The Raiwai Rebels volleyball team was crowned the new champion of the 2018 BulaFM Marist Volleyball tournament last night at Suva’s Vodafone Arena.

This was after they defeated Kinoya Blackhawks in three straight sets.

Player Ilai Vakayadra says it was a crucial battle and he salutes his team mates.

“I would like to thank the Lord for giving us the strength to enjoy the games. Blackhawks was in our pool where we defeated them in our first pool game and we met again in the final and it was a tough game. They came prepared and we also came prepared.”

Blackhawks coach, Rosa Dalituicama says despite their loss, they have managed to reach their goal.

“Our main target is to reach the semi-finals. We lost out to Marist in the quarters last year and we coming this year to do better than what we did last year. Even though we lost to Rebels in nothing much to the boys because we did much better than what we expected.”

Blackhawks walked away with four thousand dollars.

Meanwhile, in the women’s category, WAF beat LFC in two straight sets in the final to walk away with the trophy and three thousand dollars.