Moruya state champs dig in

The year-nine students were the only regional team in their age division at the Volleyball Schools Cup – run by NSW Volleyball – and weren’t expecting the win.

Team member Helaina Byers said the girls have been training since March.

“At first it was just during lunch,” she said.

“We asked if we could train after school too. 

“A lot of our lunchtimes were spent training on a patch of grass and dirt with a couple of sticks, but we were really determined to practice and get better.”

Coach James Northey said he was proud of the girls effort.

“I’ve coached a number of teams, a team that has come 3rd in the state and one that has come third in Australia, and this is the proudest I have ever been of a team,” he said.

“I knew they’d worked hard.”

“Someone asked me who the best player was and I just said I couldn’t tell you, they all work so well together.

“They supported each other all the way through the tournament and I think that’s what got them there.”

Kaitlyn Porter said the girls surprised themselves on the day.

“We didn’t have much confidence in ourselves – we had low expectations,” she said.

“But we ended up winning three out of four games in our division, which put us through to the grand final against the winner of pool b.”

The team was so shocked by their win they didn’t realise it had happened.

“At the end they were so focused on playing the game I had to tell them they’d actually won,” Mr Northey said.

 “They were ready to play the next point.”