Oct 07 - Spike Magazine
Cedars New National Champs
The spike national indoor club rankings (SNICR) are over for another year
and we have one new winner, while another successfully defended their title
as the countries No.1 ranked club team.
In the women's rankings Mt Lofty Rangers successfully defended their crown from
last year, finishing on 5.40 points, well clear of the runner-up,
The Dragons from Queensland Premier Volleyball League on 4.93 points.
The Rangers lost just one game all year (from 17 matches) but they did
enough to stay ahead of the chasing pack. Dragons suffered only two losses
all year (14 matches), as did the third placed Sydney Norths volleyball (12
matches) but the Dragons managed one more victory against higher placed teams
giving them a slight edge on 4.93 points to 4.77
On the men's side of things Sydney Cedars capitalised on the absence of the AIS
(last year's champions) to put a dominant undefeated performance in 2007. They
racked up 16 straight wins to not only take out their 11th straight title in the
sydney volleyball League but also their first win in the SNICR. Their score of
5.79 left them well clear of the next best, Victoria's Southern cross Fairhills
who themselves went back to back at state level but dropped one match from their
21 outings. They finished on 5.19. University of Queensland were next best and
finished in third spot with a 16-2 record in 2007.
Congratulations to all clubs that took part at all levels this year. Next year
Spike plans to make the rankings much more significant with hopes for a cash prize
and trophy. Stay tuned for more updates before next year's state leagues get
underway.
Good Neighbour -
Tournament of champions
November 23-25
After this year's AVL failure, the
reigning state champions are ready
for another challenge. Tow weeks
have passed since the SVL celebrations
and the gang is back in action. First
against AIS in canberra, on the 18th,
19th and 20th of October, on a round
of 3 very tough matches througou
t the whole weekend which will be a
perfect preparation for this year's
edition of good neighbour. This time
it will host almsot every team from
last year's AVL already looking to be
a most impressive tournament to
finish this year round of competitions
A year that has already been one of
the most incredible years for the
team so far.
Vs AIS - Canberra - 18/19 October -
Sydney Cedars travelled to canberra
to play AIS this weekend, playing 2
matches againts a very well prepared
young and strong team. On the fist
match it was the Cedars experience
and fast pace that helped them take
the game 3-1. While on the very next
morning it was a very phisycal and
tactical AIS team who took the match
with the same result to tie the series
1-1 on what was a very exciting and
productive weekend, which was surely
positive for both teams in preparation
for the tournaments to come in the
next few weeks.
SVL - Champions again - 16 September 2007
11th straight championships - 36 straight matches - 3 times
selected the best ranked team in the country (spike magazine)
No words are left to describe the sydney cedars sports club as
the best team of the year and really the best team of the last 12 plus years...
A big thank to Joe Haddad, Eddie Vukosa and Andrew Simos for
their commitment to bring the best of every player and always make the best team
in volleyball with the limited resources the sport has but the unlimited love and effort all of them give to the
team day by day.
SVL - Grand Final - 16 September 2007
Don't miss this years most awaited match between
Cedars and Westside. Who will claim the title?
Will it be 11th in a row for Cedars, or will there be a new
champ. Join us at 2pm this sunday at Hombush olympic park.
Free entry!! so what are you waiting for?
Asia - Championships - 10 September 2007
Australia is the reigning champion of Asia.
Well done boys!
SVL - Semi Finals - Cedars vs SNV - 09 September 2007
Cedars finished last week on a high beating University of Sydney 3-0, but with a few doubts winning the third set on a very close score against a pretty weak oposition.
This was not the case today, after a day off followed by a very high quality training session on thursday night, the team was ready
for a big match.
Sydney North showed early why they made it to the finals, with a consitant attack and all around game SNV could not be taken
lightly by the Cedars. But 10 years of winning and a very patient and professional performance throughout the whole match showed otherwise. A score of 25-16 25-15 and 25-15 showed pretty much what the whole game was about. SNV slowly got into auto-demolish mode by the almost unstoppable Cedars attack. Alex showed his best in maybe years, while the middle attack of the "trident" (Nathan, Pez, Luck) open all the options
for Mike and Matt to attack from the front and back of the court
with mighty grace. All in all it was an incredible team effort that
lead the Cedars to another Grand Final, again, against a much
stronger Westside Team.
SVL - Finals - September 5th 2007
See the latest articles at: http://www.theexpress.com.au/article/2007/09/04/2135_sports.html
SVL - Final Round - September 2nd 2007
Finally, the top 4 places are decided. The final day of the competition round match was between the top and last teams of the league. With two more weeks to go, the Cedars are in full gear to face SNV for the semi-finals of the State League, which winner will play against the winner of 2nd vs 3rd (Hills vs Westside).
A solid performance by all players made it easy for the team to take advantage over Sydney Uni's weaknesses.
Alex Jelicic, Marcelo Grego and Michael Klish where almost unstoppable in attack while their passes allowed the rest of the team to play all sorts of combinations to take the first two sets easily from their rivals. James Meredith played a big part of the match and gain some experience from it to add depth in the team's attack which left the other team without many options on defence. A third untidy set left the team with something to work on in preparation for the finals which will also be a good prep for the National League starting at the end of the month.
SVL - one last hurdle - August 26 2007
The second round match against the still 2nd best team of the comp, Hills, was set to be a finals preview worth watching. But with both teams looking a bit weak, with some players coming back from their holidays, or studying for Uni, while anothers were still unavailable, but in the end it was almost a full strength team nonetheless to start the match.
Hills put first gear on when with some very well positioned blocks put the Cedars to the test, making them distribute their game more than the usual. Marcelo Grego showed his "silverwear" when with a few perfect hits put the Cedars on top and take the first set on a very contested game for 25-23. The second set was a bit more solid on the Cedars side, with more attack through the middle, while Hills was still quite strong outside. In this case, it was Luke Carroll and Michael Perry who took the charge and while with a nice game by the second setter, Derren Hill, made their middle attack stronger with every hit. The set went from one side to the other this time, with a few set points on both ends, when again, with incredible tenacity the Cedars took the set 28-26.
The third set started as the first, with Sebastian Bibring serving for the match. Cedars took an early lead, with a combination of Seb's well positions serves and Derren's superb attack (yes, attack, as he started as an outside hitter this time) that set the Cedars into an almost unreversable position to take the match 3 - 0.
SVL - Finals prep matches - August 25 2007
Sydney North will be hosting The Cedars team for the next two Tuesday nights. Everyone is invited to join and Watch this free events and cheer for the squads. This will happen on next Tuesday the 28 of August and the 4th of September. Also, don't forget this Sunday and Monday the National team will be playing the professional team from Korea, location and time to be confirmed.
AVL - Training Preparation - August 23 2007
Sydney Cedars is one of the biggest supporters of the Australian Volleyball League. The team, players and managers Commitment to bring volleyball's NSW highest standard for the last 10 and more years has been unquestionable. Along With teams like Lofty Rangers and Melbourne it has bring a level of competition that Australia's Volleyball deserves. But the main reason for the team to compete and be part of AVL has not been just to get another trophy to their cabinet or a vanity affair with the sport or an association get stronger but to help the sport of Volleyball grow and have a future. By the hand of Joe Haddad, Eddie Vukosa and Andrew Simos the team is in better shape than ever to face the next challenges.
As stated in Devo's website, http://devovolleyball.wordpress.com/ , AVL has made it very hard for most of the teams To afford playing in a competition that will not give more than a few matches experience in return. Without going into detail, Already almost half of the last year’s competition teams have withdrawn from it, and more seem to be thinking the same. This is hurting not just the senior teams and players but the whole sport, as the younger players will be directly Affected when there is no higher level of competition in the country to look forward to, and no senior players will need Or want to improve much further and have a chance to be part of a national team that will have fewer areas to look for New talent. It might not be a complete fault of the organizers or the association itself, there might not be funds or Sponsors or staff, but there is always a reason for everything. There seems to be less and less communication, cooperation, And support for the sport. It's becoming a more social event than ever before and this doesn't help a sport grow and Become professional at any level. The sport can't change overnight, but some basic structure can be, must be, improved Drastically if we want to see our beloved sport evolves. Overseas countries have a completely different structure, clubs, sponsors, players, associations, all work together To get the best possible experience. Players at the highest level are at least semi-professionals, and all the rest Is structured in a way that attracts not just people but sponsors who love the game and see an opportunity not just to make Money but to help a sport grow. Everybody gets its share and benefits from it. We are not talking here about Italy which Serie A has been the most renowned league around the world or the US college system, which attracks the best young talents from all over the world, including our own Paul Carroll, but this is coming more from an example of more simple countries like Spain, France, Argentina, Brazil or even Poland and other smaller European countries. But this is just another story, or isn't it?
Alex returns - August 22 2007
Welcome back to Alex Jelicic, who's been overseas for the last 4 weeks. Alex has been playing some international Beach volleyball tournaments in Europe... So it was not only a nice tan What he came back with but a nice trophy as well.
SVL - A Finals rematch - August 18 2007
Rain was pouring down on this grey Sunday afternoon and the team was ready for its biggest challenge yet against The always strong Westside team. It was a good start, with attacks from all fronts for both teams. But while usual strong Blocking system Cedars shows on every location was not working at its best this time, Westside was taking some Advantage with strong attacks from the outside and back court area. The match was going for the Cedars 21-17, but a few Mistakes led the opposite team to gain some ground to level the match at 21 a piece. Marc Carroll stepped in to get the team back on its rails and maybe get some momentum back which was a little more on the Westside's side at that time, this led into a few mistakes now on the other team's end to get an almost unrecoverable lead of 24-21 which ended up meaning the game for the Cedars by 25-22. But it seems the "big" momentum was still on Westside's, who took the 2nd set 25-17 from a shaky and out of confidence Cedars. It wasn't the prettiest match, with mistakes on both sides of the court, a lot of pressure was passed to Westside after them taking the second set, who showed a lot of flaws by loosing the following 2 sets to a much more controlled and experienced side, who with some very nice blocking by Nathan Lovett and flawless attack by Marcelo Grego led the team to it's 32nd win in a row.
SVL - No obstacles - August 12 2007
It seems that the road is paved with the Cedars mix. after a not so easy win against UTS last tuesday, it was time to face a much younger team, leaded into battle by former Cedars veteran Robert Gaspersic.
With still a few player losses in Alex Jelicic, Lefu (Chris) Leaupepe, George Attrache and James Meredith, and don't forget Marc Carroll and Michael Perry's involvement in the famous "city to surf" race, which surely must've taken a lot out of them . The team seemed to have lost it's usual depth you could say
This was not the case on the court, while a few things could've been better, the winning attitude and collective team performance and spirit gave the team enough edge to get a quite comfortable win, leaving BHV allowing only 14, 16 and 19 points a game to take the match 3-0.
SVL - A good challenge - August 06 2007
On a much anticipated encounter against arch rivals UTS, the game was finally played last night. Trailing back for most of the match, Cedars managed to take the first set on a much contested affair. A solid performance by the whole team, especially George Attrache, The team's Libero was the key to the victory as it's task was extremely increased by the miss of two of the main passer/hitters in Alex and Michael. George's pass and defense not to mention his always positive and aggressive attitude, lead the team every time it was needed.
Some extra firepower was added with the inclusion of Nathan Lovett to the Cedars front which was warmly welcomed by the team. Leading on the first and second set UTS couldn't conclude it's success story by taking neither of both sets, instead it was a 25-22 and 25-23 win for the Cedars who fought hard to get back on each set. But UTS were definitely not going to give up so easily. Leading the third set convincingly by 8-1 it was time to make some adjustments in order not to give the set away too quick.
A team is not just made by it's players, at least in this sport, everyone plays a big part in this team most of all the coaches, and it is in their experience and decisions that this team is built. Joe Haddad and Andrew Simos were following the team's performance every step of the way and made all the necessary changes to get the best result possible. Another change was introduced, Sebastian Bibring replaced Mark Carroll who had a very consistent night so far, and suddenly the parts were swapped again. On another almost historical comeback, the game was tied at 10 a piece, point by point the game was played on an almost flawless fashion. But again, it was the Cedars to take a last strong charge to finish the match 3-0. A great effort by both teams nonetheless.
SVL - Two more wins
July 30 2007 No match for the Cedars. Last week's match was poised to be a good one, against a better and stronger UNSW team. Instead, the dependencies on single players and consistent errors was no match against the usual leveled Sydney Cedars. 3-0 was the result which was just the reflection of the hard work and training the boys have, which has no comparison to any other club team in the Country, leaded by Andrew Simos, Eddie Vukosa and Joe Haddad.
This weekend's game could've been a completely different story for the boys, with an always strong and compact team in SNV, with the good passing and defense that always characterized that team, plus their latest win against another strong team like UTS, this was definitely going to be a good match to watch. Again, the strong all-around game Cedars showed every round was enough to stop SNV's attack. The first set, was close, but at 20 all, it was SNV this time who took the early lead and managed to squeeze some good attacks to take the set. Back to the drawing board, Joe Haddad suggested a few changes in the lineup, and a much more inspired team leaded by George Attrache's always passionate performance, handed the second set to the team. The third set was a a knockout to SNV who could not find it's pace anymore, and finishing on a high note to end the game 3-1 to the Cedars.
SVL - End of round 1
July 15 2007 With the latest win over Sydney Uni, we get to a close of the first round of the sydney league 2007. On one of the coldest mornings of the year, the team pulled another win vs one of it's oldest nemesis. Altough this time the game went in favour of Sydney Cedars 3 - 0.
Congratulations to the boys on their 27th straight victory in SVL which also means it's been undefeated for the last 2 years (since 17th July 2005) and if you like stats, the team is almost 100 points ahead of the 2nd!. Well done guys!
Cedars Development and growth Part 1
July 13 2007 It seems that this team's expansion never ends, to the actual skills and quality that has been a trademark for this country wide known team we now add two "top of the crop" players and former State and National team members.
Being part of the team on numerous ocassions throughout the last decade, Tim Welsh and Derren Hill are now a valuable part of Team Cedars again. With Tim's massive figure who can take control of the net every time, and Darren's amazing habilities all around the court, this team is now getting ready for the big next step.
Check them out on the Team's Profiles link. And keep reading for more news, including a new international prospect (maybe from France?) to join the already new Cedars International Mateo Vannozzi, former italy's B1 player.
SVL - "The Competition Leader"
July 01 2007 - vs Hills 3-1 The sixth win came with a great team-work, when defeating the competition leaders Hills.
First it was the block, then the outside hitting and in the end it was the incredible team-work that consolidated one of this years most important wins for the Sydney Cedars.
SVL - Game 5. A finals rematch
June 24th 2007 - vs Westside. 3-2 Then came the reply to last years final.
Frank Uzo leaded Westside's attack with superb performances all around, while Sydney Cedars kept coming back at them on every point. It was a point by point, set by set contest, But in the end Cedars took it in 5.
SVL - Game 4, BHV, 2005 SVL finalist runned down.
June 17 2007 - vs BHV 3-0 BHV was the fourth win for the Cedars with an enfatic 3-0.
SVL - Game 3, another flawless win
June 3rd, 2007 - vs UTS 3-0 Game Nr 3, a rematch between a former champions and and AVL's 2005's Bronze medalist UTS made this match an instant classic.
The two teams started the match with the technical quality that best describes their styles, but it wasn't long till The Sydney Cedars took the lead.
With an exceptional block and defense game the first set was won with not many changes to the initial lineup.
The second set was taken with solid performances with big help coming this time from the bench, with Mark Caroll making an appearance against his former team and Gavin Leung taking control of a third set win on this pretty much one sided match
SVL - Two in a Row
May 31, 2007 Round 2 saw the Cedars clash with an old rival in Sydney North, a team who traditionally give the Cedars a good contest every time. Their team has remained pretty stable over the off season, retaining all of their experienced players.
After a tug of war in the first set, the Cedars finally won it, 28-26. After gaining an early lead, the Cedars couldn't put their opponents away. With a number of unforced errors and shaky reception in the latter stages.
The next two sets were again patchy, but the Cedars were too strong in attack with Marcelo Grego leading the way on the outside. The middle attack was also too strong for Sydney North.
The Cedars took out the match 3-0, still with room for improvement.
SVL - Cedars Keep Momentum
May 31, 2007 After a dominating start to the year by winning both pre-season tournaments, undefeated, the Cedars have continued that form into the first round of the season proper.
In round one of the Sydney Volleyball League, the Cedars defeated an enthusiastic UNSW team who have recruited a couple of ex-Sydney Lions players who featured in the AVL last year.
The final score was 3-1, with a man of the match performance by George Atrache in the backcourt.
Cedars off to Korea
May 17, 2007 2007 University World Volleyball Championship
It's official, the Bankstown Sports Cedars will be competing in the 2007 University World Volleyball Championship to be held in Yeong-ju city, Korea during July 1-7.
Competing teams will be from USA, Korea, China, Egypt, Lebanon, New Zealand, and Japan.
Daniel meets World
May 17, 2007 One of our promising young players, Daniel Gauci has headed off to World Youth Championships with the Australian Youth Team.
We wish him all the best. No doubt he will come back a better player for the experience.
11 Straight Titles in Newcastle
May 17, 2007 Once again, the Cedars made the trip to Newcastle for the annual State Cup, and once again the Cedars came home with the winner's trophy.
Congratulations to the Cedars' Michael Klish for his tournament MVP performance.
Incredibly the team did not lose a set in winning it's 11th straight tournament in the Hunter.
ALA Melbourne visit the Cedars
May 17, 2007 As preparation for the upcoming season, the Cedars took on the ALA Melbourne team in an exhibition match at Sydney University.
The Cedars were way too strong, dominating the entire match with a 3-0 victory. Good signs for 2007.
Cedars kickstart 2007 with a win
Apr 3, 2007 In a replay of last year's SVL Grand Final, the Cedars defeated rivals Westside in the final of the first State Cup of 2007, held in Wollongong.
The Cedars took out the tournament without losing a match, winning the final 3-1.
It was a promising start to the 2007 season. With no player movements over the off-season, the Cedars were able to regain momentum from last year's outstanding results.
Playing time was also shared equally amongst the squad, once again highlighting the depth the Cedars have this year.
Onto the Manly Cup next weekend.
2007 - Open Trials for Cedars Men's Team
Feb 21, 2007 Attention all serious volleyballers...if you are looking to play volleyball at the highest level in Australia, why don't you try out for the Sydney Cedars Men's Division 1 team.
Our team training for 2007 has just commenced, and we are leaving the doors wide open for anyone to come and try out with the team.
The Cedars have a proud history in the Sydney Volleyball League, winning the last 10 premierships, and recently finishing 3rd in the 2006 Australian Volleyball League.
If you want to join a great bunch of guys who are committed to achieving results, simply go to our 'Contact Us' link and call or email our Head Coach, Joe Haddad for details and to discuss your volleyball experience.
See you on the practice court!