Head Coach of the Caledonia Gladiators, Miguel Ángel Ortega Marco, has won the Molten WBBL Coach of the Month award for April after a strong end to the campaign saw Gladiators surge into second place and achieve the club’s highest ever WBBL Championship finish.

Overall, they went 6-2 in April, including ending the month with a comprehensive 81-53 defeat of Cardiff Met Archers at the Emirates Arena in the WBBL Play-off quarter-finals, to reach the semi-finals for the second season in a row.

Prior to that there was a key run of three straight wins against fellow top four rivals as they beat B. Braun Sheffield Hatters, Leicester Riders and Sevenoaks Suns in the space of seven days.

The 10-point road win at Leicester was particularly crucial as it secured the head-to-head and ultimately second place in the table against the team with whom they finished level on a 17-5 record. Coach Ortega Marco will have been pleased with his team’s defensive stand during that decisive run of games, as they held their three closest rivals to an average of just 58 points per game and a field goal percentage of just 35%.

Against Suns and Hatters they used big third quarters in both games, taking charge straight out of their Coach’s half time team talks, with third quarter triumphs becoming somewhat of a hallmark as they did likewise to come from behind to win on the road at Manchester Met Mystics earlier in the month, and again to put away Essex Rebels on the final day of the regular season.

Gladiators now look forward to a WBBL Play-off semi-final at home against Leicester Riders on Sunday looking to reach a first WBBL Play-off Final, live on Sky Sports from the O2 Arena on Sunday 14th May.