Inaugural BVA One Day Junior Dragon City Tournament - 2008

Bendigo Volleyball Association
Junior Dragon City Tournament
Scott Ross

Sunday 14 September saw 32 junior school based sides converge on the Schweppes Centre for the Inaugural Junior Dragon City Tournament. Sides from Bendigo, Albury, North and East Melbourne made the trip to Bendigo to take part in the one day tournament which provided matches to help schools prepare for the upcoming Victorian State Schools Cup and then National Schools Cup events. Teams were separated into 3 age divisions, Open, Under 17 and Under 15 which boasted the largest Age group having 7 girls sides and 9 boys teams. Action got underway at the Schweppes Centre at 8am, with finals being held at 3pm and 4pm.
In the Open Boys division Girton boasted current Australian Representatives Jason Hughes and James Winzar and moved comfortably through to the final against Billanook, who themselves possessed some powerful spiking options. In the closest match of the day for the boys Billanook took the game right up to Girton and levelled the best of 3 set match at 1 all after Girton had won the first set. The third and deciding set was an entertaining battle as both sides traded powerful blows. James Spillane and Brenton Price blocked well for Girton, while Callum Gordon controlled the back court well enough to see his side take the match 15 -12 in the fifth set.
The Open Girls division was and all Bendigo affair with Bendigo Senior Secondary College taking on Girton. Girton had won the round match comfortably, but under the guidance of BSSC coach Csaba Rosos the BSSC girls forced Girton to play their best volleyball for the day to take the match 15-7 in the deciding third set. Alex White and Olivia Geyde held the BSSC side together while the strong spiking combination of Tahnee Woods and Alex Egan and strong jump serving of Rhiannon Judd proved too much for the BSSC outfit.
The Under 17 Boys division was dominated by Billanook who went through the rounds not dropping a match. They continued their good form in the final comfortably defeating St Bernard’s 2 sets to nil.
The under 17 Girls told a similar tale with Upwey dominating the round matches and going on to defeat the Ballarat based Lakes side 2 sets to nil in the final.
The under 15 Boys Honours division saw Billanook face off against Girton Tigers in the final. Both sides played well to make the final, however the consistent play of the Billanook outfit proved too much for Girton and they took the match 25-13, 25-18.
In Division 1 of the under 15 Boys Girton again figured in the final playing against St Bernard’s. After not losing a match during the rounds the young Girton side made it a clean sweep winning two sets to one 25-16, 23-25, 15-9.
The Under 15 Girls Honours saw Girton and Albury represented, however both sides were outclassed by eventual winners Upwey, who defeated Billanook 2 sets to nil in the final. While in the Under 15 Girls Division 1 Girton Panfried overcame a determined Upwey outfit that had made it to the final undefeated, only to see Girton take the title 28-26 and 25-15.
The Bendigo Volleyball Association was pleased with the entries into the tournament in its first year of operation and look forward to hosting the event on an annual basis. The Association now looks towards its annual senior tournament the Dragon City Tournament due to be held on the 1st and 2nd of November. Teams interested in entering can find entry forms on the Bendigo Volleyball Association website.

Scott Ross

Final Results

Open Boys Winner Girton
Result Girton def Billanook 25-23, 22-25, 15-12 
Under 17 Boys Winner Billanook
Result Billanook def St Bernard's 25-17, 25-7 
Under 15 Boys Honours Winner Billanook
Result Billanook v Girton Tigers 25-13, 25-18 
Under 15 Boys Division 1 Winner Girton Knaves
Result Girton Knaves def St Bernard's 25-16, 23-25, 15-9 
Open Girls Winner Girton
Result Girton def BSSC 25-18, 26-28, 15-7 
Under 17 Girls Winner Upwey
Result Upwey def Lakes 25-14, 25-15 
Under 15 Girls Honours Winner Upwey 
Result Upwey def Billanook 25-22, 25-22 
Under 15 Girls Division 1 Winner Girton Panfried
Result Girton Panfried def Upwey 28-26, 25-15

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From Tom Stevens: Competition Director

The BVA AGM was held on 29 Nov 2007, the following members were elected to serve on the Board of Directors for 2007 - 2008.
President Geoff Adcock
Vice President Jenny Brown
Secretary Bronwyn James
Board members Carol McKinstry, Taka Hirashima, Murray Mansfield.
Congratulations on your appointments.
To Andrew, Csaba & Ros, please accept my thanks for your endeavours while serving on the Board, best wishes for your future.