Harbour claim 2023 men's title

Harbour Volleyball took out the Senior Men's title at the 2023 Inter-Provincial Championships at Pettigrew Green Arena in Napier on Monday.

Dropping just one match all weekend, Richard Casutt's team were too strong in the final, taking a 3-0 victory over the Canterbury Invitational team, sealing back-to-back titles for Harbour Volleyball.

The team success also led to personal rewards for five Harbour players with Billy Johnstone, Leni Maiai, Greg Vukets, Ashton Howard and Most Valuable Player Johann Timmer named to the Tournament Team.

Waikato finished third after a 3-1 win over WECA.

The remaining age groups were split over three regions with Waikato claiming the U-17 title, Canterbury the U-19s grade and Wellington the U-23 event.

Open Men
🥇Harbour
🥈Canterbury Invitational
🥉Waikato

Tournament Team
Luke Hulston - Canterbury Invitational
Sam Hodges - Canterbury Invitational
Billy Johnstone - Harbour
Leni Maiai - Harbour
Greg Vukets - Harbour
Ashton Howard - Harbour
MVP: Johann Timmer - Harbour

U-17 Boys
🥇Waikato
🥈Bay of Plenty
🥉Canterbury

Tournament Team
Alan Hodder - Canterbury
Gabriel Pidduck - Bay of Plenty
Era Taie - Bay of Plenty
Cayden Ritai - Waikato
Gui In Shin - Waikato
Jaxon Stone - Waikato
MVP: Liam Smith - Waikato

U-19 Boys
🥇Canterbury
🥈WECA
🥉Bay of Plenty

Tournament Team
James Walker - Bay of Plenty
Aiden Roberts - Bay of Plenty
Callum Stewart - Bay of Plenty
Michael Tyler - WECA
Luke McIntosh - Canterbury
Jova Waqa - Canterbury
MVP: Thomas Vesty - Canterbury

U-23 Men
🥇Wellington
🥉Manukau Auckland

Tournament Team
Israel Vila Sakalo - Manukau Auckland
Penitusi Toma - Manukau Auckland
Satuuu Titie - Manukau Auckland
Caleb Semanu Aiono - Wellington
Elliot Bagnall - Wellington
Jackson Tauraii - Wellington
MVP: Connor Tuifao - Wellington

WECA take out IPC Women's crown

Auckland's WECA were crowned champions of the senior women's event at the 2023 Inter-Provincial Championships at Pettigrew Green Arena in Napier on Monday.

The West and Central Auckland Regional Association claimed the title with a 3-2 victory over Harbour in the final while four players were also named to the Tournament Team - Anaya Cole, captain Maya Dickson, Maui Paraki and tournament Most Valuable Player Annalisa Tresoldi.

Coached by Redver Viliamu, the Auckland side entered the tournament following a six-week training programme and won all five of their matches over the three-day event.

Bay of Plenty were the bronze medallists after a 3-1 victory over Waikato in the third and fourth placed playoff.

Bay of Plenty also took out the U-17 and U-23 women's titles while Harbour claimed the U-19 event.

Open Women
🥇WECA
🥈Harbour
🥉Bay of Plenty

Tournament Team
Blanka Preslova - Bay of Plenty
Rachael Gunn - Harbour
Charli Blackman - Harbour
Anaya Cole - WECA
Maya Dickson - WECA
Maui Paraki - WECA
MVP: Annalisa Tresoldi - WECA

U-17 Girls
🥇Bay of Plenty
🥈Harbour
🥉Canterbury

Tournament Team
Mia Montgomery - Canterbury
Khonnah Vanilau - Canterbury
Ngaawai Simpkons - Harbour
Eden Tepsell - Bay of Plenty
Natalie Vaipo - Bay of Plenty
Naitarah Hunia - Bay of Plenty
MVP: Devon Golaboski - Harbour

U-19 Girls
🥇Harbour
🥈Tasman
🥉Canterbury

Tournament Team
Grace Tiplady - Bay of Plenty
Nia Surman - Canterbury
Emma Mason - Canterbury
Lily Zwart - Tasman
Kalea Norton - Harbour
Marnie Ursem - Harbour
MVP: Charlie Vail - Harbour

U-23 Women
🥇Bay of Plenty
🥈Manukau Auckland
🥉Manawatu

Tournament Team
Amy Smith - Manawatu
Elinah Sii - Manukau Auckland
Bernadette Vite - Manukau Auckland
Sasha Solomona - Bay of Plenty
Hailey Cottam - Bay of Plenty
Meile-Rose Green - Bay of Plenty
MVP: Catriona Jobe - Bay of Plenty

Harbour dominate 2022 IPC

Harbour completed a strong performance at Volleyball New Zealand’s Inter-Provincial Championship on Monday, sweeping five of the eight grades at the Queen’s Birthday weekend event at the ASB Sports Centre in Wellington.

The Women’s side claimed the senior title thanks to a 3-0 victory over Canterbury while the Men’s side completed the pair of senior victories with a 3-0 result over Wellington in their final.

Harbour Women's captain Katie Adamson reflected on a performance which came just when it needed to after some patchy moments earlier in the tournament.

"I’m super proud of the way our team played the final, we knew we needed to play our best game going into that to beat such a strong Canterbury side, those girls have played together for so long," Adamson said.

"We had a couple of shaky games leading into the final, going to five with MAVA and four with Tasman. But we peaked at the exact game we needed to, the trust and support both on and off the court from the girls allowed us to play our best team game and we just pushed 100% for the whole game as a team.

Everyone got on and played a huge part in the final and it really was such a massive team effort to get the 3-0 win."

Meanwhile, Harbour Men's Captain Greg Vukets talked with similar pride about a group being able to imprint their desired approach on games when it was needed.

“I am very proud of our performance this weekend. It was a full team effort and we managed to create a really supportive environment in the short prep time for IPC, led by our coach Sooty," Vukets said.

“I think in the final and our other tight, high pressure matches, we were able to dig deep and find an extra gear in crunch time. This was something we had talked about in advance of the tournament, and we wanted it to be a core part of our team identity - it was really rewarding to see that come to fruition.”

The Harbour dominance continued in the U-21 grade, claiming the women’s crown 3-0 over Bay of Plenty while in a thrilling U-21 Men’s final went to Volleyball Bay of Plenty in a five set win.

The U-19s girls title also belongs to Harbour after edging Canterbury 3-2 in the final while the Harbour dominance was broken by the Canterbury boys’ side – winning an all-South Island final 3-2 over Tasman.

The U-17 grade saw Harbour again flex their regional muscle, a 3-0 win over Wellington in the girls’ grade completing their haul of five titles. The boys title was claimed by Canterbury via a 3-1 victory over Waikato.

Volleyball New Zealand CEO Toni-Maree Carnie acknowledged the winners but was also thrilled at the nature of the event over the three days.

"It was fantastic to get a national event underway Carnie said. "The standard of play was impressive at all levels, the atmosphere inside the ASB Sports Centre was great and we were pleased to see so many regions represented throughout the competition."

For full tournament results please visit the IPC tournament home page here.

The 2022 Volleyball NZ IPC event is proudly supported by Wellington City Council, Grassroots Trust, Pelorus Trust and Futurewood.

NZ Volleyball IPC 2022

Senior Women:

  1. Harbour Volleyball
    2. Canterbury Volleyball
    3. Tasman Volleyball

Senior Men:

  1. Harbour Volleyball
    2. Wellington Volleyball
    3. Waikato Volleyball

U-21 Women:

  1. Harbour Volleyball
  2. Volleyball Bay of Plenty
  3. Manukau Auckland Volleyball

U-21 Men:

  1. Volleyball Bay of Plenty
  2. Harbour Volleyball
  3. Wellington Volleyball

U-19 Girls:

  1. Harbour Volleyball
  2. Canterbury Volleyball
  3. Volleyball Bay of Plenty

U-19 Boys:

  1. Canterbury Volleyball
  2. Tasman Volleyball
  3. Otago Volleyball

U-17 Girls:

  1. Harbour Volleyball
  2. Wellington Volleyball
  3. Volleyball Bay of Plenty

U-17 Boys:

  1. Canterbury Volleyball
  2. Waikato Volleyball
  3. Wellington Volleyball

IPC Tournament Teams

The standout performers at the 2022 Volleyball New Zealand Inter-Provincial Championships have been identified with the announcement of the event tournament teams in each grade.

The teams are chosen via discussion with a selected group of coaches co-ordinated via Volleyball New Zealand Game Development Manager Johann Timmer.

Senior Open Men's
Jeremy Nielsen - Waikato
Roy Ching - Wellington
Connor Gianotti - Wellington
Billy Johnstone - Harbour
Ashton Howard - Harbour
Manaia Harris - Harbour
MVP: Greg Vukets - Harbour

Senior Open Women's
Sophie Young - Tasman
Rachel Gunn - Harbour
Petra Manderson - Canterbury
Nicky Pio - Canterbury
Katie Adamson - Harbour
Hayley Flatz - Harbour
MVP: Hannah Davenhill - Harbour

U-21 Women's
Bernadette Vite - Manukau Auckland
Te Aorere Wharawhara - Waikato  
Mollie Allison - Waikato
Kalani Ruri - BOP
Charli Blackman - Harbour
Juliette Vukets - Harbour
MVP: Caitlin Studer - Harbour


U-21 Men's
Hamish Mortimer - Wellington
Nico Lietz - Harbour
James Sadlier - Harbour
Tom Vos - Harbour
Salem Tuaeu - Bay of Plenty
Scott Shipton - Bay of Plenty
MVP: Campbell Forsyth - Bay of Plenty

U-19 Girls
Lily Zwart - Tasman
Grace Tiplady - Bay of Plenty
Cathy Porter - Canterbury
Tineke Hinton - Canterbury
Holly Isherwood - Harbour
Zion Tibbotts - Harbour
MVP: Janke Pretorius - Harbour

U-19 Men's
Joe Baxter - Canterbury
Finn Howard - Canterbury
Stanley Paipuke - Otago
Hayden Robb - Tasman
Devon Taikato - Bay of Plenty
Spencer Campbell - Otago
MVP: Kyle Smith - Canterbury

U-17 Girls
Mackenzie Boyd - Wellington
Addison Schwirtlich - Wellington
Kendall McKane - Bay of Plenty
Kalea Norton - Harbour
Jaz Sanders - Harbour
Amelia Brown - Harbour
MVP: Kaia Buckley - Harbour

U-17 Boys
Anitelea Sagato - Wellington
Liam Smith - Waikato
Hikawera Puriri - Waikato
Jobe Mcauley - Tasman
Matthew Brett - Canterbury
Issac Weir - Canterbury
MVP: Thomas Vesty - Canterbury

 

Canterbury fall to Waikato

Canterbury Senior Open Men’s aim for back-to-back IPC titles was splintered on Sunday, the defending champions falling 3-2 to Waikato in the quarter-finals at ASB Sports Centre in Wellington.

Coming into the event as one of the favoured teams, Canterbury – coached by Volley Blacks coach Sebastian Gonzalez - entered the last eight with three wins from their four Pool A matches.

For their part, Waikato overcame losing both matches on Day 1, winning their final Pool B match over WECA before capping the great day’s work with a dramatic 3-2 victory in the last eight match. The deciding set was edged 18-16.

Waikato coach Sam Bray is proud of the way his side rebounded after a rough opening day on Saturday.

“After a tough day one with three players down from illness and injuries, we were not in a good position with two losses to start the tournament,” Bray said.

“Day two was a chance for opportunity with no reserves, and variety was the spice of life with a 3-1 victory over WECA to match up against Canterbury in what was a humdinger of a quarter-final.

“The crowd was alive and we got a spectacular array of performances by every player on and off the court.”

Waikato now look forward to Monday’s semi-final clash with Wellington while Harbour will play MAVA in the other last four match up.

In the senior women’s competition Canterbury Senior Women’s side remain in contention for repeat titles, earning a semi-final berth on Saturday with wins over Wellington and Tasman, seeing Angus Gourlay’s team unbeaten in pool play.

Canterbury will face Bay of Plenty in the Monday morning semi-final while Harbour will tackle Tasman in the other last four match.

Tasman coach Brendan Crichton said his side are “really pleased to come out of a very tough, evenly-contested pool and still be in the hunt.”

“We’re looking forward to our semi-final tomorrow against Harbour. It’s just awesome for the girls to be playing volleyball and quality opposition.”

For full draws, fixtures and results for Monday’s playoff day please visit the tournament home page here.

The 2022 Volleyball NZ IPC event is proudly supported by Wellington City Council, Grassroots Trust, Pelorus Trust and Futurewood.