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Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS Volleyball Club were crowned champions at the recently held Zimbabwe Open tournament that was hosted by Hillside Teachers’ College.
The Bulawayo-based side scooped gold after winning all their games played, from the group stages to the final to cap off a brilliant tournament. Playing six matches and winning all, four of them were a similar score of 2-0 with their biggest win being 3-0 in the semis and the final. The four matches which they won 2-0 were against Mambas, Rhinos, Vipers and Support Unit.
In the semi-finals, the victims of the high flying Highlanders were Midlands State University (MSU) before going on to thump NABA in the final. Highlanders Volleyball marketing manager, Proud Dube said the victory was a step in the right direction and they will not look back as it is also evidence of the hard work they have been putting in.
“It all comes with extra training by training hard. They (Highlanders) went to Zone Six last year and they learnt a lot, they came back home and trained hard. Team work also gave us results and now there is no turning back, in terms of training we have to train extra hard because we have set a pace.
“We have to open a gap from our pace. To respect every team as they are now respecting us. We have to forget the past and focus on the present and forward and that every game is new. We have to see that every player psychologically fit. Their fitness level is around 50 percent, they are half-way down the line. They also need more bonding as a team,” said Dube.
He added that they have a young squad which gives them more time and room to get better.
More tournaments are scheduled to take place and Dube believes as coaches as well, they have to put in the extra work to make sure that the teams performs well. Some of the tournaments that they are set to take part in include the National league and Zone Six games.
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