Volleyball
28 October, 2025
Four through, four to go
Four grand finalists have been decided, with four to go in Volleyball Horsham’s winter season finals series.
Rangers, Phantoms, Von Steiger Sisters and WLC Nuggets all progressed with outstanding semi-final victories, and now they will sit back and watch to see if the vanquished can raise another effort to set up rematches, should they prove successful in this week’s preliminary finals.
In A grade, playing without their first choice middles, Jack Hannan’s Rangers started strongly against Tyler Puls’ Phantoms, taking the first set only to see their opponents bounce back and take the second.
The moves of Alex Baker from passhitter to middle and Hannan to passhitter proved to be the masterstroke in the third set as Baker got into the game, while Hannan showed his class on the outside to help Rangers take the third set 25-19.
Haidyn Young then busted the set wide open in the fourth, taking the score from 13-15 to 18-15 on the back of some strong serving and Hannan front line brilliance – a margin that Phantoms couldn’t bridge.
Phantoms will live to fight another day when they line up against Nathan Berry’s Heidelberg in the preliminary final.
Heidelberg overcame a slow start, dropping the first set to Tsunami 18-25, only to bounce back in emphatic fashion to take the second 25-11, with Berry finding his middle attackers Jake Myerscough and Oscar Jackman more frequently.
With a more settled lineup and playing with great confidence, Heidelberg powered away to win the semi-final in four sets, setting up a mouth watering preliminary final.
In the women’s A, Phantoms proved too good for Lakers in the second semi, while Tsunami showed they will be a serious threat when they ended Nuggets season in the first semi.
Sophie Quick and Cleo Baker were in everything for Phantoms with Lakers having no answers for the power and precision of the two experienced players.
Likewise, in the first semi-final Nuggets had no answers to the experienced duo in Emily Hannan and Laelah Robertson.
In the women’s B, the two Von Steiger teams enjoyed a great night, with first the Sisters' team sending the young Power Divas back to the drawing board with a straight-sets victory, while the Shadows did likewise against the Magnificent Medicos.
Top-of-the-table WLC Nuggets showed just why they will be the team to beat for the junior A title when they bounced back from a first-set loss to the Von Steiger Kids to move into the grand final.
Matilda Smith and Pippa Kelm showed good skills to help the Nuggets win, while Jack Armstrong and Kobe Agustin threw everything into their game for the Von Steiger Kids.
The Von Steiger Kids will now meet WLC Tigers in the preliminary final in what promises to be another close game.