Steel Women Ice Heat, Take Top Spot

The Perth Steel Women claimed a dominant second victory of the weekend and secured first place on the Scape Australian Volleyball Super League ladder, beating Canberra Heat 1-4 at Lyneham. Playing their second game within 24 hours, Perth started slowly, while a fresh Canberra came out firing and took an early match lead by winning the first set 18-15. With the number one spot on the ladder firmly in their sights the Steel responded well, led by Caitlin Whincup who top scored with 11 points, and benefitting from some strong serving from Elysse Hislop which allowed the Steel to take the second set 10-18.

It was always a tough ask for Canberra with their squad hit with injuries across the past two weeks, including a concussion at training leaving them without a regular middle blocker for the match, but it was their reception that let them down in set three as Perth jumped out to a 3-11 lead before claiming their power plays and a quick 4-18 win.

The Heat fought well in the final two sets, but some great block pressure from Tessa Browne and Shelby Maher gave Perth the edge as they took the fourth set 11-18 before rounding out their weekend with a 12-18 win in the fifth. That gave them first place on the Scape Super League ladder by one point over the Queensland Pirates.