QGSSSA Open Volleyball: Team of the Month; Rhythmic Gymnastics preview
Who were the QGSSSA’s best open volleyball players during July? Who is set to shine at the Rhythmic Gymnastics on Friday? We reveal the higher flyers here.
Local sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
QGSSSA term 3 sport is hotting up, and the www.couriermail.com.au is there to bring you all the latest from the courts, the track and the floor.
Here we preview the time honoured QGSSSA Rhythmic Gymnastics championships which will take place on Friday and present theVolleyball Players of the Month.
Friday’s Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships will be spearheaded by the respective team captains:
BRISBANE GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL: Katherine Chuang and Milly Maruoka
BRISBANE STATE HIGH SCHOOL: Grace Hampson and Taylah Hart Phillips
IPSWICH GIRLS’ GRAMMAR SCHOOL: Brooke Marshall and Gorji Turner
MORETON BAY COLLEGE: Aileen Chiang and Milana George
ST MARGARETS ANGLICAN GIRLS SCHOOL: Brooke Lane and Taylor Duncan
ST PETERS LUTHERAN COLLEGE: Jessica Logan and Matilda Bishop (C) and Karina Harrison (VC)
Last year’s QGSSSA Championships saw Brisbane Girls Grammar School perform particularly well with wins in the A Grade, B Grade, Year 7 and Year 8 (ii) Divisions.
The team will be looking to build on these successful results in 2022, and have been finessing their routines under coach Anya Tabolkina (also Aspire Gymnastics) who has been working with BGGS for a decade.
Host school Moreton Bay College is well versed in gymnastics and boasts an impressive lineage of rhythmic gymnasts, including past students and Tokyo Olympians Lidiia Lakovleva, Alannah Matthews and Himeka Onodo and Lidiia Lakoveleva (currently in Birmingham competing for Australia).
International coach Gina Peluso has been at MBC since 2006 and has trained and mentored
countless young athletes to Rhythmic success. She is a passionate supporter of grassroots
Rhythmic Gymnastics and has been responsible for QGSSSA stars at a top international level
“The unique thing about Rhythmic Gymnastics is that it is one of very few female-only sports, it is also a very inclusive sport that attracts dancers due to the movements involved.
“Rhythmic is also popular with girls from other sports such as hockey or basketball who can work the handheld apparatus skilfully due to their good hand-eye coordination” she said.
“This is evidenced by girls such as athletics superstar Charlize Goody and AFL and Rhythmic Gymnastics captain Gorji Turner from Ipswich Girls Grammar School or national level Mountain Biker and competitive high jumper, swimmer and basketballer, Ella Menigoz, from St Margaret’s.’’
Brisbane State High School will also have a myriad of high-level gymnasts and multi-sport athletes gearing up for this Friday.
Moreton Bay will have some standout Rhythmic Gymnasts performing including Rhythmic Gymnastics captain Aileen Chiang and her sister Doreen who are in their final year of school. Both athletes have completed Level 10 in 2022 Aileen in Rhythmic Gymnastics and Doreen in Womens Artistic Gymnastics.
Aileen has achieved State Team representation for Rhythmic Gymnastics in the 2021-22 seasons, medalling in the teams events both years.
The sisters are very excited to be performing as a pair in their final QGSSSA competition.
In addition to the Chiang sisters, expect to see spectacular displays from other MBC athletes such as Polina Leonova who is a junior international athlete.
Polina will take to the floor in the open grade pairs with ball as her apparatus, and also Jasmine Reichhart who is a senior international athlete and will be competing in the open grade pairs, hoop.
Joining these girls will be athletes to watch including Sophie Blackwell, Year 7, Abby Greenwood in Year 9 and Year 10 students Tillie Moyle and Jamie Cupitt.
St Margaret’s also enjoys a strong Rhythmic Gymnastics following at its Ascot campus, and the school is on the rise in terms of its success in this niche sport. Last year St Margaret’s picked up a pennant in the Year 8 Division and the school will be hoping for another pennant to display in the cabinet following this event.
The St Margaret’s program is run by accomplished International Coach Heather Lane, who is well known in Australian Rhythmic Gymnastics circles and the owner of River City Rhythmic Gymnastics in Brisbane.
Heather has been selected as an Rhythmic Gymnastics team future coach at the AIS and assistant team coach for the Rhythmic Gymnastics Queensland team.
Ms Lane has two daughters who are also involved in the St Margaret’s program. Brooke Lane is Rhythmic Gymnastics captain and will be competing this Friday, and Alexis Lane is a lead coach at St Margaret’s and a very accomplished Rhythmic Gymnast in her spare time.
Alexis has been participating in Rhythmic Gymnastics since she was six years old and has represented Australia four times.
Both Alexis and Brooke have ambitions to continue to perform and compete on the world stage with their sights set
on upcoming competitions in America and World Championships in 2024.
The QGSSSA competitors will have some incredibly experienced Judges overseeing the event, including Vanessa Polgase who is the Gym Queensland Rhythmic Gymnastics gymsport manager, and has worked closely with our schools in preparation for this event.
Joining Vanessa will be other accomplished judges including Anya Tabolkina and Nikki Robbins of Premiere Gymnastics, and former Brisbane Girls’ Grammar teacher.
Chris Ruston the CEO of Gym Queensland will also be in attendance.
Alongside our QGSSSA athletes the crowd will witness a performance from Ainsley Barker who graduated from Moreton Bay College in 2021.
Ainsley is a successful Individual National Level 10 Australian Champion and this year, in tandem with her University studies, Ainsley has progressed her rhythmic career to achieve an International ranking in “Group”.
Ainsley and her team are current Australian Champions and have been selected for world championships in September.
The World Championships is the first-round Oceanic selection for 2024 Paris Olympics. Ainsley competed for six consecutive years in QGSSSA and is looking forward to returning to support the younger athletes in the sport she loves.
To find out more about the QGSSSA Championships and watch the best schoolgirls
demonstrating their skills, visit www.qgsssa.com.au and follow social media updates.
RELATED LINKS
PICTURE GALLERY - THE TERM 3 SPORTING SEASON SO FAR
In volleyball, Moreton Bay College, Brisbane State High School and St Peters Lutheran College still remain undefeated as the competition starts to heat up.
Here we reveal the names of the open volleyball superstars who led their teams through thick and thin.
QGSSSA Volleyball Open Team of the Month
Moreton Bay College:
Jessica Simpson:
Simpson has had a fantastic first three Rounds for Moreton Bay College. She has been
resolute in her serve-receives and her attacking game has had pinpoint accuracy.
Brisbane Girls Grammar School:
Lara Hadzivukovic:
Hadzivukovic, a senior player, is one of the Volleyball captains at Brisbane Girls Grammar.
Girls Grammar can always count on her to deliver the big serves when it counts, and her experience in the game is greatly valued by her teammates.
You will often see Hadzivukovic in the air executing her powerful jump serves and spikes.
She has also recently made the QLD team for the Australian Youth Volleyball Championships (AYBC).
St Margaret’s
Sarah Clark:
Sarah Clark of St Margaret’s is a well-rounded and highly respected member of the Open’s Volleyball team.
She is tenacious and is always striving to improve herself and her teammates around her.
Playing as a pass/hitter, Clark’s ability to consistently and accurately pass and finish off touches opens-up the game and inspires confidence in her team.
Brisbane State High School
Genevieve Nissen:
Genevieve Nissen of Brisbane State High School is a strong outside hitter and a consistently reliable player who lifts the team and leads by example.
Nissen has some impressive representative statistics to her name, including selection in the Queensland School Girls Under 19 Merit Team, Volleyball Queensland Maroon Under 19 State team (national silver medal winning side) and the Queensland Beach Volleyball 18 Years Team.
Clayfield College:
Claire Guthrie-Quinn, Charlise Clark Dalglish, Heleni Pulu and Sasha Petrenko are all lighting up the court for Clayfield College so far this season.
Claire Guthrie-Quinn:
Guthrie-Ginn won Gold in the under 19 Volleyball Queensland Cup of 2021 (Club Sand Dogs) and was part of the team that played at States last year, coming fourth in their division.
Charlise Clark Dalglish:
Clark Dalglish has been selected for the QAS Indoor Development Squad and was part of the Gold medal winning team for Sand dogs in the Queensland Cup 2021.
Sasha Petrenko:
Petrenko is the Clayfield Volleyball Captain this year and has been selected for Queensland
Indoor Team three times.
She is currently playing for the Sand Dogs Club in the Under 19 Division.
St Aidan’s
Dimity Beckinsale:
Dimity Beckinsale of St Aidan’s is the Volleyball Captain and has shown a strong ability to lead the Opens Volleyball team over the first 3 Rounds.
A determined competitor, Beckinsale’s positive attitude has had an important impact across the team and the volleyball program.
St Hilda’s
Chryssa Dakin:
Grade 10 Chryssa Dakin is in her second year in the St Hilda’s Opens Volleyball team.
Dakin started playing volleyball three years ago after enjoying experiencing the game in her physical education class.
She plays setter and specialises in setting and serving.
Her favourite serve: Jump float serves.
St Peters
Maisie Peebles:
Maisie Peebles and Chloe Bairdof have been integral in the school’s success over the opening rounds.
Peebles’ consistency across all skill areas has been on full display to start the season with aggressive attack and serves, along with solid reception helping the team to clinically finish points.
Chloe Baird:
As one of the team’s setters, Baird brings energy to the team and has been able to
connect well with attackers on offence.
Live stream: Stretton power trio set for key Schoolgirls Cup clash
Stretton State College will be out to separate themselves from the bottom of the Schoolgirls Cup table on Wednesday, but a fierce St James College outfit stand in the way. Watch LIVE here.
GPS First XV rugby: Rd 2 team of the week features BSHS Trojans
GPS First XV rugby: The latest team of the week features a BSHS carbon copy of Trent Picot, a Fantastic Five from BBC, outstanding IGS forwards and Terrace’s Mr Reliables. More here.