Colaiste Muire Ennis secured their first Cadette A volleyball title when they defeated St. Raphael’s College, Loughrea in the All Ireland Final held in UCD on Thursday, January 19th.The girls started the opening set well with strong serving from Shauna Kearney but as Raphael’s settled, unforced errors from Colaiste allowed Raphael’s to win the first set 25-23. A nervous start to the second set saw Colaiste trailing 14-18 with Raphael’s dictating the play. Effective use of time-outs and strong serving from Caitriona Ni Riordàin and Edel Williams brought the girls back into contention and Colaiste won the 2nd set 25-21. With a huge psychological advantage entering the third set Colaiste finally took control of the game. Excellent serving once more from Shauna Kearney put the Girls 7-0 ahead at the opening of the 3rd set. The girls powered ahead; superb setting from Caitriona Ni Riordàin and Eimear Ni Choileain, strong blocking from Christina Njekwe and clinical hitting and serving from MVP Niamh Ni Choileain meant the cup was heading to the Banner County as the girls won the final set 25-12 to take the All Ireland Title.
