Ceylon Biscuits Limited, along with the Volleyball Association of Sri Lanka commenced the second day of the Munchee National Volleyball Championship 2016 Super League for the second day (11th) at the Maharagama Youth Services Indoor Complex.
This saw the men’s teams of the Ceylon Electricity Board, Army, Air Force, and Navy dominate in their respective matches. Similarly, the women’s teams of the Army, and Air Force also showed their technical prowess in the games.
CEB shuts down strong Navy on opening day
Sri Lanka Volleyball Association along with the Ceylon Biscuits Limited has organized the 11th Munchee National Volleyball Championships.
Men’s Super League
Army vs Police
The first match that took place for the day was between the Sri Lanka Army team and the Police team in which the Army team dominated all three rounds of the match with a score line of 25–16, 25-17, and 25-17.
Air Force vs Brandix
It was the second match that started at 11.00 am which proved to be the ice breaker for the audience, as the teams of the Sri Lankan Air Force, which consisted of great players such as Asanka Pradeep and Naleen Sampath, and the Brandix team that also had the makings of a formidable opponent went head to head against each other.
Brandix dominated the first half of the first round as a result of some silly mistakes by the Army team; however, the men from the forces found their stride in the second half of the first set but they narrowly lost with a score line of 25-23.
The heroics of Naleen Sampath finally uplifted the spirits of the Army as they defeated the Brandix team in the remaining three rounds of the match with a score line of 25-22, 25-12, and 25-18.
CEB vs Ports Authority
This encounter boasted of many great Sri Lankan Volleyball icons such as Sameera Dissanayake, Udaya Rukmal, and also one of the most respected coaches in the country, Kalika Wasanthapriya.
The first round of the match saw a good game being played as the CEB team won by just four points and it was much of the same in the second round as well. CEB team won the round with a score line of 25-22.
However, the third round proved to be the makings of an emerging Ports Authority team as they triumphed over their opponents 25-21. The CEB team, once again rose to the task and won the fourth round with a score line of 25-21, winning the overall match.
NYSC vs Navy
The last men’s match for the day, however, proved to be the most exciting fixture as the National Youth Services team battled it out with the Sri Lanka Navy.
Initially, it seemed that the Navy team would defeat their opponents with ease; however, it was nothing of that sort. The difficulty for the forces team to overcome their opponents was shown when the score line showed 10-10.
It was the heroics of the Navy captain, Gihan Silva that finally broke the deadlock as he clawed 3 points in a row, thus giving Navy the lead with a score of 13-10.
However, the tables were once again turned in favour of NYSC, as they capitalised on the complacent Army plays, therefore achieving a score line of 19-18; the first round victory went to the NYSC team with a score of 25-22.
The Navy team was quick to respond to the first round defeat as they bounced back with a score line of 25-22 in the second round.
The third round saw many great rallies that put the two teams level pegging in the first half of the round. However, Navy’s Nadeepa Lakshan displayed a tireless game in his side, therefore assisting in the Navy’s 25-14 victory in the third round.
The fourth round saw another great and unpredictable series of rallies between both teams. It was the Youth Services that achieved 10 points first, while the Navy team still struggled at 8 points. The tireless display of Ranga Prabath and Dhanushka of the Youth Services was what brought them back in contention to win the match.
The Navy team, however, did not feel demoralised as they were neck and neck, and this can be shown when the latter half of the round displayed a score line of 22-22. But it was the men from NYSC that won this round by grabbing the remaining three points.
The match’s fifth round did not show any signs of fatigue from both the side as they continued to fight with a series of great rallies. It was level pegging until the score line reached 5-5, but it was the Navy team that finally took charge, and finally took the lead when the score line showed 13-12.
The Navy teams tireless efforts finally proved to be fruitful as they won this round 15-12.
Women’s Super League
Army vs Ports Aurthority
The Army team may have lost the first round of their match with a score line of 24-26. However, the remaining rounds saw a comprehensive win for Army team over the Ports Authority team with score lines of 25-19, 25-11, and 25-17.
Air Force vs NYSC
The NYSC team showed a heroic display in the previous day against the Navy team. However, the Maharagama fell victim to their own medicine as the Air Force team showed a similar display, finally defeating the Youth Services team with score lines of 25-11, 25-12, and 25-11.
The remaining two matches did not take place, therefore Casual Line and the Sri Lanka Navy were given walkovers.
 at the Maharagama Youth Services Indoor Complex.){kind=link}