Firstly, the Mayo seniors suffered their first defeat since their formation as they were outdone 3 sets to 1 against the Garda Volleyball Club in Dublin. 

A Mayo side missing some of their key players battled hard as each set was won by narrow margins. Like last week the Mayo ladies lost the opening 2 sets by 25-22 and 25-23 respectively. The Westerners regained composure in the fourth set winning 25-21 but the final set looked like it was going Mayo's way until the Garda side put a flurry of scored together winning 25-23 and the match 3-1

This defeat ends Mayo's long 15 game winning streak dating 371 days. Their next fixture will provide a sterner test against promotion favourites Dalkey in St. Louis Kiltimagh on Saturday 28th.

 

After the game Orla Casby said, "We have had a great run. After 16 games our winning run had to come to an end sometime. We ran some great plays and recovered balls well at times so we have learned a lot from the game. We have much to work on for the next game."

 

The Mayo side who lined out were:

Aideen Mahon, Alex Fleming, Edel Nolan. Mikal O'Boyle, Eimear McNieve, Paulina Balik Nowak, Louise Daly, Grainne McNieve, Orla Casby, Jackie Prendergast.

There was better news for the Mayo U-16 outfit who played their first competitive games in the first of the VAI blitzes, this time held in Loughrea. 

The blitz involved 6 single set matches against 6 clubs from across the country.

 

Many of the U16s also featured in the U18 side who defeated Clare and Galway in recent games.

The young Mayo ladies started with a bang defeating Newbridge Lynxes 25-13. Up next was a local derby with Galway where the red and green came from 6 points down to win a tight battle 25-23. 

They then added a third win to their tally with a 25-21 victory over Ennis. Mayo made it 4 in a row with a 25-21 win over Newbridge Tigers. However they did encounter their first defeat of the day losing by the tightest of margins 32-30 against St. Brigid's Volleyball Club after a rarely seen 7 consecutive tie breakers. 

 

That said the Mayo ladies atoned for the loss by putting Clare to the sword in their final fixture 25-13. 

 

After 5 wins from 6 the Mayo U16s finished their first blitz second behind St. Brigid's in what has been a remarkable journey in the short existence for Mayo volleyball's underage sides. 

The Mayo U16 side who featured in today's blitz was:

Hana Ueno, Elizabeth Gallagher, Roisin McLoughlin, Ruth Horan, Lauren Petra Fahy, Ciara O'Neill, Maria Crowe.

After the game Mayo Assistant coach, Michael McLoughlin, "The overall performance from the girls was very good. They had a never say die attitude in all the matches and they gave it their all. I am very proud of their overall performance."