After holding a strong early advantage, Bennett failed to capitalise as Sutherland held their nerve in the first Matthew Allen Cup Competition of Term 2.

Our first Sunday evening of Term 2 saw the fiercely contested Matthew Allen Cup Volleyball competition between Bennett and Sutherland houses. 

The Year 9 game saw Bennett emerging victorious, 13-10, with Dylan Quilter earning many a point with his wicked serves before Mateo Coll managed to hit a spike to win the game. 

The Year 10 game also went Bennett's way, with Che Preston's lengthy levers giving him some powerful shots while Jonah Funnell managed to dominate the front court. Bennett won 13-4, putting them in a commanding position overall, only requiring one win from the remaining 3 games to win the competition and get some valuable points back in the Matthew Allen Cup.  

The Year 11 game was a must-win for Sutherland, and win they did. The teams were tied on 12 at the end of the regular round, with a need to win by two to win the game overall. Sutherland managed to secure the win off the back of some aggressive jump serves from Mt Maunganui native, Lucas Abraham, and some powerful strikes from Tom Foote. 

The Year 12 game was also a must-win for Sutherland, which they just managed to do again, in the same fashion as the Year 11 game. The score was tied at 12-12 with strong performances from Alex Arnold and Liam Ramsey. Eventually, after 5 match points were played, Sutherland were able to get it over the line, taking the win and forcing the entire competition to be decided by the Year 13 game. 

The Year 13 game also finished in a tie at the end of the regular period. In a high-quality game, with several of the Year 13s having completed a Volleyball unit in Year 12, the game was finally decided by an ace from Jack Paterson from the service line. 

This gave Sutherland the win in the Matthew Allen Cup Volleyball Competition, pushing out to a 12-4 overall points lead.