The May 8 round of co-curricular saw Waverley 1sts Volleyball host Scots College in the Brother Lacey Gymnasium. The two sides played for two hours over four very competitive sets, which had each audience member and coach on the edge of their seats (if they weren’t already standing from the anticipation of who would win!).
This week’s game came down to momentum. Whichever team had more momentum ended up winning the set. This became evident after watching the first two sets, as both teams started strong and their momentum carried on to win them the set.
Volleyball
Set 1: Waverley had a rocky start to the first set, with the lack of communication from the team denying them from setting up any real opportunities for consecutive points. On the contrary, the Scots team was flowing well, communicating effectively with each other with an answer for everything Waverley threw at them. This led to a 9-19 Scots lead within the first 10 minutes. However, a timeout from Waverley energised the team and started up the much-needed communication between the team, which led to a 16-19 comeback in five minutes! However, the 10 point deficit was too big to comeback from, and Scots won this set 17-25.
Set 2: The second set had an explosive start from Waverley, with Noah Matet hitting a powerful spike to even the scoreboard. The team was communicating very well, calling for the ball and rushing to get to any and every ball. A string of strong serves from Hayden Wild led to Waverley taking the lead for the first time in the game. Halfway through, Scots called a timeout at a 9-14 Waverley lead. The timeout allowed for Scots to stop Waverley’s momentum, but the positive reinforcement from teammates and coaches Michelle and Ms Belinda Buchan kept the students energised and focused enough to win the set 25-17.
Set 3: The third set started off with a miscommunication from Waverley which allowed Scots to score four successive points. Scots gained significant momentum from these points and denied Waverley any points from their attack. The team seemed disgruntled and demotivated after the scoreline was at 4-12 Scots way, however, after a successful timeout from the coaches, Waverley started to communicate and slowed the pace of the game down. This allowed for both teams to showcase their skills in long volleys which lasted for over a minute each! Our dedication to get to every ball backfired as we were coming back, when two of our players collided and one had to miss the rest of the game. The collision slowed our momentum down and gave Scots all they needed to finish the set 16-25.
Set 4: Set four was by far the most competitive set of the game, with Waverley fighting to keep the game alive. The team exemplified what it was like to be a Waverley College student, never giving up and supporting each other no matter the outcome. However, a strong spike from a Scots player ended the competitive set, and thus the game, with the final score of this round being 23-25.
Whilst we didn’t win, the team showed a valiant effort to keep the game alive and showed improvement from their game last week against Kings. Please come to our next home games versus Riverview on 22 May and Knox on 29 May, to watch the 1sts bring home the win.
Volleyball
Volleyball
Christian Kitas for 1sts Coach Ms Buchan
Student Journalist
E: bbuchan@waverley.nsw.edu.au
