Tough Talk Leads To Tough Wins – Greg Vukets

Westlake Boys Volleyball 2016

Greg Vukets has been the captain of the Westlake Boys’ High School Premier Volleyball team for three years. He says leadership is never easy and always involves new challenges.


“I am a vocal captain and I don’t apologise for that, but to bring out the best in people you have to understand their personality. Some guys you can rip into and that’s fine, but others are more sensitive and drop their heads if you give them a spray. I am learning how to talk to people all the time.”
Westlake needed a verbal rocket heading to the National Secondary Schools Volleyball Championships in Palmerston North last week. They were only seeded 14th out of 32 teams. Vukets concedes Westlake were a touch lucky to even be there.
“The top four teams from North Harbour are eligible to compete in Division I. We only got third in Harbour which isn’t great, but I knew we could perform well at Nationals if things clicked,” Vukets insists.
Westlake would have to be at the top of their game immediately. They encountered defending champions and top seed Western Heights High School in pool play. Vukets says Westlake went into the match with a very deliberate strategy.
“Western Heights had some freak athletes, real star power, but also made a lot of mistakes because of all that flair. Our plan was to keep the ball in play as long as possible and try to force a lot of errors. We had to ride the storm when they were on a roll and take our chances when they arose,” Vukets explains.
Despite slumping to a 2-1 deficit Westlake caused an upset winning 18-25, 27-25, 13-25, 27-25, 16-14.
“It was massive to knock over a Bay of Plenty school. There is so much history and competition down there. A Bay of Plenty school usually wins Nationals so to beat Western Heights so early gave us a huge confidence boost,” Vukets says.
The win over Western Heights didn’t signal an end to tough matches. Westlake was extended to five sets against Rangitoto College and Trident High School. Rangitoto was a success (25-18, 25-19, 21-25, 23-25, 15-8) but Trident resulted in defeat (21-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-19, 15-11).
“To have so many tough matches was tiring, but a really good thing. It built our endurance and confidence.”

The quarter-final against Tauranga Boys’ College proved to be another gruelling encounter. Westlake trailed by two sets to one, but once again found the fortitude to prevail, 20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-21, 15-5.
“Tauranga was a tough match. They had some great athletes. We played four five-set matches out of five which is pretty crazy really,” Vukets laughs.
In the semi-final Westlake managed a much quicker work out eliminating Otumoetai College 25-23, 25-19, 25-22.
Manurewa High School was a dangerous final opponent, Vukets provides some insight as to why.
“Manurewa was a very big team with a lot of dynamic athletes. When they got a roll on they were close to unstoppable.”
They weren’t allowed to really start against Westlake who won 25-20, 25-21, 25-23. Vukets was obviously delighted with the result, but confesses it wasn’t a great match.
“I think both teams were tired and nervous which meant it wasn’t a great spectacle. I think we handled the occasion better than they did and that was the difference.”
Vukets plays outside hitter which he describes as “doing a bit of everything.”  He was named tournament MVP.
“I was really proud to get that award, but I would like to thank my coaches and teammates. The effort was huge from everybody.”
Volleyball runs in the blood for Vukets. Both his parents played and his sister Annalise is on a scholarship at McGill University in Canada. Greg has represented New Zealand travelling to America twice and Laos. He also plays beach volleyball and basketball for the Westlake First V who were runners up at Nationals in 2015.

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