Hero photograph
Roelien Du Plessis and Captain, Ashley Shanley, Synchronise their block vs Otumoetai B
 

BOP Volleyball Championships

Juliet Dunlop-Fraser —

The final weekend of BOP Schools Volleyball saw some great results from our two senior teams.

The Senior A Girls team have looked better every week, playing consistently good volleyball. They have fought hard against outstanding levels of opposition to post their best BOP results ever. The standout players, Ashley Shanley and Olivia Jones, led the girls to a win over Otumoetai C before their biggest game to date when they defeated Western Heights A 3-0 in a thrilling match. Delight all round! Day 6 saw them go down to a strong Otumoetai B side before the narrowest of losses to BC A 3-2. Their results meant that they finished in the top 8 in the Bay, one of the strongest volleyball competitions in the country. This is an outstanding effort and has earned them a deserved promotion to Div 1/2 at the NZ Secondary School Nationals coming up on 18th March.

The Senior A Boys had a disappointing loss on Day 5 to Whakatane A 3-0, before easily defeating Te Puke A in the afternoon to set up a re-match against Whakatane A on Sunday morning. This being their third crack at them, they finally held it together to defeat them 3-1. New coach, ex-Katikati pupil Patrick Russell, was delighted with the effort and singled out strong leadership from captain Otis Burrell-Ellery as a big part of their win, with hitter Josh Temple also in fine form. Their final play-off game was for 9th/10th against Otumoetai B who were too strong winning in 3. However finishing in the top 10 puts the boys through to Div 1/2 at Nationals for the first time as well. Exciting times ahead for both teams!