The Boys’ team, led ably by Takuma W, had a fairly quiet start to the day and it took them a couple of matches to get going. However, by the end of the group stages they showed just what they were capable of with some convincing wins. All their other matches were very close; however, they left their rally too late and just narrowly missed out on qualification for the finals. Fortunately, five of the seven-strong squad will still be here next year and look to improve upon a credible performance. MVP goes to Dong-Hun N for tenacity and application as well as some very tricky serving.

The Girls’ B team, captained by the ever sporting presence that is Abbie M-H, faired very well for a team of non-volleyball players. Playing some good aggressive volleyball and covering the court well they kept themselves in the tournament throughout the group stage and were a little unlucky not to be in a better position come the final game. All they needed was a win to go through in their final match, but some unfortunate officiating left them trailing by a point at the final whistle. All the girls (Coco A, Milly H, Amy P, Nadiya V) deserve praise for their efforts but MVP goes to Head Girl elect, Libby W for some deadly serving that could see her aim for a place in the As next season.

The real success story and the ambassadors for Lancing that day has to be the Girls’ A team. Tanya C, Anna S and Pai Y were ably led by captain Sarah L; although to be fair, it must be said that they started their first couple of games a little flat footed and gave points away to significantly inferior teams. However, after that edgy start, they had two crushing victories against Brighton and Epsom and then a deserved (though close) victory against Roedean to ensure qualification, having amassed a huge (and tournament highest) cumulative score of 139 points. Unfortunately they came out on the wrong side of a tight semi-final encounter and finished third overall. It should be noted, however, that on their way to the semi-final they comfortably beat the eventual tournament winners, Epsom. Due to their combined efforts throughout the day, MVP is shared by the whole team; though special mention should go to Anna S and Pai Y who sadly leave us this year.

Volleyball has come along way in the last year at Lancing and I would like to thank the Groundsmen, the Director of Sport and the Senior Management Team for their support with this. Hopefully the next academic year will see more fixtures and further success.

Mr M W Wilkes. Pictures courtesy of Mr Senkevich