Volleyball
10 April, 2026
Horsham Heat create history
An iconic milestone was cemented in Volleyball Horsham’s history on March 28 when the inaugural men's and women’s Horsham Heat teams played in the Victorian Volleyball League for the first time.
Competing in the state league one division for 2026, the women’s team capped off a historic day by winning their opening-round matches.
In their first game, the Heat prevailed over Alliance Gold in four sets, winning 25-23, 25-24, 21-25, 25-18.
The Horsham side backed up their win with another late in the afternoon, defeating the Eastwide Hawks 25-18, 25-20, 20-25, 25-18.
Volleyball Horsham president and coach of the women’s side, David Berry, said it was a great effort for the team to get up over their established opponents.
“In the first game, Alliance, who are as strong a club as there is, they were runners-up last year in state league one and were second or third in state league 2, so they've got a successful women's program in place,” Berry said.
“To beat them in four sets certainly was a bonus.
“To then back it up and do it to Eastside Hawks as well was just the icing on the cake.”
The men’s side, coached by Joel Brilliant, suffered spirited losses in their games.
The Heat were defeated by Strive 25-13, 25-14, 25-18 in their first game.
After being outclassed in the first set of their second game, the Heat played out three tight and competitive sets before the Eastside Hawks eventually defeated Horsham 25-14, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22.
Previously, progressing through premier league side Phantoms was the traditional pathway for local players to compete at the state league level.
With Phantoms attracting the best players from across Western Victoria and selection into the teams being hard to come by, Berry said the club and interested players made the decision to form a Horsham team.
“In the post-Covid period, a lot of our players have been missing the cut with Phantoms, who have done such a great job in selling their brand across Western Victoria that there's more and more kids attending selection trials,” Berry said.
“A lot of these kids haven't been as successful as previous groups that we've had so I put it to them just before Christmas and said ‘Why don't we go it alone and come in at state league one?’, which is the third tier of competition.
“I said ‘Let’s see if we can control our own destiny’ in relation to developing our own players, giving our own players a direct pathway to stronger competition, and just see what they want.
“They voted with their feet, so 16 boys and 15 girls put their hands up and said ‘Yep, I'm in’, so we entered state league one and Volleyball Victoria were happy to accept our entry and off we went.”
Both the men’s and women’s side will play round two this Saturday April 11 at Macedon Ranges Sports Precinct.
The two sides will play their first games in Horsham on Saturday May 2 at Horsham Basketball Stadium.