News
Snow Volleyball News
The city of Östersund hosted the Swedish Snow Volleyball Championships for the third time this weekend. Two courts were available at Stortorget – a venue ‘christened’ the Östersund Snowheart Arena. The weather conditions were just ideal for playing and watching the games. After a little chilly morning, the temperature raised to some degrees below zero. Some light snowfalls passed by, otherwise the day was mostly cloudy. When the finals started, the sun broke through the clouds and warmed the players, volunteers and the spectators.
Six men’s and four women’s teams from Umeå up north to Malmö in the south of Sweden fought for the title. In the men’s tournament, the semi-finals were tight even if the two finalists had an extra gear to use when closing the sets. The final was on the highest level experienced in the still short history of the Swedish Snow Volleyball Championships, with strong attacks met with a number of spectacular defence actions. The question was if Philip Franzon from IKSU would take a third consecutive title or if three of the players of Nyköping would join the exclusive club of those with gold in all three volleyball disciplines. Up to this point, Hanna Hellvig - now playing Volleyball in Germany - was the only member of this elite club. Nyköping won the final, relying on their experience and force from both Volleyball and Beach Volleyball. Linus Tholse, Peter Lundgren, Viktor Jonsson and Mattias Haaparanta compose the winning quartet of Nyköping FK.
Four women’s teams fought for the three medals and the title. The teams were from all over Sweden – Göteborg, Stockholm, Östersund and Umeå. After pool play, the two top teams played the final, while the remaining two teams contested a decisive bronze medal match. IKSU kept their level throughout the final. However, after a strong start and 8-2 lead at the second side switch, they lost momentum. Danderyd from Stockholm started to catch up, and they won the second set but in the last set, IKSU came back with aggressive serves, focused on attack angles and where to place the ball. With this strategy, they won rather comfortably. Alice Arnberg, Agnes Linderholm, Emma Sehlstedt and Matilda Granberg are the newly crowned Swedish national champions.
Next year, the national championships will feature on the programme of the Swedish Winter Games in Skövde. Östersund has shown that they have a great interest for the sport and are good at organising such events. Therefore, discussions have started on the possibility to deliver a NEVZA Tour stop next year together with Östersund’s event company and the local organisers.
Final standing – Men
Final standing – Women