Even being the best Otago team in the regional competition, the John McGlashan College volleyball boys ended up competing this year in the Division 2 section of the South Island Champs.
Held in Christchurch last month, this year's competition had 10 teams competing from around the South Island. In pool play, the boys played extremely well and won their pool easily, the highlight being a 3-0 win over a talented Shirley Boys’ team.
In an all-Dunedin semi-final, the boys took on Otago Boys High and easily accounted for them also with a score line of 3-0. After a long wait, the final was down to JMC and Ellesmere College, from Canterbury. The Ellesmere team focused on error-free volleyball, however, they could not handle the huge hitting from Sebastian Sole, Jo Brenssell and Fergus Keiller, being set up nicely by Matt Johnson. Our two big middles, Oli Mouat and Hamish Robinson were dominant on the block and Josh Stackhouse and Patrick Zhang gave a massive contribution on defence. Super-sub Archie Calder kept the mood upbeat and showed a strong serving game.
With many Year 13 boys in the team this year, there will need to be some rebuilding of the team later on this year.