Maccabi completes dream season with 12th Israeli national league title & Hapoel KFAR SABA dominate Israeli women’s series

Teal Aviv, Israel. Maccabi TEL AVIV have claimed their 12^th Israeli men’s national league title in history after sweeping aside Hapoel MATE-ASHER AKKO in the championship series by three wins to none, including a comprehensive 3-0 victory in their last matchup. This way, Maccabi completed a ‘double’ after taking the national cup crown as well earlier this season and ended Hapoel’s supremacy in the national league – which had lasted for three years. 

The players of Maccabi TEL AVIV celebrate the 12th national league title in the history of their club 

“It is a sweet end to a difficult and long season and actually, it feels like we have been playing for two seasons. Today we probably did not play as good as we did during the first two matches, but we did what was necessary to win. I was lucky to work with the team and I think we have proven this year that there is no substitute for teamwork. “

Gal Galili 
Head coach of Maccabi TEL AVIV 

A few hundreds of fans displaying the yellow corporate colours of Maccabi provided an extra boost of motivation to the players from Tel Aviv, who were leading 2-0 in the championship series. Maccabi were just dominant throughout the finals, especially through their star players Kyle Ensing and Henry Bell from USA and Cuba, respectively. Middle blocker Genadi Sokolov was the star performer in this role throughout the season. In the last match of the series, Maccabi edged their rivals in all components, including aces (7 to 2) and blocks (6 to 4), with Ensing and Sokolov top scoring on 16 and 13 points.

The players of Maccabi celebrate their home triumph with hundreds of fans – quite a rarity and privilege in pandemic times!

“As the season progressed, we developed our chemistry, and we had some great games that will stand as milestones for us. The team reached its peak at the right time, and I am happy for the players and for the team – and for the fans who accompanied us in this final series – of course, this was great fun,” Galili added. 

Alexander Osokin, player of Hapoel: “Although it was a short series, I hope it was fun to watch for the fans, especially since a lot of spectators came, and I am happy to see the crowd back. Our game was less good than Maccabi’s and they deserved to win. I hope next year we can help put Hapoel back where it deserves to be and got used to in recent years.”

Women – Hapoel KFAR SABA dominate Israeli women’s championship series 

Hapoel KFAR SABA have emerged victorious from the championship series of the Israeli women’s national league – with the finals ending with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Hapoel KIRYAT ATA (25-14, 25-22, 25-22). It was a relatively easy way to a second straight championship title for KFAR SABA. 

Hapoel KFAR SABA are the old / new Israeli national champions 

“It is very exciting to complete a double and win the championship again. There are 13 girls on the team and they have always been ready to work hard. I have been working for the club for 13 years and it is exciting to achieve another success.” 

Elad Spagat 
Head coach of Hapoel KFAR SABA 

Mame Diouf, Anna Velikiy, Elena Cheinin and Galya Devash were the top performers of Hapoel in the third and last match of the championship series.

“I am happy with the championship title. We dominated the league throughout the whole season but we worked hard all year round for that. We stayed focussed and I am extremely proud of the team,” captain Devash said. 

“Congratulations to Hapoel KFAR SABA who have shown their supremacy throughout the whole season. I can only say good things about my team since we have grown throughout the year, where we continued to believe in ourselves. I think that we delivered an exciting and interesting championship series,” said the head coach of Hapoel KIRYAT ATA, Guy Shamay.

“After a year where we did not hold the playoff games due to the spread of the coronavirus, we happily returned to routine this season. To our great joy we managed to hold the season to the end including exciting playoff games for both women and men in front of many fans.” 

Dan Shiray 
Israel Volleyball Association 

“I would like to thank all the teams and the many fans for following so respectfully the instructions of the Ministry of Health. There is no doubt that the return of the fans to the games is great and brings back much joy to the players and the Volleyball family after such a difficult year we all went through. All the games in the series were broadcast live on the Israeli sports channel and according to a report the rating was higher than we expected,” he concluded. 

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IVA – Israeli Volleyball Association
CEV – European Volleyball
CEV – European Volleyball