severally due to Zone 3 Africa Club Championships in Lagos and All Africa Games Qualifiers in Abidjan.
Following the conclusion of the Nigeria Volleyball Division one in Ilorin last week, the federation has shift focus to the Premier League in Asaba.
The Chairman of the League Management Committee, Professor Olatunde Morakinyo, said eight men and seven women team would participate at this year’s league.
He said, “Nigeria Customs, NSCDC, Nigeria Police, Nigeria Immigrations, Kano Pillars, Plateau Rocks, UCEM (Enugu) and Famous Spikers are the men’s team while Nigeria Customs, NSCDC, Nigeria Immigrations, COAS Spikers, Benue Queens and Kada Queens are the Women’s team.
Morakinyo said the league would help some of the All Africa Games bound players to keep fit.
He said, “The Premier League in Asaba will be off advantage to some of the players who will represent Nigeria at next month’s All Africa Games in Morocco.
“The competition will be high because the teams are coming with young and old players who want to cement their place in the respective National teams”.
He urged registered players to abstain from ban substances as players caught will be ban from participating in any volleyball tournament in the country.
On Sun, Jul 7, 2019, 08:29 Dare Kuti <[email protected]> wrote:
V/ball Division one: Sunshine Spikers, Nigeria Police tops table
Sunshine Spikers of Ondo and Nigeria Police finished first in the men’s and women’s category at the first phase of the Nigeria Volleyball Division One League held at the indoor sports hall of the University of Ilorin, Kwara state.
Sunshine Spikers of Ondo state pummeled Nigeria Army 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-20) in the men’s match while Nigeria Police Force eased pass Imo state 3-0 (25-9, 25-13, 25-13) in the women’s match on the final day.
The head coach of Sunshine Spikers of Ondo, Adeniyi Adekalu told newsmen that his team was able to overpower the threats from the Nigeria Army.
He said, “Majority of volleyball pundits have predicted against my team but I give glory to God because the tactics I used worked perfectly for us.
“The Nigeria Army team we played came out smoking but we were able to checkmate them and by the time they say our firepower, they had to lay low”.
The National U19 coach revealed that loopholes observed in the final will be corrected before the commencement of the second phase.
Adekalu said, “The secret of my team is hard work; every time we train hard and try to find our loopholes. During our final match with Nigeria Army, I identified some shortcomings and loopholes which we are going to correct.
“The next plan of action is for us to go back home and keep on training hard; we cannot rest on our oars now because many teams want to play Ondo team. You can see that from the start of this tournament, the moment teams want to play Sunshine Spikers, they use all their strength but we know it is a normal thing for them to try upsetting the champion”.
The second phase of the Nigeria Volleyball Division one league will be played in Bauchi by a date yet to be decided by the League Organising Committee of the Federation
Other results of Day 7:
Nigeria Prisons v ABM of Katsina 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-18)
Kada Kings v Offa Volleyball Club 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-22)
Delta Force v Dynamic 3-1 (25-16, 21-25, 25-18, 25-18)
Men standing:
1st Sunshine Spikers- 26 points
2nd Nigeria Army- 24 points
3rd Niger Brass- 19 points
4th Offa Volleyball Club- 18 points
5th Kada Kings- 14 points
6th Nigeria Prisons- 13 points
7th ABM of Katsina- 9 points
8th Dynamic of Anambra- 6 points
9th Delta Force- 6 points
10th Imo state- 0 points
Women standing:
1st Nigeria Police Force- 9 points
2nd Imo state- 6 points
3rd Ok Babes of Ogun- 3 points
4th Zamfara- 0 points
