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Christchurch team out with tummy bug

Friday 1 April 2011, 9:07AM

By Sport Manawatu

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PALMERSTON NORTH

As the 2011 National Secondary School Volleyball Championships enters into the fourth day of competition at Arena Manawatu, Christchurch based team, Burnside High School, has withdrawn due to a team tummy bug.

Burnside were placed 13th in the top pool play-offs and were due to face Nelson College for Girls Thursday afternoon but one Burnside team member, who arrived with the illness from Christchurch, inadvertently infected the whole squad.

The Nelson College team is now straight through to their grades semi-finals and coach Pru Bell although sympathetic with the situation, is excited with this opportunity.

“The Burnside coach Sam Ryburn is a lovely man and he’d done a lot of work with his girls this year”, says Mrs Bell. “It’s unfortunate that they’ve had to pull out, but for our girls this is a fantastic opening to further our tournament.”

Volleyball New Zealand Tournament Director, Pamela Brodie, is empathetic with the Burnside High School team too.

“This is such an unfortunate position the Burnside girls are in,” Mrs Brodie says. “They have had such a fantastic tournament so far and were really standing strong for the people of Christchurch. Then one tummy bug wipes them all out, I just feel so sorry for them.”

Locally, the Palmerston North Boys High School are currently ranked 9th in the second division while girls teams from Freyberg and Fielding High Schools are ranked 14th and 15th in the girls fourth division.

Top of the tables sit Tauranga Boys High School and last year’s reigning champions Tauranga Girls High School.

The final games are set to take place tomorrow, April 1 from 1pm at Arena Manawatu.

For more details on the 2011 Secondary School Volleyball National Championships please visit volleyballnz.org.nz.

Full results are at: http://pnvolleyball.co.nz/VNZ%20SS%202011/VNZ%20SSChamps%202011.htm