Volleyball

Juniors Girls’ Volleyball 2020

We had lots of interest in volleyball last year and ended up having four junior girls’ teams which was fantastic for the development of our sport. The Junior A Girls played extremely well at BAYS and ended up winning their quarter finals against Taupō to have a place in the semi finals - we played Otūmoetai College and lost in a thrilling, three setter game (15-13 in the third set). The girls played their hearts out and were unlucky not to come away with the win. Then, we had to front up for the third and forth play off, but, unfortunately, couldn’t, so finished fourth at BAYS. At the North Island Junior Nationals we took away three girls’ teams and both represented the school with pride. The A Girls managed to make it into Division 1 with some great wins but, unfortunately, didn’t make the quarter finals which was really disappointing as that was our first goal. They went on to finish 11th. The B and C teams played some great games, which included a few Year 9s. It was awesome for these junior players to get experience at this event. A massive thanks goes out to all the coaches - Te Aorere Walker, Talei Byrant, Karen McLeod, Cailtin Studer, Tash Tuakiri and Anna Craig- and also to all our awesome supporters who always came and supported the girls.

Junior Beach Volleyball

We took over twenty girls to the BAY Beach Volleyball Competition last year in November and had some fantastic results; in the Year 9 Girls’ Division 1, Kendall McKane and Ani Doherty won gold and, in the the Year 9 Girls’ Division 2, Tayla Brady and Tayla-Bree Heath won gold. It was so great to see the girls dominating both divisions. It was also an awesome day out with all the teams learning about the game of beach volleyball. At the North Island Beach Championships, the girls continued their great form with Kendall and Ani placing third and Tayla and Tayla placing forth. The future for Girls Beach Volleyball is looking bright!

Senior Girls’ 2021

The Senior Girls’ A team looked a lot different than in previous years due to the majority of the Junior A team moving up into the Senior A team because of their skill level. Two players in the team were even selected for an NZ Training Camp - Katie Mahy and Mia Cole. Furthermore, Mia was also selected for the Junior NZ Squad who will compete in a tournament in Australia - Covid permitting! This is certainly a fantastic reward for all of her dedication and commitment to volleyball. The season was one of developing these young players and, with the help of our Captain, Tayla Jones, the improvement in the team from the start of the season until the end was great. We had some awesome wins at BAYS and a couple of very tight losses, but these girls always played hard and showed great commitment to their sport. We had three teams at BAYS this year. It was very cool to get some juniors into these teams to help with the development of our sport. Also, our seniors were incredible role models to our younger players. The NZ Secondary School National Championship is always held in Palmerston North and we were lucky to take two teams; we had a fun group of girls and coaches which made for a good time at Nationals. There were certainly some real awesome wins and a few nail biting games, but both teams played well and the improvement in the skills and technique was really good to see. The experience certainly showed that volleyball is on the up again at WHS. I would really like to thank all of the coaches and supporters of our sport as it’s a very intense season. I’m really fortunate to have such great support around me and for our awesome young ladies.

Bring on the 2022 volleyball season!

Helen McKane - TIC Girls’ Volleyball