Goalshooter Kathleen Knott has taken out the 2009 MVP award for the championship Victorian Fury team at an informal celebration dinner last week.

The team were still on a high after winning the ANL championship for the second year running, and incredibly, remaining undefeated over both seasons. The Fury`s success, teamed with the Melbourne Vixens` ANZ Championship win in July has undoubtedly marked Victoria as the netball state to beat, with proven success in our high performance programs from grass roots all the way up to our elite teams.

Jubilant Fury coach Carol Byers praised Vixens and Fury shooter Knott.

"Kath was a deserving winner of the MVP award this year. She really impressed us all by taking in everything she has learnt in her time with the Vixens over the past twelve months, and applying that to her game. She`s made a concerted effort to build on her strengths, and that`s paid off with some huge improvements and her being so instrumental in setting up our attack end effectively"

In other awards, defender Vikki Bester was presented with the Coaches` Award.

"I thought Vikki deserved the Coaches` Award for her willingness to listen to feedback and put this into practice even when it meant stepping out of her comfort zone", Byers said.

"We really asked a lot of her this season in terms of adjusting her normal style of play and improving her one on one defence, and she really took that on board and showed a lot of courage with her openness to taking on a less familiar role and accepting the challenge to perfect it."

Byers, who is also the Melbourne Vixens’ Assistant Coach, topped off a night of celebrations by being awarded Best Team Person award by her peers.

"There isn’t too much I can say about this award, other than it`s such a great honour and a privilege to work with such an incredible team of committed, talented athletes and support staff. We look forward to doing it all again in 2010!"