Championship bound

Volleyball Horsham will send three teams to Bendigo for this weekend’s 50th anniversary of the Victorian Country Championships.

Volleyball Horsham will be represented in men’s and women’s division one as well as men’s division two, where their team will be attempting to create history by becoming the first Volleyball Horsham men’s team to become back-to-back division two champions.

After successfully winning men’s division one at the Horsham Tournament in November, the same team will attempt to break a country championship divison one gold medal duck.

Captain Matthew Berry said the team was focused on its goal.

“A country champs gold medal is the one thing missing from all of these boys CV and we are all determined to change that,” he said.

The team will be bolstered by the inclusion of the experienced Tim Ladlow and the improved Harry Stemp.

“Tim’s experience will help, while Harry has been playing good volleyball with his uni team, so these two will add good depth to our team,” Berry said.

A women’s division one team will be the same as the one that lost the bronze medal match in last year’s championships, with the exception of Molly Hobbs who misses due to injury.

Team captain Kara Johnson said the

team would benefit from another year playing together.

“The girls are a year older and more experienced so I’m expecting a much stronger showing this year,” she said.

“We pushed Latrobe Valley and took a set off Bendigo last year when they played off for gold, and those two teams won’t be as strong this year.”

All eyes will be on the men’s division two team that goes into the championships as the number one seed.

The team should be stronger than last year’s gold-medal-winning team with the inclusion of veteran hitter Tim Popple and young gun Aidan O’connor.

Both have come back from division one last year, joining the experienced Tyler Snowden and the improving Tyler Puls.

“The nucleus is there from last year and hopefully the inclusions can complement an already strong team,” Popple said.

“But we know we are the hunted and Latrobe Valley and Bendigo are two teams new to the competition this year, which will make it tough.”

Thirty-five teams from across country Victoria will participate in the championships.

A special function will be held to acknowledge the tournament’s 50th anniversary on Saturday night, with many original players from its formative years attending.

Horsham has a proud history of involvement in the championships, starting in 1983.

The association has collected three silver and seven bronze medals in men’s division one, two gold and one silver in women’s division one, five gold and three silver in men’s division two and a gold, silver and bronze in women’s division two in that time, also producing a number of ‘All Star Seven’ selections in each division.

“You can see why capturing that elusive men’s division one gold medal means so much to this year’s team,” Berry said.

The association would like to thank K and J Baker Cartage, Norton Motor Group, Horsham Florist and CHS Group for their sponsorship, which will see all teams in new playing uniforms this year.

Players who will represent Volleyball Horsham at the championships are – Men’s division one: Chris Radford, Tim Ladlow, Matthew Berry, Nick Adamson, Cam Robinson, Brady King, Harry Stemp, Jack Hannan and John Dal Santo. Women’s division one: Delaney Wills, Kara Johnson, Tamikah Dockrill, Cleo Baker, Laelah Robertson, Eadie Garth-lindsay, Brooke Freckleton and Emily Hannan. Men’s division two: Tim Popple, Shaun Bray, Nathan Berry, Tyler Snowden, Chris Ca-ayon, Tyler Puls, John Kearns, Jon Fitzgerald, Aidan O’connor and Will Saligari.