On Tuesday the 15th of March, nine of our senior students travelled to Daylesford to represent Woodmans Hill at the Senior Eureka Volleyball Competition.

Whilst we travelled to Daylesford short on numbers, we certainly weren’t short on spirit amongst the students. With only five boys and four girls competing in teams that required six players, they all did a magnificent job in competing against the other teams on the day, never losing hope or positivity.

Our first game of the day saw our senior boys team verse Ballarat High School. In what was a slow start during the first set, the boys managed to contest well against what would end up being one of the strongest teams within the competition, going down in straight sets, 2-15 10-15 8-15.

Next up, our girls played against Daylesford High School, and with two players short, Ballarat High School generously offered us two of their female players to fill in for our team. The girls fought hard to contest within the game, however Daylesford were too strong and our girls went down, 4-15 6-15. They then played Ballarat High School back-to-back from their first game, and again, we were fortunate enough to have two Daylesford players step in to fill up our side. The game was very competitive throughout, with the girls only just missing out on winning the second set. The eventual score saw our team lose, 6-15 12-15 7-15.

After electing to play in the competition with only five players for each game, the senior boys team were able to reset and practice after their first game loss and come away with a great win over Mount Clear Secondary College. With Esdras Assimadi an absolute jet on the serve, and Ben McDonald quite literally putting his body on the line in order to hit the ball over the net, the boys won in straight sets in what was a great team effort, 15-11 15-11 15-7.

In the girls’ final game of the day, they played Mount Clear Secondary College in a three-set game, first to 21. Although they weren’t able to win the chocolates, they competed really well against the opposition, winning the third and final set which brought the final score to, 13-21 12-21 21-18.

Finally, our senior boys played their last two games of the competition against Daylesford Secondary College’s A and B teams. The boys played Daylesford-B first and showed a lot of determination and encouragement for each other to win the game, only missing out on the win narrowly in each set. End result, 10-15 12-15 12-15. In their final match of the day, they played Daylesford-A, and in what was a thrilling ending, again went down narrowly in straight sets, taking the third and final set to a an exciting tie breaker. End result, 10-15 11-15 16-18.

Overall, the day was an incredible success, with our Senior Girls team coming 6th overall in the competition, and our Senior Boys team coming 4th overall in the competition.

Our senior students represented our school with much pride and respect throughout the whole day. The way that they all encouraged each other to try their best and supported each other from the sidelines was truly wonderful to watch.

Congratulations to the following students on their efforts!

Senior Girls:

Abby Allen, Rayne Favarger, Keilani Hogan, Sarah Schefferle

Senior Boys:

Esdras Assimadi, Jack Fiddaman, Ben McDonald, Ollie New, Jake Perkins

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