PVL 2023: Five-star Mumbai Meteors hammer Chennai Blitz for maiden win in volleyball league

Anu James and Brandon Greenway were the stars for the league debutants.

Mumbai Meteors routed Chennai Blitz 5-0 to pick up their first-ever win in the second season of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday. It was an all-round performance from the Meteors with Anu James and Brandon Greenway being the top two performers as the duo helped their team pick a 15-14, 15-6, 15-11, 15-12, 15-9 win. Anu was named the Player of the Match.

Going into the game, Anu and Brandon took the responsibility of countering the blocking party of Moyo and Sita Rama. When Anu made faulty serves, Mumbai's skipper Karthik took charge in the middle, changing the dynamics.

After a spike, Akhin landed awkwardly which led to him being left on the sidelines, and suddenly Mumbai had a free pass to keep the play in the middle without Akhin's towering presence. Anu kept growing in confidence as the game progressed and he kept targeting Chennai libero Ramanathan with his serves, to keep outside hitters Renato and Moyo away from the ball.

With Mumbai forcing the game in the middle, Chennai tried to change their lines and attack from the right. But learning from his initial errors, Hardeep Singh made thunderous spikes from the outside line to counter the strategy. Chennai's calls for super points backfired twice on the night. 

Aravindhan kept setting Brandon and Anu for spikes, while the ever-present libero Ratheesh kept making beautiful passes, as the Meteors closed out the game with ease, picking a 5-0 win, and three points in the process.

Calicut Heroes will be up against Mumbai Meteors at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium in the eighth match of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League in Bengaluru at 1900 hrs IST on Saturday, 11th February 2023.