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Nkosilathi Sibanda, [email protected]

THE national volleyball calendar will have its first serve of the season this month end.

The Zimbabwe Volleyball Association will play host to the Zimbabwe Open in Gweru, an event that has been running for close to 40 years with Black Rhinos, Bulawayo Raiders, Unit Fairbridge, Thunder, Autobody Construction and David Whitehead among the winners.

Zimbabwe Volleyball Association (ZVA) president Mxolisi Ndlovu confirmed yesterday afternoon that the country’s top clubs will take part in the event.

The matches will be played over three days from March 30 to April 1.

“As highlighted, we will be having the annual Zimbabwe Open Volleyball tournament in the Midlands Province and we are seized with preparations and expecting clubs in provinces to participate,” said Ndlovu

“Already, invitations to register to participate in the upcoming Zimbabwe Open were sent to clubs and we are in the process of accepting those. All I can say is that we are ready to roll,” said Ndlovu.

He said registration was on-going but urged teams to respond early as that will help in the planning of the tournament.

Last year’s winners in the men’s category were Bulawayo based Highlanders who got the better of NABA 3-2, with the women’s contest being won by Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) 3-2 over the Zimbabwe Republic Police’s Support Unit at Hillside Teachers’ College.

ZVA national men’s team manager Farai Mboto said the Zimbabwe Open was an important competition in that it was one competition that sets the tone to the year ahead.

“It is safe to say that we are in the process of sorting and preparing for the Zimbabwe Volleyball Open. This is one of the most significant competitions in our calendar. Local players are given a chance to outperform others and be seen as among the best in the region,” he said.

Meanwhile, ZVA has said they have received commendable response from youngsters who wanted to participate at the Youth Sports Exchange Programme.