Volleyball: Transtasman rivals both taste sweet success

Kahla Tyson from Otumoetai College in action for New Zealand against Australia at ASB Arena. Photo/Andrew Warner

New Zealand and Australia could not be separated at the end of the Trans-Tasman Secondary Schools Volleyball Quadrangular at ASB Arena on Saturday.

The New Zealand secondary schoolboys team, dominated by members of the North Island side that beat Queensland in Friday's final, triumphed over the Australian side (31-29, 25-17, 19-25, 23-25, 15-13) in a five-set epic that went long into the afternoon.

The hosts won a total of 113 points to the visitors 103, and showed great composure to perform in the final frame after giving up a two-set lead.

Mount Maunganui College student Reece Matier, called up as a late replacement and nicely warmed up after a game of football, played his best match of the week, while schoolmates Madison Riddall and Jackson Ellis also made valuable contributions.

Tauranga Boys' Tom Mabbott also performed strongly, giving the New Zealand team another option as a powerful hitter.

The Australian girls, led by a strong contingent of the Queensland team that beat the North Island girls in straight sets on Friday, dropped only one set in claiming the girls' test (25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 25-20).

The visitors were near-flawless in the opening two sets, forcing their Kiwi counterparts to hit from tough positions against a set defence.

The Kiwi girls did well to rally from eight points down to win the third set.

However, their opponents had too much height and power on the front line to be seriously challenged.

Bay of Plenty Volleyball administrator Maria Woods was glad the tournament had been such a success.

"We've got players from high-performance camps and high-performance programmes, choosing to play this," she said.

"So it's great to have a competition like this in town."

Woods did not think scouts from American universities had been in attendance, saying players instead compiled videos and posted them online.

Female players had a far better chance of gaining a scholarship than their male counterparts due to rules in America ensuring the same number of scholarships were offered to both sexes.