Scottish Open Volleyball Tournament

THE UK’s largest volleyball event, the Scottish Open, saw 107 teams converge on Perth for the 26th tournament.

Teams came from the USA, Germany, France, the Faroe Islands and all parts of Britain, with the weather for the 92 teams playing outdoors on Perth’s North Inch better than expected.

Sunny spells were interspersed with the odd shower but Sunday afternoon’s strong winds made playing conditions difficult.

The indoor teams playing in the Men’s and Women’s Division of Honour on the five courts in Bell’s Sports Centre had little concern over the weather as they battled to become the 2011 Open champions.

In Saturday’s qualification rounds it was interesting that the final game in men’s pool A saw father against son as Iain Cook, guesting for the USA Athletes went head to head against son Seain who was in the Caledonia side playing for the Scotland Young Seniors.

There was added spice to this fixture as the winning side would qualify for the Sunday’s semi-finals. The USA side also included Roy Munro from the local Kinross Scotrange side who was also drafted in to help the Americans depleted squad.

Glasgow Mets had already won pool A losing only one set to Caledonia whilst pool B saw City of Edinburgh come out top losing one set to each of Polonia Jets and French Connection with the French side finishing in runners-up position to meet Mets in Sunday’s other semi-final.

In the women’s division of honour City of Edinburgh won all their Saturday games losing only one set to old rivals Troon in a 25–17; 22–25; 15–9 three set match.

In the outdoor competition local sides were also having success with Kelty Chiefs, Dodgy Spikers, Dunfermline and Kinross BB qualifying in Men’s Division Two. In the popular mixed section Perth sides Mr G’s All Stars and Hitting Bricks qualified.

On Sunday the outdoor teams had to contend with a strong wind as the competition entered its final stages and Perth’s Dodgy Spikers lost out in the final to last season’s Men’s Division Two winners Concordia Black Sheep.

There was an ‘all Perth’ final in Mixed Division Three with Mr G’s All Stars defeating Hitting Bricks by two sets to one.

Indoors in the Men’s Division of Honour favourites Glasgow Mets and City of Edinburgh cruised to the final with comfortable two sets to love victories over French Connection and USA Athletes respectively.

In the Women’s Division of Honour Troon and City of Edinburgh had similar results against USA Athletes and NUVOC Tigers.

A noisy crowd watched the Women’s Final first with Mel Coutts leading out her City of Edinburgh side against Gillian Lyle’s Troon. The game was over in under 50 minutes with Edinburgh dominating play to win 25–16; 25–18.

In the Men’s Division of Honour final it was a similar story with City of Edinburgh making it a capital double by dumping rivals Glasgow Mets by two sets to love.

Tournament Director David Munro introduced SVA President Jim Berryman to present the awards and thanked the volunteer staff, six of whom are retiring after this tournament, for all their hard work in the background making the Scottish Open the most successful volleyball competition in the country.

Winner’s list: