Australian Schools tennis Championship

Maribyrnong Sports Academy has once again risen to the top of the Australian Schools tennis world by winning the boys division of the National Competition in Albury, while our girls team finished in 8th.

Starting with the girls, while their official place was 8th on the standings it is not indicative of the closeness of the competition over the week.  On the first day our girls lost by a set to the team that went on to be runner up in the tournament.  Super tie breakers had to be used to decide the winner of the girls second match on the afternoon of day 1. Unfortunately, the super tie breakers didn’t go our way.

On the third day MSA lost by one solitary game to the team that would eventually go on to finished third in the tournament.  MSA Head Tennis coach Marc Souphlis says he is so proud of the girls and their efforts. “Our girls’ team can really hold their heads high after playing some amazing tennis and pushing very capable teams right to the limit.  The work ethic they showed, and their determination will take them even further in the tournament next time around”

It was the first time the boys’ team had won the tournament since 2016.  The boys went through the week undefeated which is an amazing effort but by no means did they have it their own way for the week.  The effort put in by the team in the Semi final and Final was amazing.  The Semi Final on Tuesday afternoon was really close, and the final went down to the doubles.

Early in the tournament the players had to overcome cramping and fatigue due to heat and humidity and having played 2 rounds in the same day.  Recovery sessions were being held before the day’s play at 6am and after the days play at 7pm. 

The final game of the tournament was played against Applecross High School in Perth.  While our students are used to playing on the hard courts, this tournament was played on grass and due to the facilities available to Applecross back home it was expected they would have a large advantage.

Team captain Filip Sormaz lead the way for the Marby boys while Bridget Mihulka was the captain for the girls.  Both were inspirational for their team winning big matches and staying engaged and supporting the team when it was needed.

Coach Marc Souphlis praised the effort of everyone involved “All in all this was an amazing week.  I am so grateful to the many staff that came up and supported both teams and the parents that also made the journey to Albury.  As a school I feel we represented so well.  We have around a tenth of the budget of most tennis schools out there, and for us to compete at that level is an amazing feat.”

“Without the support of all the strength and conditioning staff, our dietitian, sports psychologists, PE teachers, coaches, parents, and athletes we would not have achieved the outcome we finished with.  The trophy we won was won over a 3 year period including all the work that the students did through the covid period.”

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We have a lot to cover this week in our Alumni and current students report as we look back over the last two weeks of sport.  Check out these results.

AFLW.

Congratulations to Libby Birch who won her 2nd AFLW premiership, this time for the Melbourne Demons in their victory over the Brisbane Lions by 4 points.  Libby racked up 8 disposals and 4 tackles in a solid defensive performance.  Libby won her first AFLW premiership with the Western Bulldogs back in 2018.

Monique Conti won her 5th AFLW club best and fairest and her 4th for Richmond, making her the first player in AFL history to win 5 consecutive club best and fairest, having won the award at the Bulldogs in 2019 as well.

Congratulations to Jess Fitzgerald on her awards won at the Western Bulldogs best and fairest.  Jess was awarded the Coaches Award and the Community Award.  Jess also placed 5th overall in the Best And Fairest, won by Bulldogs superstar Ellie Blackburn.

Tennis

A massive congratulations to our boy’s tennis team who went to Albury and won the National School’s Competition.  It’s the first time our boys’ team has won the tournament since 2016.  Congratulations to Mark Sophoulis and his team of coaches and players on their achievement.

Badminton

Gronya Somerville has won the Victorian Championships Women’s and Mixed doubles over the weekend while Jacob Schueler won the men’s competition.

A League W

Aimee Medwin came on to the field in the 11th minute for Western United’s in their 2-1 win over MelindaJ Barbieri’s Adelaide’s Untied.  MelindaJ came on for United in the 63rd minute.

Naomi Chinnama came off in the 71st minute for Melbourne City in their  3-0 win over the Brisbane Roar.

Polly Doran has scored her first goal for Crystal Palace in the 39th minute in her teams 1-0 league victory over Lewes. 

Cricket

Fergus O’Neill was part of Victoria’s Sheffield Shield win over the arch enemy NSW over the weekend.  Fergus made 16 and 25 with the bat and took 1/51 and 0/16 in the second innings.

Golf

Steph Bunque finished 15th in the Women’s Australian Open played at Victoria Golf Course.  It was a world class field which included the British Open winner and the World ranked number 5, fellow Aussie Minjee Lee.  Steph started off with a 3 under par 69 at Victoria and then fired a 78 at Kingston Heath in the second round.  She recovered extremely well in the final two rounds at Victoria scoring a 70 and 72 finishing even for the card over her 4 rounds, 12 shots from the leader.

Weightlifting

Congratulations to Teagan Newman on winning silver in the Australian Weightlifting Championship 76kg category.

US Sports

A big week over Thanksgiving in Lexington, Kentucky for MSA Alumni the Berry brothers.

Oscar played with the University of North Florida basketball team against the University of Kentucky in front of 20,000 at Rupp Arena.

While Wilson played with the University of Kentucky football team against the University of Louisville in the Kentucky Governor's Cup (26-13 win) in front of 60,000 at Kroger Field. 

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As the AFLW season starts to wind down the A-League Women’s season kicks off and we have Alumni in both.  See how they are going.

AFLW

Melbourne has defeated North Melbourne to make it through to the AFLW Grand Final.  The Demons beat the Kangaroos by 17 points.  For Melbourne Libby Birch was solid in defence with 13 Disposals and AMY had a quiet day with 7 possessions but remains a tackling machine with 7 tackles on the day

Melbourne now heads to Springfield in Ipswich for the Grand Final of the AFLW against Brisbane.

Congratulations to Monique Conti who has been named the AFLW Player of the season judged by the AFLW Media with 23 votes.  Georgie Prespakis was the next best MSA Alumni finishing with 14 votes.

In the AFLW Best and Fairest award Mon Conti finished second with 19 votes, 2 behind Brisbane’s Ally Anderson in a thrilling count on Tuesday night.  Monique and Georgie were also both named in the midfield for the AFLW All Australian team. 

Football…

Naomi Chinnama started at Centre back for the Melbourne City in their 4-1 away win against Wellington.

MelindaJ Barbieri came on in the 79th minute in Adelaide United’s 1-0 win over Sydney FC.

Congratulations to Annabel Martin who has resigned with Wellington Phoenix Women’s team and MelindaJ Barbieri for signing with Adelaide United for this seasons A-Leagues Women’s competition

Polly Doran came on the field at the 90th minute to be a part of Crystal Palace’s loss to Charlton 2-1.

Volleyball

 Lorenzo Pope’s Modena Volleyball in the Italian Supa League has had another win, this time over Prisma Volley 3-1.  Modena are now equal 4th on the standings.

Badminton

In the Australian Open for Badminton, Gronya Somerville was knocked out in the round of 32 in the Women’s and Mixed Doubles. 

Gridiron

MSA Alumni Adam Korsak has just set a record for the most punting yards in College Football History in Div 1 of the NCAA.  On top of that record Adam also has the following distinctions for this year,  NCAA record for NET punt, -10 punt return yards this season, 3 times captain for Rutgers football and a streak of 150 punts without a touchback. 

Taekwondo

Reba Stewart lost in the round of 32 in the 73+kgs division to Matea Kolovrat of Croatia in the Taekwondo World Championships in Mexico..