FOCUSED: Oscar Brighouse from Tauranga Boys' College in action. PHOTO: JOHN BORREN
FOCUSED: Oscar Brighouse from Tauranga Boys' College in action. PHOTO: JOHN BORREN
Just one round remains in the TECT BOP Junior Secondary Schools Volleyball Championships.
In the boys' division, while Trident qualified in top spot over the first weekend it has been Mount Maunganui College that has produced results in the middle rounds.
So when Mount came up against Tauranga Boys' Bon Saturday, it looked like they should easily take the game out, however Tauranga's strong defence kept them in the game.
There was some strong attack from Ben Blackwell while Ocean Kohere showed his class as a setter for Mount. While both sets were tight until the middle stages, it was Mount who ran away with both winning 2-15 and 25-17.
Otumoetai Girls' have a strong team this year and looked to be having it all their way against Western Heights, leading 23-8 in the first set. Western Heights rallied with some great serving to close the gap with eight unanswered points before Otumoetai took the set out 25-17.
The second set saw Oates streaking out to a 22-6 lead, which included a seven-serve streak before Heights knew what happened. Heights fought their hardest but could not stop Oates winning the second set 25-8.
The last game of the girls' round was a ripper of a local derby, where Tauranga Girls' had to come from behind in the final set to beat Mount College. While Mount had been unbeaten so far in the round robin match-ups, it was a vital win for Tauranga Girls' to push for a top three spot.
There is one round of games next Saturday morning, completing the round robin before teams move into the top 8 knockout phase Saturday afternoon and Sunday at ASB Arena and QEYC.
