The Columba College 10A volleyball team rounded off a superb year by winning the Otago Junior Secondary Schools Volleyball Championship in style recently, with the team not even losing a set all weekend. What a performance by this team of young athletes from Columba College!

The weekend at the Edgar Centre began with a win over Kavanagh College 25-14, 25-15, followed by Taieri College 25-15, 25-3. The team's third game on Saturday was one of the closest all weekend against a scrappy but competitive St. Hilda’s Collegiate team. Both games were tight but Columba ended up with the win 25-16, 25-21.

Sunday morning’s win over OGHS (25-13, 25-15) secured a spot at the top of Pool A for Columba and matched us up against Queen’s in the semi-final. The girls served and hit really well, wining the semi relatively easily with 25-13, 25-13 set scores.

The final was determined and it would be a match up against two teams who had not lost a game all weekend: Columba College and Bayfield High School. The Columba girls really came together in the final and probably played their best volleyball of the year. Serving was strong and precise and the passing, setting, hitting came together impressively with several kills. Georgia Spek served six near ace serves in a row to win the first set 25-15, and Ryan Dailey pretty much did the same thing in set two to finish it off with another 25-15 win.

Lucy Morrison, Alex Duff and Ryan Dailey were all named to the tournament team.

2021 has been a massive year for junior volleyball at Columba College. The star-studded team started the year off strong, winning the Dunedin Junior league without even dropping a set all term. They tested themselves in the Senior grade as well, winning the Senior B grade in Term 1 and competing in two tournaments: the Senior Qualifying tournament in Dunedin and the Mainland Indoor Championships in Christchurch.

Our Junior A team kept things going throughout the winter, committing to training in the Columba College Sports Centre. They placed 2nd at the Down South Invitational, two players represented Otago at the U17 nationals in Wellington, six players attended the Volleyball New Zealand Beach Volleyball camp in Christchurch, and the full team competed against Christchurch’s best teams at the StAC invitational. The weekend after that, they finished 3rd overall at the U17 Southland, Aoraki, Otago invitational tournament.

All of the Junior A players will be moving on to senior volleyball next year. Most of the team has been together for four years straight so the Otago Championship has been a great accomplishment and a fitting reward for all of their hard work. It's too bad the South Island Championships were cancelled this year due to Covid restrictions!

Thank you to Keira Hollamby who has stepped up consistently throughout the season to cover team duties and referee games. Thank you for your service Keira, it is greatly appreciated.  

We would like to give our special thanks to team coach Brett Dailey, and the fabulous group of parent managers and supporters who have consistently offered up their time and energy to support this exciting team of players. The Sports Department is immensely proud of your efforts and achievements.