The rising stars won the South Island secondary schools mainland championships for the first time in 26 years recently.
Heading into the tournament, Otago Boys’ were seeded eighth, but had nothing to worry about after winning their opening three games.
That included coming back from being 24-18 down in the third set against powerhouses Nelson College and eventually winning 26-24.
They had a tense battle against Riccarton on day two, tying the game in the fourth set and forcing a fifth-set decider where Otago Boys’ prevailed.
Otago Boys’ beat St Andrews 3-0 to shoot to the top of their table unbeaten.
They then came up against cross-town neighbours King’s. Otago Boys’ had lost the Dunedin derby a week earlier — but this time Otago Boys’ took the spoils.
They faced unbeaten Cashmere in the final and the game went down to the wire in the fifth set. Otago Boys’ held their nerve and won 15-11 to be crowned South Island champions.
King’s, who had recently won the Otago open senior competition, finished third.
It was the first time Otago Boys’ had won the tournament since 1999, and just the third time a Dunedin school had won it since it started in 1996.
John McGlashan won division two and Bayfield finished third at the tournament. King’s also won division four.
Attention now turns to the New Zealand secondary schools championships in Palmerston North next week. The tournament, which runs from Monday to Friday, is one of the largest secondary school tournaments in New Zealand with over 200 teams competing.
