MGCvolleyballers win in five
The Marlborough Girls’ College senior A volleyball team struck first blood in the battle to claim top seeding for the national schools champs.
On Sunday, at Marlborough Lines Stadium 2000, MGC defeated Waimea Gold 3-2 in the final of the annual honours tournament.
Both sides were unbeaten across both Saturday and Sunday, MGCdefeating Nayland College 3-0 to reach the tournament decider while Waimea downed Nelson College for Girls by the same scoreline.
The final was a topsy-turvy affair. MGC started strongly, scoring points through the heavy hitting of Emma Gardiner, plus twins Malia and Etelini Manoa, and the precise setting of Jayda Elkington. They won the first two sets comfortably and looked set to sweep the match before Waimea kicked into gear. They lifted their backcourt defence, with libero Grace Young and Harriet Ogilvie outstanding, and began to force errors from the previously solid home side.
After Waimea had levelled the match at 2-2 the momentum was with the visitors but MGC dug deep in the final set. A 5-0 run on Elkington’s serve, assisted by some of the best blocking of the match, saw the home side grab an early edge which they maintained to take the decider 15-8. The topranked Tasman team earns a valuable third seeding for the nationals secondary school champs, to be staged in Palmerston North in late March.
The Marlborough Girls’ College B team also competed in the tournament, which was staged at both Stadium 2000 and the girls’ college courts, finishing seventh.
The boys division was taken out by a highly-effective Waimea A team. They were unbeaten over the course of the weekend, overcoming Nelson College 3-0 in the final on Sunday.
Marlborough Boys’ College A were beaten 3-1 in one semifinal by Nelson College, while Waimea disposed of Nayland College 3-0 in the other. MBC then lost their third and fourth play-off against Nayland.
The MBC B team had a tough tournament, finishing seventh.
The second leg of the qualifying series takes place on March 17-18 in Nelson.
The successful Marlborough Girls’ College senior A team was: Ellie Spurlock, Michaela Boaz, Jayda Elkington, Anna Gardiner, Chloe Crawford, Malia Manoa, Etelini Manoa, Tamara Couper, Emma Gardiner, Isabella Rohloff and Ella Ferguson. Coach Lawrence Turner.