Bridget Mihulka - Tennis
There are so many great stories here at MSA and this one is no exception. Bridget Mihulka is a year 11 student athlete in our Tennis program and recently had the opportunity to head overseas to play some tennis. Read more to find out how she went.
When year 11 MSA Tennis athlete Bridget Mihulka looks back at her junior tennis career, the European summer of 2023 could be the time that she looks back on with interest. For it was this period a month ago that Bridget played on the ITF’s junior tour in Europe.
The trip organised by Tennis Australia is designed to give players a feeling of what it is like being on the tour and living out of a suitcase for a period of time, and for Bridget the trip was very educational. “I went to Europe 4 weeks ago and went to the Netherlands and Germany and played in 3 tournaments. My best result was reaching the semi-finals in doubles in the second week. It was really a great trip organised by Tennis Australia, and I went with 2 other girls and 3 other boys, and it was an amazing experience playing in international tournaments and learning how to travel and live out of hotels.
While Bridget didn’t make it past the 1st round in her singles competition, she says the competition was as hard as she has been involved in. “The competition was strong, and all the Aussies who played were not that highly ranked. All the girls we played were like so strong and we had to work hard to get a point.”
The experience taught Bridget a lot about playing tennis on the road. “I now understand how difficult it is to be on tour and how hard it is to stay focused on the job because it would be easy to get home sick. It was a great experience though because we got to learn to do everything by ourselves like prepare our food and washing our clothes and just learning all those things, while still trying to focus on playing good tennis and managing everything else.
While the overall experience will no doubt benefit Bridget over time, she is expecting to see immediate improvement in her game. “The trip will benefit my tennis quite a lot as it really taught me about my game and where I need to improve. I now know what I need to focus on for my next training block and that will be helpful.”
Bridget continues to enjoy being a part of the Maribyrnong Sports Academy tennis program, sighting it as a massive benefit to her improvement. “Training at MSA is really good because there is a really good balance of match play and consistent drills, and it’s great to get like a feel going into tournaments, I love it.”
We wish Bridget all the best as she starts to prepare for the Australian summer of Tennis.
The Score - 230723
Here is how our MSA Alumni have performed in their chosen sport around the world and here at home.
Here is how our MSA Alumni have performed in their chosen sport around the world and here at home.
Athletics
As Celeste Mucci continues her lead up to the World Championships, she has set the fastest time in the 100m Hurdles, at an EAP Atletica event in Italy.
Golf
Stephine Bunque has claimed 3rd place in a Ladies European tour golf event held in the UK. Steph finished 4 under par in her debut event on the LETAS tour giving her valuable Order of Merit points. The top 6 in the order of merit at the end of the season will gain automatic entry into the Ladies European tour for 2024.
WNRL
Former MSA Basketball Athlete Najvada George had debuted with the West Tigers in the 2023 Women’s National Rugby League season opening game against Parramatta. The West Tigers won the contest 36-8 with Najvada playing lock for the Tigers. Najvada has now played 10 games in the WNRL, 3 with the Dragons in 2019 and 6 with Parramatta in 2022.
AFL
Bulldogs v Essendon
In his return game to the AFL Senior team, Buku Khamis had 6 possessions in the game against the Bombers. Rhylee West had 7 disposals and kicked a goal for the Bulldogs in their 41-point victory. Peter Wright had 13 disposals and kicked 3 goals 1 for Essendon.
Carlton v West Coast Eagles
Josh Honey returned for the Blues kicking a goal in his teams 71-point win.
Brisbane v Geelong
Cam Rayner had 14 disposals and 3 clearances for the Lions in their 11-point victory.
Fremantle v Sydney
Luke Ryan had 23 disposals and 8 marks for the Dockers in their loss by 29 points to Sydney.
Port Adelaide v Collingwood
Zak Butters had 31 possessions and 6 clearances in their 2-point loss to the top of the table Pies.
GWS v Gold Coast Suns
Suns Captain Touk Miller had 19 possessions, 4 tackles and gained 431 meters while Rory Atkins continued his good form with 29 disposals and 739 meters gained in the Suns loss to the in Canberra by 40 points.
Melbourne v Adelaide
The Demons used Super Sub Joel Smith to help them get over the line against the Crows. Joel had 3 disposals but kicked the first goal of the last quarter to assist his team in taking victory by 4 points at the MCG.
St Kilda v North Melbourne
Jack Bytel had 12 disposals in the Saints 8-point victory while Paul Curtis had 7 disposals and 5 tackles for the Kangaroos.
The Score 160723
The score is where you will find all the big time results from our past and present students not just here at home, but right around the world. We have some amazing performances each and every week. So check out the score.
It’s been another good week for our MSA and College community both current and past. Here are their performances:
Athletics
Celeste Mucci has continued her good form in Europe, this time in Belgium, finishing second in a time of 12.91 only 7 hundredths of a second off her personal best in the 100m hurdles.
Baseball
Congratulations to current year 12 Maribyrnong College student Declan Speirs who has been signed by MLB team the Philadelphia Phillies to played in their affiliated minor league teams.
Badminton
Congratulations to Om Neelam who has won the U15 Australian Badminton Championship over the weekend 2 sets to 1. Not only did Om win the Singles championship, but he also won the Boys doubles and Mixed Doubles as well, making him the overall National champion. Meanwhile Tanvi Mushini is also celebrating after having won the National Women’s U15 Doubles Championship and the U15 Mixed Doubles. 12 year old Smrithi Adepu was runner up in the U15 girls Singles Competition. We also congratulate Ava Wong, Ria Bairy, Tavi Mushini and Om Neelam. All 4 were part of the winning State team at the championships.
Volleyball
Former MSA volleyball athlete Mitch Croft has finished 5th with partner D’Artangnan Potts at the U21 Asian beach volleyball championships in Thailand. The pair made the Quarter Finals but were not able to advance any further. Australia though, did win Gold in both the Men’s and Women’s competition.
AFL
Western Bulldogs v Sydney Swans
Rhylee West had 11 disposals and 5 marks in the Bulldogs 2-point loss to Sydney.
Melbourne v Brisbane
Joel Smith was the sub for Melbourne and had 5 disposals and 2 marks after coming on in the 3rd quarter. Cam Rayner had 9 possessions and 3 tackles for Brisbane in their 1-point loss.
Collingwood v Fremantle
Luke Ryan continued racking up the stats, with 23 disposals, 6 marks and 598 meters gained in the Dockers loss to Collingwood by 46 points.
Gold Coast Suns v St Kilda
Gold Coast captain Touk Miller had another impressive week in his teams 26-point victory over the Saints. Touk had 25 disposals, 8 marks and 5 tackles.
Carlton v Port Adelaide
Blues defender Jordan Boyd had a mixed game in Carlton’s 50-point win over the Power at Marvel Stadium. Boyd had 12 disposals and took 3 marks, but was also sighted by the Match Review officer for a tackle on Power player Darcy Byrne-Jones. Zak Butters had 17 disposals, 5 tackles and kicked a goal for the Power.
Geelong v Essendon
Peter Wright had 7 disposals and kicked a goal for the Bombers in their 77-point loss to the Cats.
Nth Melbourne v Hawthorn
Paul Curtis kicked 2 goals and had 7 possessions in the Kangaroos 48-point loss to Hawthorn at Marvel Stadium.