VOLLEYBALL - BOYS SENIOR A
Back Row : Elliot Burton 2nd Row : Lucy Penrice ( Coach ), Lucas Maidens , Rubem Demarchi , Va ’ asili Uili-Va ’ asili ( Coach ) Front Row : Ethan Broadley , Aidan Williams , Harrison Bainbridge
Despite COVID-19 , this year has seen an increase in the number of teams ( 16 in total ) and the number of players involved ( 135 ). This is very encouraging and is only possible because of the fantastic support from parents and senior students who either coach or manage teams . To this end I am extremely grateful to the following for their input into HNHS volleyball : Lucy Penrice , Va ’ asili Uili- Va ’ asili , Mike Rabbitte , Julia McNamara , Nicky Johnson , Aysha Vossen-Chong , Amy Jenkins , Rosemary Yorke , Zoe McNamara , Laura Garrick , Rani Williams and Daniel Cunningham .
Boys A : HBSS League Division One With the return of Napier Boys ’ High School and Hastings Boys ’ High School the standard of division one was extremely high . Despite only having seven players ( Daniel Cunningham was promoted to the team mid season ) the ����� ������� ����� ����������� ���� �������� ������ ������ best result was their 52-45 victory against Napier Boys ’ High School A . At the time the league stopped due to ���������� ���� ��������� ����� ����� ��� ����� ������� ����� Penrice did a fantastic job of coaching this team and I know the players all had tremendous respect for her as a coach . HBPB Open : 2nd Place . Played : 5 Won : 3 Lost : 2 Sets for : 9 Sets against : 7 This tournament was held at Rodney Green Centennial Events Centre . As usual , Gisborne Boys ’ High School brought two teams down and they are always a �������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������� against Gisborne A who had won their pool . This was an extremely exciting and close game which Havelock won 3 sets to 1 ( 25-22 )( 25-22 )( 20-25 )( 25-23 ). This meant ��� ������ ����� ���������� ����� ����� ������� ��� ���� ������
Despite losing 3-0 , the boys had exceeded expectations and played fantastic volleyball .
Boys B : HBSS League Division Two Ten Year 11 boys were selected for this team . Ably coached by Mike Rabbitte , they were becoming more familiar with their systems and players were starting to accept being specialised players . They had a number of victories but their best result was the 3-0 victory against Hastings Chrisitan School A ( 25-21 )( 25-10 )( 25-10 ). Next year will be a massive step up for many of these players as they will probably be in the A team and division one .
Girls A : HBSS League Division One With only two players returning from the 2019 team , I knew that we were in a rebuilding phase . But the strength of the girls programme also made me believe that the process would be quite quick . This indeed did turn out to be the case . Due to Covid-19 , the league did not get completed and when games were stopped we were in fourth place . Results showed that this year ’ s teams were all fairly even and that the depth in the competition was continuing to grow . There are now probably six girls schools that are very competitive . HBPB Open : 1st Place . Played : 4 Won : 4 Lost : 0 Sets for : 12 �������������������������������������������������������� we were starting to grow as a team . Players understood their role and everyone was contributing to the team ’ s performance . We won our three pool games , which included a tight 3-2 win against Taradale High School . ���������������������������������������������������������� ����� ������� ���� ���� ����� �������� ����� ��� ������ ������ The girls were absolutely outstanding . They executed our game plan , blocked effectively against the Hastings
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