WA Steel vs NSW Phoenix

Women’s Game 1: WA 3:0 NSW (25-19, 25-23, 25-22)
Women’s Game 2: WA 3:1 NSW (24-26, 25-17, 25-20, 25-18)

Both the Women’s WA Steel and Women’s NSW Phoenix came into their round 4 clash with three wins on the board, for a contest that was bound to be close. The Steel made the most of their home-crowd advantage in Perth to take victories on both Saturday and Sunday, only dropping one set over the weekend.

With this performance the Steel announced themselves as legitimate title contenders, sitting only two points behind the Melbourne Vipers on the leaderboard and one point ahead of the Storm, in third.

Steel Captain Shelby Maher said the team has been developing well over the first half of the season.

“I’m very happy with the effort the girls put in on the weekend against a tough NSW squad. We were able to find ways to adapt to a smart offensive team and come through with two wins,” she said.

“It’s exciting to see the girls grow as individuals and as a team as we move through the season. We now have a well earned break this weekend before we are back again to compete in Adelaide.”

Men’s Game 1: WA 3:0 NSW (25-21, 25-22, 25-21)
Men’s Game 2: WA 3:1 NSW (21-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-22)

The Men’s WA Steel bounced back from their double defeat in QLD last weekend to secure back-to-back wins at home in Perth, advancing into second place on the overall leaderboard on 16 points, eight points behind leaders Adelaide Storm.

Like their female counterparts, the Men’s Steel only dropped one set across the two days, and Captain Kable Monck confirmed that the weekend’s victories demonstrate the “strength and depth” of the Steel squad.

“The team was very happy with putting two wins on the board. It wasn’t easy and NSW did throw a good challenge at us, but we were able to show the strength and depth of our squad and that we are strong contenders this season,” Monck said.

“We are now resting and recharging ahead of our bye weekend and will be ready to take on the last stretch of games before finals.”