Injury stops Lim team’s stride
Unfortunately an untimely injury for Limpopo volleyball player, Charity Baloyi shattered the province's dreams of having a representative in the semi-finals of the Flying Fish National Beach Volleyball Series top four.
POLOKWANE – LIMPOPO volleyball team, Charity Baloyi and Maureen Mnisi, looked to be on course to upset the team from Cape Town to qualify for the semi-finals of the Flying Fish National Beach Volleyball Series at the Mall of the North in Polokwane on Saturday afternoon.
Unfortunately an untimely injury for Charity shattered the province’s dreams of having a representative in the competition’s top four.
The Flying Fish National Volleyball Series visited Limpopo for the first time on Saturday and Limpopo team, Charity and Maureen, provided the shock of the tournament when they qualified for the quarter-final.
After an impressive display in the round robin stages, the two University of Limpopo students enjoyed much support from the locals and gained momentum with every point they scored.
Pitted against former beach volleyball champions, Leanna and Miya, the Limpopo team had a shaky start to their quarter-final match, but stood their ground in the second quarter when they matched the defending champions pound for pound.
With the score tied at 8-8 in the second quarter, Charity twisted her ankle as she stretched in defence and that put her out of the tournament.
Her inability to continue meant the end of the road for Limpopo in the tournament.
Charity said she felt she let Limpopo down, but the pain was unbearable.
“Maureen and I wanted to make the province proud, but the injury cost us the match. We agreed that we would show the team from Cape Town that we could match them play for play, but I could not continue after the injury.”
Maureen said she was happy that they qualified for the quarter-finals in their first tournament.
She said they needed access to beach volleyball courts in order to be ready for competitions of this nature.
“Nobody thought we could do well and we proved them wrong. It was our first time playing beach volleyball and the sand was heavy. We do have courts at the university to train on, but the sand is not the same. This was a valuable experience and we will represent the province better at the next match in Bloemfontein,” said Maureen.
Mnisi and Baloyi shared the sentiment that the Limpopo department of sport, arts and culture should organise provincial volleyball tournaments to keep players ready for competitions.
“We don’t have competitions and to be ready we train with men. We fared better because we played beach volleyball at University Sport South Africa (USSA) and Varsity Sport last year.
“We learned our lesson here and we aim for a spot in the semi-finals in Bloemfontein,” added Maureen.
Another Limpopo team, Komplits Volleyball Club from Bela Bela, represented by Maggy Maseko and Potlako Moloisane, failed to reach the quarter-finals after losing three of their four fixtures. The Limpopo men’s team also failed to reach the quarter-finals.
Polokwane was the fourth host of series after Durban, Johannesburg, and Kimberley. The next tournament will be in Bloemfontein from December 5 to 7.
