Glory for Busselton at ATA State tournament

Volleyball players from Bunbury and Busselton to Kalgoorlie and Karratha competed at Bendat Basketball Centre in Perth last weekend in Volleyball WA’s ATA State Country Championships. The two-day tournament saw the teams compete in a series of group stage matches before attention turned to the finals on Sunday. Bunbury Volleyball Association had a team represented in each of the divisions during the annual competition while Busselton had two male teams and one female team. Both South West teams achieved success in the Male A division. Bunbury and Busselton won their way through to play each other in the blockbuster grand final. Bunbury achieved a perfect undefeated run during the group stage, defeating Karratha, Kalgoorlie, Albany and two Volleyball WA teams to reach the semifinals. In the semifinal, they again beat Kalgoorlie. Busselton also had a solid run through to the finals, achieving wins against Esperance, Karratha and Volleyball WA to make the grand final against Bunbury. Before the game, Bunbury were the odds-on favourites. However, Busselton held strong to beat their more fancied opponents in straight sets (25-20, 25-15, 25-23) and win the grand final. The successful runs continued in the Male B division with both Bunbury and Busselton making the finals after solid group stage performances. Busselton won their way through with victories over Kalgoorlie, Volleyball WA and Mandurah before fighting their way through to a grand final match with Mandurah. However, Busselton ultimately fell short, losing in straight sets. On the other hand, Bunbury had a solid run with wins over Albany and Kalgoorlie to make the finals but narrowly lost to Busselton in the semifinals. In the female competitions, Bunbury managed a spot in the Female A finals despite only having a win over Esperance under their belt. The team ultimately qualified for a fifth place play-off against Mandurah. Meanwhile in the Female B division, tough competition saw both Bunbury and Busselton pass through the group stages with a win each. Despite Bunbury managing a win over Busselton in the first round of finals, Bunbury ultimately fell short to Kalgoorlie in the semifinals while Busselton went on to defeat Karratha for fifth place.