15 May 2024
Both our boys and girls volleyball teams emerged undefeated after the Steve Birt Memorial Shield gala day in Wagga Wagga.
Despite playing the whole day a player down, our boys team of five still managed to top their pool in matches against Albury High, Yanco Ag and Wagga Wagga High.
The semi-finals saw the boys narrowly defeat Murray High School after the match went into overtime. The finals, however, saw the boys regroup and defeat a strong team from Kooringal High School with relative ease.
Jedi Williams Mariner’s spike was the team’s secret weapon, with spectators marvelling at the young player’s ability to leap over the net and slam the ball down. Marlachi Popole’s work setting up Jedi’s spikes and Marquez Popole Tuisamoa’s last minute saves were also crucial to the team’s strategy.
“The boys showed great resilience being one player down all day,” recounts coach Sam Ranney, “They had to play games back to back and showed no sign of slowing down throughout the day.”
Meanwhile, across the court our girls followed suit. They breezed through their pool of Murray High School, Kooringal and Yanco. The semi-finals against Wagga High similarly proved the greatest challenge of the day before an easy victory in the finals against Albury High.
Edma Ataea’s communication and setting was a huge asset to the team. Newcomers. Faye Auvae-Tu and Liliana Ah Kee also proved themselves on the court.
“There’s a lot of potential on the team,” explains girls coach Enoka Tia, “We’ve been putting the hard work in and they know what they are doing. We just need to take our lessons from training and put them into practice.”
Both teams will now move on to the state finals in Term 3. Great work, everyone!
