Mpopoma High defend volleyball title
MPOPOMA High School continue to assert themselves as a powerhouse in girls schools volleyball following their successful title defence at the National Association of Secondary Heads 17 years and under competition staged at Churchill Boys High in Harare last weekend.
The Mpopoma lasses, led by middle blocker Cathy Ncube put up a dazzling show as they dropped just three sets at the national finals on their way to being crowned champions.
In the final, they defeated Chibi High School from Masvingo province 3-1. It was the same score line that Mpopoma won by over the same opponents in Chinhoyi last year.
Coached by Brilliant Sibanda, with Portia Matibela as his assistant, Mpopoma defeated Chibi 2-1 and saw off Mnene 2-0 in the group stages. In the quarter-finals, Mpopoma met Mufakose 2 from Harare and the girls from Bulawayo triumphed 2-0. Mpopoma beat Roosevelt 2-0 in the semi-finals and then took care of Chibi in the final.
Mpopoma received a trophy and gold medals with no monetary reward for the achievement.
Three individual accolades were given to Mpopoma players, Jennifer Tembo won the Most Valuable Player as well as Best Attacker while Tariro Zarima took home the Best Setter prize. Shields, certificates and T-shirts were given to the two.
Zarima and Tembo were selected into Zimbabwe’s team for the Confederation of Schools Sports Association of Southern Africa Ball Games to be staged in Namibia.
The captain said she was delighted to defend the title even though the competition was tough. Mpopoma lost one of their key players, Rosemary Ncube who was given a scholarship by Musengezi High School.
“I am so happy that we managed to win as a team though we did not think we were going to defend the cup one of our members Rosemary Ncube left for Musengezi High School. We managed to defend our cup still even if it was tougher,’’ Ncube said.
Having beaten Chibi in the group stages, Ncube believes that this made them earn respect from their opponents when the two teams met again in the final.
“The competition was tough, from the semifinals, we played Chibi in the final, a team we had beaten 2-1 in the group stage, we managed to instill some fear into them, that made us more stronger in terms of the team spirit,’’ she said.
It is the third time that the school has triumphed in a Nash volleyball competition, the first trophy having been brought home by the girls’ Under-20 team in 2015 who were coached by Georgina Chauke. Last year, Chauke was in charge of the 17 years and under team triumphed in Chinhoyi.
Even though Mpopoma are well known for their academic excellence, they have over the years done well on the sporting field as their athletics, football and volleyball teams have represented Bulawayo in national competitions.
This has been attributed to the resilience of the school’s sports director James Rugwevera who gets all the assistance from the headmaster Christopher Dube.
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