Volleyball
3 September, 2024
Volleyball Horsham look to light up Bendigo
Volleyball Horsham will send six teams over to Bendigo on Sunday, as preparations ramp up for the Junior Country Championships to be held in Horsham at the end of the month.
The Association will be represented in Open boys and girls, under 17 boys and girls and under 15 boys and girls with all six teams using the tournament to gain valuable match play in the lead up to the championships.
Under 17 girls coach Matt McLoughlin is looking forward to the tournament as he works out the best possible combinations for his team.
“The girls have been great in their preparations and have improved significantly in that time, but we know actual playing is where you see the biggest improvement.”
“Having such a deep squad is good and they will get their opportunity to see how far they have come, even though we have a few still involved in netball finals.”
Under 19 girls captain Sophie Quick is keen to see how her team will perform playing in a junior tournament.
“We’ve all been playing at division one and two level in recent tournaments where there are a lot of senior women and experienced players we’ve played against, so I’m looking forward to seeing how my team will go against players our own age.”
Under 15 girls coach Laelah Robertson says her team is excited about participating in their first tournament.
“The girls have been great in the build up and are coming together nicely as a team. Their enthusiasm is infectious, and I know they will all want to do well.”
“By competing in Bendigo, it will prepare them really well for the country champs not just on the court but off it as well, as they get used to the environment and the noise and hype associated with a tournament.”
“You couldn’t get a better build up than playing in Bendigo, being in a massive stadium with eleven courts and plenty of people everywhere, it should be good. I’m getting excited just talking about it.”
Having three female junior teams that have good depth representing the Association is a positive according to Robertson.
“It’s good for our future and we hope the girls enjoy themselves first and foremost, and if they come home with a medal, well that will be a bonus.”
The story is a little different for the boys with injury and unavailability impacting the under 19 boys but coach Jack Hannan is more about the boys development than anything else.
“The more you can get to play against good opposition the better you’re going to be going forward and that is how I’m looking at it for this group.”
“It will be in three weeks’ time that is most important.”
'Both the under 17 and under 15 teams have players experiencing their first tournament, but coaches Justin Brilliant and Oscar Jackman are keen to see how their players respond.
The tournament will be held at the Red Energy Arena in Bendigo from 9am Sunday with family and friends encouraged to get over to Bendigo and support the teams if they can.
A bus will leave the basketball stadium at 6am if supporters are interested.
VIPERS SPLIT RESULTS WITH PIRATES
Melbourne Vipers split their results with the Queensland Pirates in round one of the Mahindra Volleyball Superleague.
The men went down in five close sets while the women enjoyed a four set win, highlighted by the play of returning Volleyroos Caitlin Tipping and the out of retirement Karley Hynes.
The men’s team featuring Phantoms Scott Johnson and Paul Sanderson, started well taking the first set, but that only fired up Pirates big man Mitch Tulley, who at six foot ten and playing as a pass hitter, completely destroyed the Vipers both in attack and on serve in the remaining four sets.
No matter what coach Josh Cowan did with his line up, they had no answers for the big hitting Tulley.
Their attention will now turn to Saturday’s home game against Canberra Heat at the State Volleyball Centre.
Having beaten the Heat in the bronze medal match last season, the Vipers will go into the game with good confidence, and being in front of a home crowd should bring out the best in the team.
Tickets are selling fast so volleyball enthusiasts are encouraged to get in quick.