Sport: Volleyball

Our talented crop of Year 7s thrived at their 1st Upper Hume Volleyball tournament in Wodonga last Friday 30th August, finishing2nd and 3rd.

The Girls team finished Runner-Up with a 3-1 record, competing at the Wodonga Leisure Centre. They swept crosstown rivals Cathedral College 2-0 (20-18, 20-16), Wodonga Middle Years College 2-0 (20-11, 20-16) and last year’s winners Victory Lutheran College Wodonga 2-0 (20-12, 20-17), but went down to eventual champion and school with twice our enrolments, Catholic College Wodonga 0-2 (9-20, 10-20).

Mia Simpson was named Best Player by Coach Sandy “Newmo” Newman, with a great overhand serve, smart ball placement, and showing no fear of diving for balls. Bella Boulton was named the next best, also with great consistent serving, excellent shot selection, and grit and determination. Amelie Booth, selected by the team to be their Captain, was also consistent with her serves, displayed great play at the net, and was a terrific leader for the group. 

The Boys also finished 3-1, equal 1st in terms of win/loss, but given 3rd place on countback of set %. Playing at the Wodonga Senior Secondary College courts, they swept both Wodonga Middle Years 3-0 (60-28) and last year’s champs Victory Lutheran College Wodonga 3-0 (60-44), then defeated Cathedral College 3-1 (73-60). The only team that beat them were the overall winners Catholic College Wodonga 0-3 (52-61), in three very close sets, and some big points lost to foot faulting due to inexperience.

Best performers in a very even team according to Coach Nathan Manning were Nick Jones, who was said to be deadly with his serving, Mason Skermer who was dominant at the net, and Teo Valle who was a solid all round player. The video (see below) of Valle pouncing on a return of a strong Jones serve, to set up a Skermer spike, is a taste of how smooth and dangerous this group will be on the Volleyball court in the coming years. 

With the talent of our current Year 8s, who in 2023 finished 3rd (Boys) and 4th (Girls), and these Year 7s (2nd and 3rd), as well as the likely return of Competition Volleyball at the new WSAC courts, of which I’d expect to see a number of our kids sign up to, we have the potential for a New Era in Volleyball. Could we return to The Chivers Years of the 1990s, where we had multiple State Champion winning Volleyball teams, and even an Australian Champion team?

Thanks to our coaches Newmo and Mr Manning for taking the group, and the many P.E staff helping coach them in the lead-up.

It should be noted that these players were learning the skills of Volleyball for the very 1st time in P.E classes just a week prior to this tournament. After 3 days of hot Tryouts to be selected in the Best 8, many were still unable to even serve over the net. However they trained in our Sport Centre for five days solid, often during both break times, to get themselves Game Ready. Both teams went within a whisker of becoming Upper Hume Champions.

Thank you to this seriously impressive group of Year 7s, who are the ultimate ambassadors for our school at these Sport tournaments, and who are driving our school culture on campus as well.

Jud Mullins

Sport Coordinator