Four Matamata College volleyball teams recently competed in the Waikato Secondary School Championships.
The girls’ C team were coached by Alana Sankey and were all Year 9 students. They performed extremely well, winning a number of matches and improving each week.
The girls’ B team were coached by Olivia Goodwin. This squad were almost all Year 9 players and they developed impressively, narrowly missing a medal in Division 2.
The boys’ team enjoyed their matches and developed strongly throughout the competition. Hillcrest High School were the dominant team with Matamata vying for second place alongside Fraser, St Peter’s and Hamilton Boys’ High School. On finals night Matamata faced St. Peter’s in the semi-final. The match was extremely tense but St. Peter’s earned the win in three close sets. To their credit, the Matamata boys were able to bounce back and claim the bronze medal with a win over Hamilton Boys’ High School. Mila Gandeza has been coaching the boys with assistance from Te Aorere Wharawhara and Therese Ganas.
The girls’ A team also had an exciting and even competition but no team was able to establish real dominance. Te Awamutu College, Fraser High School and Matamata led the way with St. Peter’s working hard to close the gap. In their semi-final the Matamata girls played a fine, controlled match to overcome Te Awamutu in three tough sets. The girls then faced Fraser High School in the final. The Matamata girls fought hard and applied real pressure at various stages but Fraser played an excellent all round match and deserved to take out the final. Gaining the silver medal was an excellent reward for the Matamata girls.
Well done to all our junior teams. The boys’ and girls’ A teams are currently at the North Island Champs and we’ll update their progress for you later in the week.
