Volleyball: Western boys show some rough edges

Westlake Boys' High School's MVP Matt Howe-Smith spikes against Western Heights in the boys' final at the North Island Junior Schools Volleyball Championships in Tauranga, with captain Greg Vukets in support. Photo/Supplied.

Even great teams can have bad days.

Western Heights High School have long been a dominant force in the secondary schools volleyball championships. However when the side took to the court in this year's North Island Junior Volleyball championships to take on Westlake Boys' High School in the first division final they looked less than stellar.

After a slow start in the first set, the Auckland side came back into the picture when they forced errors from the previously polished Western Heights Boys (Rotorua), and discovered a greater range of attacking options.

Despite dropping the set 20-25, the roll Westlake began continued into the second set, with some great post and three-metre attacking hits from captain Greg Vukets, coupled with accurate passing, and enough middle hitting to put their opponents in two minds about the direction the ball was coming from giving them the set 25-12.

A couple of disputed calls early in the tie-breaker third set fired up the Auckland side more than Western Heights, whose error rate crept up. The final three points of the match were won by Vukets with two spikes and a dominant block at the post.

With 89 teams playing 258 matches in four days, the event lived up to its reputation as one of the premier school sports festivals in the country.

The girls' final saw a hesitant start by both teams last Friday, with each set of players showing their nerves in what was for most a first appearance at this stage.

Otumoetai players particularly appeared to lack the confidence to attack as they had in earlier games, while the Auckland side hit the ball hard on occasions, but not with the freedom they had during their semifinal. Once the nerves settled, both teams started attacking more, forcing good back-court saves. Manurewa's head start in the first set enabled them to comfortably win, but the roles reversed in the second set when the momentum Otumoetai built towards the end of the set continued into the next set, on the back of some good post spiking from captain Sophie Samson.

In the tie-breaker third set Otumoetai got out to an early lead on the back of some Manurewa errors, but inspired blocking by their tall middle players, Carnation Fahamokia and captain Gail Taumafai, turned the tide and gave the northern team the confidence to attack from all positions. The final point was won by a powerful, clean, middle hit by Taumafai, the tournament MVP.

Second Division winners were Te Puke boys and Westlake girls, while Matamata Boys' High and Tauranga Girls' College B took out the Third Division titles.