Win for Spotswood girls
Mount Maunganui Beach played host to 150 teams from throughout the country at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Beach Volleyball championships last weekend.
Spotswood College produced excellent results.
In the Senior Girls section 2017 champions Hikaru Han and Libby Houghton were favourites for the tournament and they did not disappoint.
They defended their title going eight games without dropping a set. This was a great feat considering the title has only been repeated twice by same pairings (Burnside HS 2014-15 and Spotswood College 1999-2001).
Both Houghton and Han played controlled beach volleyball and showed their class. In the Senior Boys section Spotswood College’s Keegan Joe and Meli Naborisi stepped up from winning the Junior section in 2017 and were strong throughout the tournament. But they were not able to match their school’s senior girls result, losing in the final to Rangitoto College.
In the Junior Boys section Spotswood College’s Juraj Krajci and Rylee Houghton (Year 9) played in the Year 9-11 section and finished 15th equal in New Zealand.
In the Junior Girls section Spotswood College produced the best finish with Yulan Imhalsy and Esther Cocker finished 21st equal. New Plymouth Boys High Schools best result was 13th equal in the Senior Boys section (Drae Price and Aaron Hone). New Plymouth Girls High Schools best result was 5th equal in the Senior Girls section (Maya Dickson and Eva Dickson).
Results for New Zealand Age group beach volleyball championships at Mount Maunganui beach: Senior Girls
Libby Houghton and Hikaru Han
Won 2-0 Long Bay College, Auckland (Kirk/ Mitchell), won 2-0 Otumoetai College, Tauranga (Schulz/ Schuler), won 2-0 Tauranga Girls College (Lawrence/ Strange), on 2-0 St Andrews College, Christchurch (Neil/ Vryenhoek).
Division 1 Round of 16; Won 2-0 Westlake Girls HS, Auckland (Oliver/ Schultze), Quarter Final; Won 2-0 Rangitoto College, Auckland (McKain/ Hart), Semi Final; Won 2-0 Westlake Girls HS, Auckland (Howard / Pocock), Final; Won 2-0 Westlake Girls HS, Auckland (Otene/ Vukets)
Finished 1st New Zealand Secondary School Senior Girls section.
Senior Boys
Keegan Joe and Meli Naborisi Won 2-0 Western Height HS, Rotorua (Apete/ Chand), won 2-0 Long Bay College Auckland (Ayres/ McMurtis), won 2-0 Tauranga Boys College (Yong/ Backmann), wWon 2-0 Mount Maunganui College (Blackwell/ Fountain).
Division 1 Round of 16; Won 2-0 De La Salle College, Auckland (Finau/ Niko), Quarter final; Won 2-0 Hillcrest HS, Hamilton (Mackenzie/ Sheppherd), Semi Final; Won 2-0 Tauranga Boys College (Lawerence/ Henderson), Final; Lost 0- 2 Rangitoto College (Gunn/ Anderson)
Finished 2nd New Zealand Secondary Schools Senior Boys section