MSA retain BSSF High School boys volleyball title
Mount St Agnes boys volleyball team went unbeaten in the Bermuda Schools Sports Federation High School competition for the second successive year, to successfully retain their title.
Juanita Blee’s side, playing in front of their fans defeated Warwick Academy 2-0 in the best-of-three final, with scores of 25-9 and 21-13.
MSA came through unscathed from the round robin, where they beat Saltus red 26-24, Warwick 25-18, CedarBridge Academy 25-8, and Saltus white 25-21.
In the semi-finals, MSA defeated Saltus white 25-15, to set up a final clash with Warwick, who won 25-20 against Saltus red in the last four stage.
Blee praised her players for remaining focused against opponents who were out to dethrone them.
“We won it again last year, we had the same group of guys, only two have left,’’ Blee said.
“I'm extremely proud of them because they really held their composure. Every team was going to go after them today, they knew it because they were the top team from last year.
“They played really well, they’re really a good group of guys and they’re very close, so it worked out well for me.
“Out of the 12 players that we have, eight of them are with the national programme. They not only train with me here at school, but they train with the coaches for the national team programme, which really elevates their game a lot more than if they were playing two days a week with me.
“Volleyball is a very big sport for MSA, and I am glad that we've been able to keep the tradition going, of producing good results.
“Hopefully we’ll continue that, I only have three players leaving this year. I'm hoping that those coming from Middle School are equally as good as those who are leaving.
“The scores really don't show the true picture, we had three of our games where we were down significantly, and the guys pulled up their socks.
“They held their composure, and came back in all of those games to eventually win them.
“Because they’re also in fantastic shape, that played a huge part in the semis and finals. They were able to continue with the same level of play.”
Jacinto Saints, the MSA captain saw the victory as a perfect sendoff for him and a few other players in their last year of high school.
“It’s nice to win it in our last year in high school,’’ Saints said.
“It encourages the younger guys for after we leave, for them to continue winning it.
“As the seniors players, we've ended on a good note. We enjoyed it, played our hardest, and we came out on top.
“We have a lot of people that enjoy playing the sport. When we show up for practice, we make sure that we keep it serious but still have some fun.
“We constantly strive to get better, we don’t want to be stagnant and just stay there.”
Another senior player, Anijahe Martin put down the success to being meticulous during their training sessions.
“It just means a lot to us, especially since it’s our second consecutive year winning it,’’ Martin said.
“We knew that there are teams out there with some really great players, for us it was just making sure that we did everything in training, train like how we want to play in the game.
“We just had to keep the high energy, keep everybody on the same level, and make sure that we’re here for everyone, not just play for ourselves.
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