AFTER winning the North Coast volleyball titles the Orara High School headed to Sydney to compete against the best 20 teams in the state.

Primarily made up of year 10 students, the Orara team excelled against teams as much as two years older to finish in ninth position.

Volleyball has been the glue uniting the players from various cultural backgrounds and countries such as Myanmar, Thailand and Iraq with students who grew up in Coffs Harbour.

The boys proudly represented Orara High School winning high praise from their coach and physical education teacher Alex Dujin.

“The whole team always represents Orara High School with exceptional admiration and pride and we are thankful for the school, Coffs Harbour Volleyball Association and the rest of the Coffs Harbour Community’s support,” he said.

During the group stages Orara won two matches and lost two matches which ironically resulted in a play-off against Wollumbin High School, the team they defeated to clinch the North Coast Final a couple of months ago.

“Wollumbin High School were keen to avenge their loss in the North Coast grand final a couple of months ago,” said Alex.

“As it happened, Orara rested some of their key players in the first set of the match and Wollumbin comprehensively won the first set 21 to 7.

“The second set was a hotly-contested encounter where Wollumbin led 18 to 13, needing only three points to win the match.

“However, Orara rallied and with a ‘never say die’ attitude, magically went on to win 21 to 19 in the second set.

“In the deciding third set Orara, with exceptional poise and maturity, continued their great momentum by winning their fourth match of the tournament and securing an exceptional ninth-place finish while denying a highly-competitive and persistent Wollumbin team.”

The future looks bright for the high school students who will get two or three more cracks at the state titles.

“This is an extraordinary achievement for Orara, because most students are still only in year 10, the vice-captain of the team is in year nine.

“This was their first visit to the championships and came away with invaluable experience which they will be able to draw on in their future quest for success in this competition,” said Alex.

By David WIGLEY