Karnali Yashvis cemented themselves as the dominant force in the franchise women’s volleyball scene of Nepal after winning the 2nd Everest Women’s Volleyball League on Saturday. It was a consecutive EWVL title for Karnali, who faced Lalitpur Queens, the same opponent from the first season, in the final played at Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu.

The second season of the EWVL, the first franchise-based women’s club volleyball league in South Asia, started between six teams in Pokhara on September 5. However, after the eighth and ninth league-stage matches were completed on September 8, the tournament was suspended following the September 9 Gen Z uprising throughout the country.

The six teams had brought in foreign players from countries like Thailand, the Netherlands, Russia and Brazil for the tournament. However, they all returned home after the tournament was postponed.

Nonetheless, the organisers did not let the tournament go in vain, and resumed the event, though only with local players, by relocating to the Covered Hall of Dasharath Stadium. The remaining matches started on November 12.

Unbeaten Karnali

Karnali lifted the inaugural EWVL unbeaten. And they kept their winning momentum in the second season as well.

As in the first season, the second season also saw Karnali and Lalitpur entering the final as the top two teams in the single round-robin league stage.

Karnali, who had defeated Lalitpur 3-1 in the last game of the league stage on Friday, faced a tougher challenge in the final.

Karnali won the first set 26-24 and the second set 25-17. However, they were bested by Lalitpur, who were looking for revenge from the first season, with a comeback. Lalitpur won the third and fourth sets 25-13 and 25-17, respectively, and took the game to the fifth and deciding set.

Even the scores of the final were similar to those of the first season. Then too, Karnali, despite winning 25-17 and 25-20 in the first two sets, had allowed Lalitpur to make a comeback in the third and fourth sets, 25-12 and 25-18, respectively.

And as Karnali had won the deciding set in the first season, they did the same on Saturday. Winning the final set with a commanding 15-8, Karnali lifted the 2nd EWVL title.