28 August 2026
On August 13, 14 and 16, the 1st VI volleyball team competed in the Volleyball State Championships. The team competed against 11 other teams entered into the Year 12 division, with the teams split across two groups. SPSC competed in Group B, alongside Murray Bridge, St Ignatius, Pultney, Glenunga International, and Prince Alfred College.
The team went undefeated throughout the group stage, winning all five matches—an incredible accomplishment in itself. The boys played well and continued to improve as the tournament progressed, with their convincing victory over PAC reversing the result of their Intercol defeat earlier this year.
The standout match of the group stage was on Day 2 against Glenunga International. At that point, both teams were undefeated and in red hot form, with the winner of the match set to qualify top of the group. In what can only be described as the game of the tournament, both teams played exceptionally well, trading fierce spikes, strong serves and huge blocks at the net. SPSC prevailed by the narrowest of margins in the first set, winning 26-24, and siezing the momentum. SPSC would close out a 2 sets to 0 victory, winning the second set 25-19. All boys were excellent throughout this match, but a special mention must go to Dylan Tran for his incredible efforts to save passes and chase loose balls in the backcourt. His efforts rescued several key points for us throughout the match and swung the momentum in our favour.
SPSC were drawn against Westminster in the semifinals on Sunday. After a nervous start, dropping the first set 14-25 due to many unforced errors, SPSC grew into the match and took the ascendancy and momentum, winning the second set 25-19 and taking the tiebreak 3rd set 15-6. This result meant our boys qualified for the Gold Medal match, setting up a tantalising rematch against Glenunga International, who defeated Immanuel College in the other semifinal.
SPSC and Glenunga put on a show in the Gold Medal match, with both sides playing to a high level. Glenunga held their nerve best to take the first set 25-23. SPSC rallied in the second set, taking it 25-21 and forcing a 3rd set tiebreak. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our time, as Glenunga secured a 15-10 3rd set victory and a 2 sets to 1 overall victory, meaning our boys won silver medals. Despite the disappointment of not winning gold, this was an outstanding result for our boys, one that they should absolutely be proud of, and it’s the best ever result at the state championships for the School.
Andrew Ung, vice-captain, summarised the three days of competition: “We grew in team cohesion and spirit after the first few games which set us up with a positive, winning mentality going into every match. The camaraderie and energy was the best I’ve experienced, and it was genuinely the most fun I’ve had playing volleyball.”
David McNulty
Volleyball Coordinator
