Boys' Firsts Sport

Boys' Firsts Volleyball Season 

Lachlan Bryson and Nate Jenkins

The Boys Volleyball team started training for our season early in 2023, preparing for both our upcoming AGSV season and the Schools Cup Tournament in December. To kick off the season, the boys hosted a pre-season tournament with all the AGSV schools (except for Mentone, who weren’t available to attend). We went 4 for 1 and were ready for a big feed of meat pies and sausage rolls after our matches. Off we trotted to Gold Coast in the last week of school. We had a great time, going to the beach, witnessing Mr Mac body surfing, eating an ungodly amount of food and getting stuck in lifts. During our enormous amounts of fun we also happened to play a bit of volleyball as well. Just missing out on finals, and after a great week we managed to pull together a 5th overall in our division.  After a well-deserved summer, chucking on a few kilos, the team came back, jumping a bit lower but they kept the winning streak alive by beating Mentone and Trinity, placing ourselves at the top of the ladder. A big clash against second place - Yarra Valley, shaving off the kilos but still ended with a heartbreaking 3-0 loss. They stayed strong and were ready to prove themselves again with a home game against Pegs (which they lost). The fellas took these losses on the chin like the champs we are, mentally preparing for our semi-final on the weekend.  

Boys' Firsts Tennis Season 

Julian Harsley

The Boys’ Firsts Tennis Team began the season with a shaky start. After losing three key players, we thought we would be in a much weaker position for the 23/24 season. A first round loss to reigning premiers Camberwell was a painful rematch of last season’s final. However, we quickly rebounded and scored a convincing win against Trinity, with strong performances in number one and two from Baxter Errey and Max Barry. Close matches against Mentone in round three and Yarra in round five were bolstered by young guns Nick Mitsinikos and Kayden Jin who both recorded good wins. Over the summer holidays, we trained hard and played tournaments resulting in a much-improved side for 2024. Dominant wins over PEGS, Peninsula, and Marcellin proved this, finishing the home and away season second on the ladder. Our growth throughout the season can be attributed to the commitment and hard work put in by all players, and excellent leadership from coach Jeremy Mackay and co-captains Max Barry and Oliver Hollis. However, a vastly stronger Trinity proved too much of a challenge for us in the semi-final, but this only drives us to do better next season. 

Boys' Firsts Basketball Season 

Zach Veneziano

The Boys’ Firsts Basketball team has had an amazing start to the season only losing one game to PEGS. Currently we are sitting on top of the ladder over our archival Marcellin. We are looking to bring home the trophy this season as it is one of our strongest teams ever. This season, our team has reached a new level of cohesion and skill. We move as one unit with our co captains Tyson and Jesse leading from the front. The countless hours spent practicing with coach Pete and Erik has brought so much enjoyment to our day. Many of our athletes also represent their club, which helps us to improve even more and shows how much we love the game. Guided by our newly appointed coach Peter Godfrey, we have been set high expectations for ourselves both on and off the court - in becoming good players as well as good people. Additionally, our captains are amazing leaders who always encourage us and create a great environment. This year the team has some new players, Harry Van Hattum, Sam Gayfer, Lachie Minihan, Kelan Coolahan and Marcus Benson who have been great additions to the group. We are excited to see how the season unfolds and hope to win another premiership for Ivanhoe Grammar School.