Volleyball stars punch above their weight at nationals

The future is bright for local up-and-coming volleyball players after an impressive start to the representative season.

Both Tasman U17 boys and girls teams returned with medals around their necks from the New Zealand Provincial Volleyball Championships as the region sent teams in every division for the first time.

Topping the honours were the girls, whose second-place result earned them the honour of dying the hair of their coach, Brendan Circhton, bright pink.

Meanwhile, the U17 boys finished in third after battling through a tough pool, after being seeded as one of the worst teams, having not sent a squad last year.

Tasman's U19 girls came home in fifth, while the U19 boys finished one back in sixth. In the open division, the women finished seventh-equal, while the men finished eighth.

Coach of the U17 girl's team and newly appointed president of Volleyball Tasman, Brendan, says the results and the tournament are a testament to the strength of the game in the region.

"For a provincial region, we were only one of four who competed in every category.

"And to have all those teams in the top half of their grades in the U17s and U19s is impressive."

He says the dying of his hair was conditional on the team earning a medal, having had a tough road to get there.

"I was always apprehensive [about dying my hair], because I knew we'd get close.

"I kind of had expectations of the top four. I knew we were good enough on paper to be in the mix.

"But we had the toughest pool to come out of. All other pools had one easy game, we didn't.

With 10 of the 11 teammates having already won South Island titles with either Nayland or Waimea, Brendan says the team was an experienced mix.

He says the team played their best game of the tournament in the semi-finals, but nerves caught up with them in the final against Canterbury.

"We have a growth mindset and a growth culture.

"Making a national final is no mean feat against these bigger centres."

Boy's U17 team coach, Josh Ovsenek, says the team improved game-on-game as the tournament progressed.

He says the team played a different system than they were used to in school games, and the boys adapted well.

"The boys are playing together a lot of the time."

Josh says he was impressed with the performance of the team's setter, Isayah Tuitupoukutu, who stepped up to make the position his own with his performances and was unlucky to make the tournament team.

Maaka Hill, from the boys team did, alongside Lucia Banks and Ashlee Shone from the Girls U17 team, with Brendan saying Brooklyn Leary was his MVP after getting the team over the line in the semi-final.