Volleyball Nationals 2019

2019 NZ Secondary School Volleyball Championships, 24-29th March at Central Energy Trust Arena, Palmerston North

NZSSVC is always a blast every year. Seeing new faces, meeting new people that share a common passion – it’s the love of volleyball that brings everyone at the NZSSVC together.  This is the third time my LAC team has attended this event but this year was the most amazing experience because our team qualified to play in Division 1/2.  Division 1/2 is the top 32 school teams in NZ.  This is the first time LAC has ever played in Division 1/2 – we started in Division 5/6 in 2017.  This is my final year at LAC and making Division 1/2 has been a goal so I am so proud of how far we have come.

Every one of our nine games was hard as the quality of volleyball in Division 1/2 is amazing but we played well and fought hard.  After our first three grading games, we ended up in Division 2 for the remainder of the week finishing 31st overall.  A highlight was coming back from 2-0 down in our final game to beat a team 3-2 who we had previously lost to earlier in the week.  The support of family and friends who came to watch our games gave us motivation and encouragement – it also made our nerves go through the roof!  But we all had a very rewarding week, learnt more about the game, bonded closer as a team and created memories of volleyball that will forever remain in our minds and hearts.  A huge thank you to all the people who made our NZSSVC campaign possible.

Josephine Ma’u, Captain (Y13)

LAC_Volleyball_Nats_2019_Team

Team: Bex King (manager), Jessica Hiri, Daphnne Piiti, Sisi Panikoula, Seloa Pulega, Paul Lochore (referee), Mosese Ma’u (coach)

Tuivulavula Unua, Tianah Lauesi, Josephine Ma’u (captain), Lynberg Jacob