Yuso, Bank BNI win 2002 volleyball league

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Yuso Gunadarma Yogyakarta and Bank BNI Jakarta have come out as the winners in their respective men's and women's categories of the Indonesia Volleyball League (Livoli).

Yuso and Bank BNI were unbeatable in three matches in the three-day final round, which ended at the Basketball Hall in the Bung Karno sports compound here on Sunday.

The final round featured four teams each in the men's and women's matches.

The two teams beat their respective opponents with the same score of 3-0 in the last matches on Sunday, an anti-climax according to Antara.

Yuso, which featured national representative Andri Widiatmoko, hit fierce opposition from Mabes TNI, but only in the opening set with a 25-22 win.

In the second set, Andri's smashes were difficult to contain and contributed to his team's 25-17 win. A victory was palpable for the Yogyakarta team when it quickly surged to a 24-8 lead.

After allowing Mabes TNI another three points, Yuso closed with a 29-11 victory to claim the 2002 national championship.

Yuso accomplished its duty with a double victory as Andri was also voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Mabes TNI, a team developed by military headquarters, was resigned to losing with coach Sulaeman Ahmad conceding they were a class apart from their more experienced opponent.

"We appeared inferior to Yuso. Being newcomers, taking to the final four matches has been an achievement for us. Yuso deserves the championship," he said as quoted by Antara.

Bank BNI retained its title at the expense of Petrogres Gresik 25-20, 25-21, 25-19.

In the other matches, Perhutani Bandung beat Yuso Gunadarma Yogyakarta 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-16) in the women's division and Samator Surabaya defeated Perhutani Bandung 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 25-27, 25-14, 15-9) in the men's division.