National Volleyball League Round of 16 begins

The Nigeria Volleyball Federation says the Round of 16 of the National Volleyball League has begun on Friday in both the Savannah and Atlantic Conferences.
The Technical Director of NVBF, Martin Melandi, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday in Abuja that the phase two of the league would feature 16 teams in each of the conferences.
According to him, we are in the round of 16 after the ground round that is the qualification stage and 16 teams have emerged.
Melandi said: “We have divided the teams into conferences. All the teams that qualify from the northern region will play under Savannah Conference with their venue in Kaduna.
“While teams from the southern part of the country will play in the Atlantic Conference with venue in Port Harcourt. The league commences on Friday to July 1.”
Melandi said that after the Round of 16, the league would proceed into the ranking positions which would come between Aug. 10 and August 19.
He said that the volleyball premier league which was the final would be played in October in Abuja.
He said: “We will have eight teams from the 16 teams that are playing in the conferences to play in the premier competition.
“Eight teams that are at the bottom of the table will go to ranking position for the Division One, while the other eight top teams will go to the premier position.”
Melandi said that the quality of the league was very impressive, adding that it meant the target of the federation was being achieved.
He said the league had also helped the federation to discover lots of young players that never had the opportunity to come to the centre for competitions.
The technical director said that because the first phase of the league was taking to the doorsteps of players at the zonal level, more players had the opportunity to participate.
Melandi noted that the league also provided the federation the opportunity to select good players that would be injected into the national team.
He said: “Playing the league at the zonal level availed players the opportunity to be able to come at a minimal cost to compete.’’
Melandi appealed to corporate organisations and well-meaning individuals to support the league, adding that the federation would not achieve much without sponsorship.
He said: “We will not be able to take the league to the level that we want without sponsorship.
“I appeal to companies and individuals that we have a league that will sell their product and their image.’’
The 16 teams from the Savannah Conference are: North East — Wikki Bauchi, Spatans of Yola; North-West — Kada Emeralds of Kaduna and Zamfara State VBallers.
From North-Central — Benue Queens and Plateau Rocks and Federal Zone — NSCDC and Immigration in the female category.
The male teams are: North East — Spartan of Yola and Wikki Bauchi; North West — Kano Pillars and Kada Kings of Kaduna.
While North-Central has Plateau Rock and Niger Brass and Federal Zone — NSCDC and Immigration.
For the 16 teams in Atlantic Conference we have: Female teams, South West — Lagos, South-South — Delta Force, Rivers Spikers; South-East — Imo Spikers, UCEM VBall Club and Federal Zone – Customs and Nigerian Army.
NAN reports that Scorpions of Gombe were given a wild card to play in the South-West.
Male teams are: South-West — Sunshine of Akure, Team Lagos, South-South — Edo Braves, Famous Spikers; South East — UCEM VBall Club, Dynamic Spikers and Federal Zone – Nigeria Customs Service and Nigeria Police Force.