The Scape Australian Volleyball Super League finals series was held at Red Energy Arena across the weekend.
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Melbourne Vipers assistant coach and Bendigo Volleyball Association president Matt Berry and local boy Scott Johnson were key members of the men's Vipers bronze medal campaign.
The Vipers faced Canberra Heat in the bronze medal match on Sunday and won in convincing fashion 3-0.
The Heat gave a good account of themselves early, taking the first set beyond 18 points before the Vipers got a two-point lead to win the set 21-19.
Once they had faced the Heat's main challenge, the Vipers ran away with the contest, winning set two 18-8 and the third 18-4, with Johnson, alongside teammates Damian Whitburn and Paul Sanderson, being instrumental to the win.
The Vipers missed out on the grand final after losing to Perth Steel in the preliminary final 3-0.
It was by no means a blowout, though, with the first two sets finishing 18-15 and the third 19-17.
The win saw the Steel face Adelaide Storm in the men's grand final, and they continued their blistering momentum to win 3-1.
After the Storm won the first set, they could almost touch the prize when they built a 14-9 lead in the second set, but the Steel rallied for an 18-16 win to make it 1-1.
The third set was equally close, with it needing to go to a two-point tiebreak, which the Steel won 19-17.
Nothing changed in the fourth, with the Steel again only winning by two points (18-16), but it was enough to give them the win and the title.
In the women's division, the Vipers girls also claimed bronze with a 3-1 win over the Storm.
With sets locked at 1-1, the Vipers went 12-0 up in the third, with Caitlin Waterfall on fire during that run.
They wrapped the game up with an 18-15 win in the fourth set.
Perth completed the men's and women's double, with the girls triumphing 3-1 over Queensland Pirates in the gold medal match.
The AVSL is the premier domestic volleyball league in Australia.
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