PLACE: Green Valley High School, Baroda

DATE: 20/10/2016 to 22/10/2016

All the players of AVM’s Volleyball Team were full of enthusiasm and excitement to represent AVM in the Under-19 CBSE Cluster XIII – West Zone Volleyball Tournament.

The first day, 20th October 2016, began with the opening ceremony of the tournament held at Green Valley High School, the host school of the tournament. Firstly, in the opening ceremony, a parade was held by all the schools who participated in the tournament. After that, performances involving songs and dances took place which reinvigorated the spirit of sportsmanship and filled every player with enthusiasm. With no match scheduled on the first day, our school team used the available time for practice and rest.

On 21st October, we had our first match against DPS Harni. All the players were excited for their first match and were prepared energetically. The first set of the game was won very comfortably by our school but as the end of the 2nd set approached, it became a little difficult. But with some excellent captaining by our school captain Rahul Patel and strategic guidance of our coach, we won the second set too and hence won the first match of the tournament, making it to the quarter finals.

The quarter final was against DPS Ahmedabad. The match was won very easily with a score of 3-0 as all the players gave their best performance in the game. After winning the quarter final, the team made their way to semi-finals against Gajera International School, Surat.

22nd October was the last day of the tournament. Our semi-final match began and at the beginning of the first set, it seemed like an easy win for our school, but the story changed towards the end of this set itself. The opposition team won the first set. Nevertheless, all the players kept their spirits high and fought hard, winning the second set. However, the school lost out on the next two sets, and subsequently lost the match with a score of 3-1.

Thereafter, closing ceremony of the tournament was held. The main part of the entire event was declaration of the winners. The 1st place was secured by Shri Swaminarayan Mission School, Surat. The 2nd place was secured by Gajera International School, Surat and 3rd place was shared by Atmiya Vidya Mandir and Laxmi International School, Vapi.

While securing the 3rd place we also got to learn some very important lessons, making it a wonderful and a notable event for the entire team.

Reported by: Shivang Patel (Class 9), Rahul Patel (Class 11) & Ritesh Sir