Diocesan Tennis

On Thursday 28March, Patrick Muller, Sean Donald, Jiah King and Christian Muller participated in the Wollongong Diocesan Tennis Teams Event at Beaton Park. In perfect playing conditions our boys were eager to get off to a good start against Corpus Christi. Patrick played a nearly flawless game winning 6-1 to get the team off to a flying start. Sean got an early break to lead 2-0, but his opponent broke back and held his next three service games to force Sean to serve for the match at 5-4. Some great serving and powerful shots from the baseline saw Sean take the match 6-4. Jiah and Christian both had easy wins both defeating their opponents 6-0 giving St John’s the overall win 4 matches to 0.

Next opponent was St Benedict’s. Our boys were too good for them winning all matches 6-0 setting up a match with Mt Carmel for a spot in the final. With the top doubles pairing of Patrick and Sean accounting for their opponents it was left to Jiah and Christian to consolidate a 2-0 advantage heading into the singles matches. In a tough and difficult encounter, the boys triumphed 6-3 meaning we had to only win 2 of the next 4 matches to proceed to the final. Our number 1 and 2 seated players (Patrick and Sean), got on top of their opponents early and never looked back ensuring that we got through to the final.

In a highly anticipated final the boys were looking to give their best in a daring attempt to produce an upset against the formidable Holy Spirit. A spirited conclusion was capped off with magnificent display of athletic prowess from both teams.  The doubles matches were quite an entertaining affair with both St John’s teams victorious giving us a 2-0 lead heading into the singles matches against our more favoured opponents. The singles 1 match was very entertaining with both players holding serve and playing some outstanding tennis it wasn’t until a superbly placed lob shot followed by a crafty cross court forehand allowed Patrick to break his opponents serve and hold on for a 6-4 win. In the singles 2, Sean came up against a big serving left hander who proved to be a quite difficult match up. After dropping his first service game, Sean immediately broke back to level at 1-1. Despite playing some great tennis and at times seeming in control of the match, Sean lost 6-4 meaning our singles 3 and 4 needed to win to secure victory.

After devouring what Jiah said was “the biggest and best chicken schnitzel burger ever” he hit the court running and quickly hit the lead in his match. His ability to mix up his game and shot selection proved to be too much for his opponent with Jiah taking out the match 6-1. Meanwhile on court 3, Christian was battling magnificently in his match. Despite hurting his hand and needing treatment, Christian continued to hit winner after winner and took the match out 6-1 giving St John’s the boys main draw championship.

Well done boys on a great result on what was a very entertaining day of tennis. A special thanks to the parents who attended and supported the team.  

Open Boys and Girls Futsal

On Friday 15 March, the Boys and Girls Open Futsal teams went to the Illawarra Sports Stadium. The Girls team were drawn in pool 2, playing Illawarra Christian school, Erindale High, Dapto High and Lake Ginninderra (Canberra). The girls started the day on a good note in the first game of the day against Lake Ginninderra B team winning 5-2. In round two the girls put in another solid performance winning 5-0 against Illawarra Christian School.

The boys then stepped in to start their day playing the reigning champions and came up against a very good WHSPA team, within a few minutes were 2-0 down. They boys then rallied themselves admirably to finish 3-0. Smiths Hill High were the next obstacle and in a tight game we prevailed to take the 3 points. The boys now needed only a point from their final pool game to make the finals, but a determined performance from Keira High saw the boys miss out on a quarter final place by a goal difference of one.

The girls competition resumed with a 0-0 draw with Erindale, the the final pool game against Dapto High finishing 5-0 to take them unbeaten into the Quarter finals. That is where they versed a very sharp Lake Ginninderra A team, unfortunately losing 3-0. Both opens teams played some excellent futsal and were great ambassadors for the school representative sport program. A number of students from Years 9 and 10 impressing to make the team.

Girls Team: Skyla Kowe, Jasmine Tan, Taniesha Angelkovski, Jessie Abbott, Zali Everingham, Casey Johnson, Tara Bailey and Zoe Anderson.

Boys Team: Liam Coulson-Knight, Rocky Lavalle, Campbell Richardson-Thornton, Riley Jarrett, Lachlan Bryce, Alexander Priest, Aidan Moroney, Lawson Moore, Sebastian Young and Lucas Johnson.