The girls travelled to Bendigo with their coach Colin Priest to play in the highly regarded annual tournament.

Hosted by the Bendigo Volleyball Association, the competition featured entrants from 40 teams from various divisions who travelled from all over Victoria to participate. 

Also in attendance were 10 Victorian state teams who are currently playing in the Australian Championships in Queensland. 

Although they lost one game during the round robin part of the tournament, Daylesford’s girls finished on top of the ladder to face off against Heidelberg in the semi final. 

Daylesford won the game with a display of powerful serving from Eve Britten who served an incredible nine points in a row. 

Priest said the team’s newest recruits, Perri Eaton and Anne Maria D’Onghia showed great composure under the pressure of their first major tournament and would be “an asset to the team in future competitions and tournaments”. 

The girls then played against the host team, Bendigo, in the grand final.

In the first half of the match, Lauren O’Brien retrieved the ball from deep in the back line while Ruby Hunt and Sophie Elderfield continued to drive the ball and penetrate Bendigo’s defences, resulting in a score of 25-20 points by the end of the first set. 

The second set challenged Daylesford as Bendigo took an early lead.

But with strong serving from Asha Loft and power spiking from Ruby Hurst, the tide turned and Daylesford saw victory, winning the set 25 points to 22. 

All participating players play in the Daylesford Volleyball Association competition on Monday nights. Social division games take place at 6.30pm before open division games at 7.30pm.

Most of the girls will also play in the upcoming interschool sports on October 17 at Daylesford ARC.