While Storm Isha hit Galway in full, Galway Volleyball Club earned a spot in the Men's National Cup Semi-finals with a 3-2 victory against Dublin VC BraVo, while the Women's team secured a 3 sets to 2 win over Munster Thunder in the league.
On Sunday in Claregalway, a heart-pounding Association Cup Quarter-Final match between Galway and BraVo, saw the home side start well, with solid passing by Guzman and Drejkarz, and good distribution by setter Aidan McDonnell. Having taken the opening set 25-20, Galway struggled in the second due to the great performance of BraVo's middle blockers in both hitting and blocking, and the Dublin side soon levelled. Galway got back in the game thanks to an effective streak of serves by Jeremiah Obiekwe, which turned around a third-set deficit of 23-17 to eventually take it 28-26. Another tight fourth set went the way of Dublin BraVo, so it was on to the decider, where a great performance in hitting by Jorge Guzman and blocking by Peter McGlynn, helped Galway to a 3-2 victory and a Cup Semi-final in Dublin against Aer Lingus on February 11th.
Final result: Galway VC 3 DVC BraVo 2 (25-20, 16-25, 28-26, 25-27, 15-12)
Galway VC Men's roster: Padraig Flanagan (C), Aidan McDonnell, Peter McGlynn, Jeremiah Obiekwe, Liam Bedford, Jakub Drejkarz, Walid Kanouni, Jorge Guzman, Konrad Kizielewicz. Coach: Amanda Burgio
On Saturday in Limerick, the Galway women's team were also involved in a ding-dong battle, this time against Munster Thunder. After a great start in the first set, and with a lead of 20-11, GVC struggled with passing the effective serves of the opponents, eventually losing out 26-24. The Galway girls took the second set 25-21 with some good rallies and amazing digs, but couldn't stop Munster Thunder from taking the third on the same scoreline. In the fourth set, with a few good serves from Mikal O'Boyle and some amazing blocks from middle blocker Laura Idoux, the team levelled the match, before taking the last set 15-8 and the match.
Final score: Munster Thunder VC 2 - Galway VC 3 (26-24, 21-25, 25-21, 17-25, 8-15)
Galway VC women's roster: Giulia Comini (C), Amanda Burgio, Mikal O'Boyle, Nedina Marku, Bianca Castelli, Laura Idoux, Cerena Miravalles, Emer Phelan, Aoibhin McDonnell, Amy O'Sullivan, Deira Valci, Eimear O'Neill. Coach: Giovanni Spera
For both teams, their next matches will be the Association Cup And Shield Semi-finals in Dublin on February 11th. The League will be back on February 18th at home in Claregalway.
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