West Honiara new volley champs

By Taromane Martin

WEST Honiara men’s volleyball team are the champions of this year’s National Easter Volleyball Championship.

They claimed the volleyball title after defeating provincial side Western Province 3-1 (25:13, 25:27, 25:17, 25:22) in the grand final match on Sunday.

West Honiara eliminated defending champions Rebelle Ink in the semifinals while Western Province eliminated Lauru 3-2 in a thrilling five set match.

Western Province team captain Tata Kaitu blamed fatigue for the loss but is proud of his boy’s performance.

“I appreciate the effort put in by the boys this competition and we accept the result because it was any body’s game,” he said.

“We were a bit affected of the lack of time to recover and the urge to board the ship back home today.

“But apart from that it was a very good game; all of us really enjoyed it. We look forward and will continue with our training for other competitions,” Kaitu said.

West Honiara Head Coach Thomas Tebaubau and Team Captain Junior Hunter were both pleased with the win crediting their defensive game plan as the decisive factor in their successful campaign this year.

“I feel happy and I’m proud of the boys,” he said.

“Since we began training we’ve been aiming for the top prize and I’m pleased we managed to fulfil our dream to win the competition.

“After losing out in the semifinals last year, Coach Tebaubau said he is pleased his boys managed to improve and move on from last year’s disappointment.

“Last year it was Western and Rebelle Ink that met in the finals and we were determined to win the competition this year,” he said.

Hunter said the key to their victory this year was their defense which they have been working on in preparation for the competition.

“I’m really happy. The boys played really well all throughout the competition. Thank you to the boys and to our supporters for coming out and cheering us.

“Defense that is the key and the topic we’ve been working on during our training and it paid off for us this year.

Final standings:

1st place- West Honiara $6000 plus trophy

2nd place- Western 1 $4000

3rd place- Rebelle Ink $3000

4th place-Lauru 2 $2000

Discover more from Theislandsun

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading