For the third year in a row the Roncalli Girls Senior A Volleyball Team have triumphed as the Aoraki Champions.
The vastly experienced team had always targeted this event as their swansong with all members leaving at the end of 2018. The pressure of expectation might have overwhelmed them, especially as a very structured and skilled Waitaki Girls High team was drawn in their pool and the first game of the day. With the girls coming out firing and Waitaki asleep at the wheel, Roncalli dominated the first set and then weathered the inevitable comeback in the second to claim a 2- 0 victory.
Despite inexplicably dropping a set to McKenzie College, the team progressed to post section play against perennial finalists Ashburton College and a resurgent TGHS, both who have given Roncalli a fright in the past. Issues with personnel meant that Olivia Milne was drafted into the team in her first appearance with the Senior A team. The team rallied around her inexperience to take responsibility and adjust their systems. In return Milne showed her courage in some clutch situations. Playing with a focus and excitement that had been seen in patches throughout the season, the team maintained this energy in their most consistent performances of the season, throughout the two games, to beat both teams 2-0.
The team's success was built on Olivia Clarkson's ability to convert the service she recieved from the back court into accurate sets and when on target this resulted in Sarah Waldron, Llewellah Priest and Dharma Brooks being too accurate, fast and powerful for the opposition. The addition of Grace Rossborough as a middle blocker paid big dividends with her reach. Teisha Holden was intelligent in her choice of shots, varying between angled hitting and tips towards the line whilst Sam Williamson's invaluable ability to cover more than one position and inject herself from the bench, enabled variation in the structure of the team.
The players end their time with a satisfying finale and the spoils of victory, cementing Roncalli as the volleyball powerhouse in the local competition.