Samator, Bank BNI grab volleyball title

JAKARTA (JP): Home favorite Bank BNI women's volleyball club has retained the 2000 national volleyball league title while East Java-based Samator outclassed Bank BNI for the men's title.

Bank BNI women's club had no trouble in defeating Petrogres of Gresik, East Java, 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-16) on the third day of the league's final four at the Senayan basketball hall on Sunday.

Bank BNI topped the standings with nine points from three wins and no losses from the overall three matches, making it the first club to win the title three times in a row since the league was kicked off in 1998.

Petrogres, Perhutani of Bandung and Yuso of Yogyakarta shared four points each from one win and two losses, but Petrogres outshone Perhutani and Popsivo in match points difference.

Perhutani beat Popsivo 3-1 (25-15, 25-18, 22-25, 25-14). Both teams finished third and fourth respectively.

Bank BNI's men's team failed to follow up on the women's achievement. It finished at the bottom after only winning one match and losing two.

The team, which boasts many national players, gave up to defending champion Yuso 1-3 (25-23, 24-26, 23-25, 20-25) late on Saturday. It only managed to win one set on Sunday before falling down to the eventual champion Samator 1-3 (22-25, 19-25, 25-18, 19-25).

Yuso was second after it overcame Perhutani, which was third, 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 25-13).

Bank BNI's team captain Siti Nurjanah expressed hope that her team could perform better in the 2001 league despite winning the title.

"This is the highest we can achieve with the minimum of preparation. We only trained for 10 days. I'm not satisfied with our performance today. Hopefully, the team can become more solid," said the mother of Abdillah Gani, 2.

Nurjanah, who was selected as best player of the league, said she would choose to attend the volleyball training program for the 2001 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games despite the fact that she had also been called up by the Indonesian Rowing Association.

"I have been training for volleyball for quite a long time. I want to get something to remember in this year's SEA Games. Who knows, maybe I will quit the sport after that," said Nurjanah, who has participated in three SEA Games and one Asian Games. (ivy)