Women’s team undefeated in run to national club title
The Tauranga women's A volleyball team has been crowned national champions after winning all of their matches at the Volleyball New Zealand club champs in Auckland.
The women's team won all of their pool games in the competition, held between October 3-6, beating Rebels A (Auckland) 3-0, Scorpions (Dunedin) 3-0 and G Force Black 3-1 in a tough game.
The next game was against one of the favourites of the competition, Shirley Silverbacks (Christchurch), and it proved to be the game of the tournament with some outstanding volleyball and a Tauranga win with a final score of 3-1. The final pool game was another entertaining game against NZIS (Wellington) with Tauranga again winning 3-1.
The semifinal against Northern Zone champions Hamilton resulted in a 3-0 victory and, with Shirley beating Raiders (North Harbour) in their semi, it set up a final between Tauranga and Shirley.
In another excellent display, Tauranga beat Shirley 3-1 after fighting back from losing the first set, to claim their first championship win since 2013.
Tauranga setters Shannen Bagge and Emma Bain had outstanding games, as did middle players Casey Freed, who missed last year's championship with a broken finger, Lily Olsen and Erin Kouwenhoven. Beach volleyballer Alice Bain enjoyed a superb tournament as did guest player US Olympian Logan Tom. Libero Dani Pierce was recognised for her outstanding play by selection in the Tournament Seven and Taina Savage was also recognised in the Tournament Seven and chosen as the MVP of the tournament.
Coach Allen Satiu was extremely pleased with his team's performance in his first season as head coach.
The women’s win was just one of Volleyball Tauranga’s successes at the event, held at Bruce Pulman Arena.
The men's A team also earned a placing, finishing with bronze.
The Tauranga men's campaign started with pool play wins over Scorpions (Dunedin) 3-0, Manawatu 3-0, Raiders B 3-0, Playaz 3-0. Their final pool game resulted in a 3-2 loss to Pioneer Panthers (Christchurch). Despite this, they finished top of their pool and played Pines A (Nelson) in their semifinal, going down 3-0. In the playoff for third and fourth they again beat Playaz, this time 3-1. Raiders (North Harbour) won the championship, beating Pines in the final.
Brad Fullerton, combining well with setter Griffin Muller, and guest player beach volleyballer Sam O'Dea, performed well for Tauranga.
Otumoetai College Year 12 student Jerome Morris at 16 was the youngest starter among all the semifinalists and really stepped up all season.
Tauranga were unfortunate to lose NZ international Daryl Lewis late in the season with an ankle injury which did remove some of the team’s firepower.
The young Tauranga women's B team, coached by Treena Blythe and comprised of present or former players from Bethlehem College, Tauranga Girls and Otumoetai College, lost their first three games to more experienced opposition but won their next four matches to finish seventh in Division 2.