Austrian claim gold at Edinburgh SCA zonal event

The sun was shining on the final day at the Small Countries Association (SCA) zonal event held at Liberton High School in Edinburgh. With a busy schedule of quarterfinals, semi-finals and finals, matches began at 9:00am with the remaining men’s quarterfinal matches.

Georg Köstler and Marian Klaffinger of Austria celebrate their triumph in Edinburgh

Home heroes Callum Stewart and Ross McKelvie (SCO) took on a strong Northern Irish pairing, ultimately coming out as victors with a 2-0 win over Peter Stewart and Jeff Scott. The next match saw Euan Mackenzie Fraser and David Lewis Mexson (SCO) push Pascal and Vincent Ferry (MON) to the limit, with the last set reaching 26-24 before the Monegasque team sealed the 2-0 win.

Moving to the women’s semi-finals, up first was Rachel Morrison and Kathryn Barbour (SCO), winning 2-0 against Thelma Gretarsdottir and Jona Vigfusdottir (ISL) in tight sets (21-19, 21-19). Elisabet Einarsdottir and Berglind Jónsdóttir (ISL) also won 2-0 against England’s Katie Keefe and Isabelle Tucker. The sun stuck around for the men’s semi-finals, with Georg Köstler and Marian Klaffinger (AUT) bringing the heat against Barry McGuigan and Graham Riddle (SCO) in their 2-0 win. Stewart and McKelvie were back on court for their semi-final match against the Ferry brothers, eventually losing 0-2.

Elisabet Einarsdottir and Berglind Jonsdottir emerged victorious from the zonal event held in Scotland

With four matches left in the day, it was all hands on deck for the next to bronze medal matches. Keefe/Tucker brought all they could against Gretarsdottir/Vigfusdottir, but the Icelandic team played strong and managed the 2-1 win for third place. In the men’s side, it was Scotland v Scotland, with heated words exchanged between the two teams before McGuigan and Riddle scored the win 2-0.

Finally, the finals! The women’s final was first up, with Scotland’s Morrison and Barbour facing a strong Icelandic duo in Einarsdottir and Jonsdottir. Both teams played incredibly well, with Einarsdottir and Jonsdottir taking the well-deserved win 2-0. The men’s match saw Austrian wild card holders Köstler and Klaffinger up against Ferry/Ferry. With other teams watching the match, Köstler and Klaffinger brought the win home 21-17, 21-13.

Scottish Volleyball CEO Margaret Ann Fleming MBE presented each team with their trophies from a distance. As an association, Scottish Volleyball would like to take a moment to thank all teams and their respective National Federations for taking part in this zonal event. In addition, a big thank you goes out to all the staff and volunteers for their help in running this event so smoothly!

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