Aussie Women head home from Asian U16 Championships
Australia’s Under 16 women’s volleyball team has returned home with a wealth of experience following an exciting international debut at the Asian Championship in China last week.
In the first-ever staging of the Asian Women’s U16 Volleyball Championship, Australia was drawn in Pool B against two highly-fancied teams, Japan and Iran.
On day one, Australia went down to a dominant Japanese side which would eventually go on to drop just three sets in the entire tournament on their way to the title.
A second loss to Iran (who finished sixth overall) placed the team in the classification group chasing a ninth place finish.
In a tight affair, Australia went down 3:1 to Mongolia in a match which could have gone either way. The final match of the event saw Australia defeated in straight sets by Hong Kong for an 11th place finish.
Head coach Rachael Georgieff said the event had provided players with valuable international experience, and a benchmark for where the standard is at a continental level.
“The opportunity for Australia’s presence at the 1st Asian Women’s U16 Volleyball Championships provided the young team of athletes with full exposure to the Asian style of indoor volleyball,” she said. “The experience gained from this tour will have ongoing benefits to the athletes.
“The team was based at the Asian Games Village in Hangzhou, providing the team with a once in a lifetime experience on top of participating in the event.
“The progress the players made in China will be taken back to their home states where they will continue with the intensity of the training and game environment we embraced in the Championships.”
1st Asian Women’s U16 Volleyball Championship
Hangzhou CHN
1-8 July 2023
Australian Results
Preliminary Pool B: Japan d Australia 3:0 (25-6, 25-12, 25-18)
Preliminary Pool B: Iran d Australia 3:0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-16)
9th-12th Classification: Mongolia d Australia 3:1 (25-14, 25-22, 24-26, 25-19)
9th-12th Classification: Hong Kong d Australia 3:0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-20)
