Nelson College for Girls is celebrating winning the South Island Secondary Schools Junior Volleyball Championship for the first time in more than 40 years of trying.
The Year 10 side won two qualifying tournaments to earn top seeding for the tournament in Invercargill.
That far-away destination may have deterred some schools, but not NCG as coach Terry Beggs and nine players jumped in a van and headed south.
They took the coastal route, overnighting at Harihari where they picked up team manager Sarah Blackburn.
She turned on a barbecue and accommodation and then joined her daughter and outsider hitter Iyla to continue on to Southland.
All up about 13 and a half hours travel, and then they fronted up to play three matches the next day.
There were 28 teams in the draw and Terry says the top five or six of them ensured it would be a serious challenge.
“We were a bit nervous, feeling the pressure to justify being the top ranked side,” admits middle blocker Issy Clayton.
The team did lose a close match to Christchurch Girls’ High School, one of seven Canterbury sides, and then faced them again in the final.
That was their ninth game in three days and they won in straight sets, 25-14 and 25-18.
“It was so cool. The girls’ motto is to play for the school and the crest,” declares Terry, who also head of the Design and Visual Communication at NCG.
Captain and outside hitter Ivy Trench was named the finals MVP while Issy, setter Keira Scowen and opposite Ana Floares also made the tournament team.
There were no favours for the new SISS teenage champs on the way home though.
“We had a brake issue so had to stop at Haast, but the road trip was a great bonding exercise,” enthuses Terry.
And it was extra special for Sarah who played in the tournament for NCG, 25 years ago.
