Not only were the Northern Moana women’s and men’s teams winners in Sunday’s National Volleyball League Grand Finals, two individual players were also honoured for their outstanding efforts over the weekend.
Moana Men’s outside Jacob Ceelen-Thomas was named winner of the Asics Men’s Most Valuable Player award following his performances for the championship winning side in the second edition of the National Volleyball League.
Ceelen-Thomas, who plays with the Shirley Volleyball Club in Christchurch, was a big influence in his side’s run to the final – another five-set marathon - which saw the Moana inflict the first loss on defending champions Southern Pounamu as they claimed the title.
Making his NVL debut over the weekend, the 22-year-old was ecstatic with the way his team rebounded after dropping their opening two matches on Friday.
“It was mean!”, Ceelen Thomas said.
“It helps that we won but I’m super proud of how everyone performed. It was great to come back from a rougher start to end up on top.”
On his MVP honour, Ceelen-Thomas was quick to point out there were several worthy candidates.
“Honestly it could have gone to so many people. Everyone contributed when it mattered, and the team really deserved the MVP award.”
The Asics Women’s Most Valuable Player went to Moana captain Ashleigh Hancock, with the setter saying it was the quality of the players at her disposal that helped her stand out.
"Our team connected really quickly making it easy for me to do my job as I had so many great options to set," Hancock said.
"I was a bit shocked to receive MVP. It must have been a tough decision for the selectors as everyone in the team made a massive contribution in their own way over the course of the tournament.
A lot of us in the team, including myself, wanted to make the most of the competition by getting out on the court and simply having some fun - we certainly achieved that which I think made a difference in the end result."
