The 'South Smasher' open invitational volleyball tournament was held recently in Invercargill and Columba College had a number of athletes representing Otago at the event.

Congratulations to Columba's Alex Duff, Delilah Brown, Ryan Dailey, Keira Hollamby and Lucy Morrison who represented Otago at the 'South Smasher' Open Women's Volleyball tournament in Invercargill over the weekend of 14th -15th May.

The Otago Gold team consisting of Year 11 students Alex, Ryan and Lucy, finished third overall behind Southland Open Women (1st) and Wellington's 028 team (2nd). Keira Hollamby and Year 9 student Delilah Brown were part of the Otago Blue team that finished fourth overall. 

The Gold team played extremely well and almost won a set against Southland's IPC team, missing out narrowly with a 25-23 score. They went on to win one set against a strong Wellington team, however eventually lost the encounter 2-1.

Otago's Blue and Gold teams ended up playing off against each other for 3rd and 4th place, which was an incredibly good match to watch. It went to 5 sets with Gold clinching the win in the final set.

Alex and Ryan will be representing Otago at the New Zealand Inter-Provincial Volleyball Championships (IPC) over the weekend of June 3rd - 6th. Well done to all our Columba athletes, and all the very best to Alex and Ryan for the upcoming championships!