Year 11 Boys Score Volleyball Gold

Beach Volleyball Schools Cup is an annual event run by Volleyball Queensland. This year saw 472 teams from 55 Queensland schools play on 54 courts set up on beautiful Coolangatta Beach.

This year Somerset entered 10 teams from a variety of different year levels playing both pairs and four a side.

Last Sunday teams from Years 8 to 12 started the tournament in pool play. Conditions were ideal with light winds and overcast skies. The Year 9 Boys 4-a-side team cruised through pool play with a combination of control from Tima Koran and Philip He and power from Ethan Shen and Soham Agrawal. The Year 11 boy’s pairs team of Lachie Mathieson and Lachie McKinnon narrowly lost some close matches in the timed games format but still showed that they are one of the best in the state. The Year 10 girl’s side of Audrey Cirocco, Maddie McLaughlin, Aanika Soni and Natalia Zotti played fantastic volleyball beating some of their more experienced competitors and topping their pool.

On Monday teams moved into the final cross over matches and started to edge closer to a medal round. The Year 7 girls team also played, having their first taste of Schools Cup volleyball and showing great promise winning the majority of their games. The Year 9 boys continued their good form from the previous day winning the bronze medal match. The Year 10 girls narrowly lost in the semi-final which relegated them to the bronze medal match which they would go on to win. The Year 11 girls team went undefeated all the way to the final when they faced a formidable team from OLSCC coming away with a silver medal. The team of Zaina Abbas, Alice Niu, Alvina Shen and Ella Jin showed great consistency and teamwork and deservedly came away with the medal. The Year 11 boys pair team of Ethan Grocott and Raiden Kyaw cruised through to the final without dropping a set and were able to keep that momentum going winning the gold in straight sets and were crowned state champions.

Overall, we had fantastic results:

Gold

• Year 11 Boys Pairs

Silver

• Year 11 Girls Fours

Bronze

• Year 10 Girls Fours

• Year 9 Boys Fours

A massive thank you to all the parents for not only your help over the two days but also getting students to early morning practice sessions. Also, Issy Garland and Paris Johnson with coaching in the lead up to and over the two days. Also, to Dane Robinson and the sports department with their help organising logistics.