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The school Calendar 2007-2008 can be viewed online. [Calendar]

FIRST YEAR TRIP TO NORTHERN IRELAND

SPORTS

VOLLEYBALL

ST. BRIGID’S COLLEGE DOMINATE SCHOOLGIRLS VOLLEYBALL

St Brigid’s Callan added the title of Schools Open Cup Champions to their already impressive collection of volleyball titles this year. The school has already won the Senior A League title and the Cadette A league title this season. St. Brigid’s is without a doubt the premier performer in the ladies volleyball arena.

The final took place in U.C.S on Saturday April 21st. This ws also the V.A.I association cup finals date with U.C.D. ladies beating Newbridge Wildcats to take the ladies title and T.C.D. men beating D.C.U men to claim the men's cup title. The opening match for this, the highlight of club and schools volleyball in Ireland was the Schools Cup decider between St. Brigid’s Callan and Mount St. Michael, Claremorris.
St. Brigid’s approached this final with great confidence as the team combined the best of the winning senior and cadette squads. The experience of the first six players allied to the quality of the bench, ensured that this Callan team would not be found lacking in any department.

St. Brigid’s will to win was obvious from the onset. Playing good team volleyball, they attacked with precision and never let the May girls into the set. They led from the start and won this set a comfortable 25-13. Denise Gaule excelling at the net.

Set two was also a testament to the Kilkenny girls confidence and experience as they notched up point after point with a mixture of power hitting and subtle placing. Injury to Setter Leanne Fennelly’s finger did not halt their progress as substitute Susan Walsh calmy took over the role of setter and closed out the set 25-16 with an excellent display of well placed service.

Set 3 commenced with Leanne Fennelly taking up position as setter again. The first aid administered to the injured finger had given a false sense of security and unfortunately Leann could not set without double touching the ball. Enter Shauna Parle to take over the setting position. This was a big leap from Cadette Volleyball to Senior Cup finals for the third year student, but she coped admirable despite a few teething problems mainly due to nerves. Unfortunately this settling in spell allowed Claremorris into the game and suddenly Callan were trailing 16 – 8. Consistent serving from Kate McDonald coupled with tenacious blocking from Ann Marie Phelan soon had Callan back on equal terms at 18 all. The most exciting phase of the match following with both teams testing each others defensive abilities. It was nip and tuck as first one and then the other led, but finally victory fell to Mount St. Michael as they won the 3rd set 28-26.

Set four commenced and Claremorris were in with a chance. Their confidence bolstered after winning a very close third set. They played with much more belief in themselves. The Callan girls had to fight hard for every point won, as did the Claremorris team. The set was tight with neither team getting more than a two point team over the other. Excellent variety of attack from the Kilkenny wing hitters Jill McDowell and Elaine O’Shea exposed some deficiencies in the Mayo girls cover and slowly Callan sneaked ahead. The Claremorris coach had used all her time outs and the subtle probing of area 1 allowed the Kilkenny teams attack to continue unabated. The St. Brigid’s team ran out with a comfortable 27-17 score line despite an extremely tight start to the set.

St. Brigid’s School have only won this title on one other occasion, 2002, and were ecstatic to get their hands on the trophy again. Coach Marie Louise Briody was thrilled with this victory as it was a fitting finale for the excellent six years volleyball Jill McDowell, Elaine O’Shea and Anne Marie Phelan have given to St. Brigid’s. Between them, the three players have 16 Gold volleyball medals at schools level. The various college coaches present were all eagerly encouraging then to attend their university and play volleyball at Premier level!
M.V.P on the day was Kate McDonald whose hard hitting serve coupled with first class setting posed many problems for the Mayo Team. Kate has since attended trials and will play volleyball with the Irish junior Team next year. She will join five other Callan students, already on the national squad.

Team: Ann Marie Phelan (Captain), Jill McDowell, Elaine O’Shea, Leann Fennelly, Kate McDonald, Denise Gaule, Alison Walsh, Shauna Parle, Galya Stanley, Anna Farrell. Marie Louise Briody (Coach)
St Brigid’s panel: Elaine O’Shea (Capt) Anne Marie Phelan, Kay Ryall, Stacie Power, Shauna Fennelly, Elaine Murphy, Rita Freyne, Gillian Collins, Kelly Anne Brennan, Leann Fennelly, Eileen Brennan, Tarah O’Hanlon, Chloe Corrway, Vivienne Ryan, Éimear Roantree, Kate McDonald, Alison Walsh, Denise Gaule, Edel Frisby, Louise Dunne, Lisa Carey, Anna Farrell, Mairéad Power, Áine Manning, Nicole Corrway, Michelle Farrell, Laura Walker.

St. Brigid’s panel: Kate McDonald (Capt), Alison Walsh, Denise Gaule, Louise Dunne, Edel Frisby, Lisa Carey, Anna Farrell, Mairéad Power, Laura Walker, Michelle Farrell.

CAMOGIE

SENIOR CAMOGIE

St. Brigid’s Senior Camogie team played four matches in the Senior A league this year. Their first encounter was against Borris V.S. A very determined Borris side was victorious on the day with a final score of Borris V.S. 3-4, St. Brigid’s, Callan 0-2. (Denise Gaule 0-1, Eileen Brennan 0-1)
The Callan girls were much more determined to do will in their next match with a fantastic victory over St. Fergal’s Rathdowney. (8-13 to 2-1) – Anna Farrell 2-4, Anne Marie Phelan 0-3, Shauna Fennelly 0-1, Leann Fennelly 0-1, Lisa carey 1-0, Denise Gaule 0-2, Michelle Farrell 1-0, Elaine Murphy 2-0, Mairead Power 0-1, Stacey Power 1-0, Kelly Ann Brennan 0-1, Kate McDonald 1-0.
A draw was the end result of St. Brigid’s V Loreto Kilkenny in an exciting fixture. St. Brigid’s 1-4, (Anne Marie Phelan 1-3, Denise Gaule 0-1) Loreto Kilkenny 0-7. In their final game, St. Brigid’s had a tremendous victory over Coláiste Bríd, Enniscorthy. St. Brigid’s 1-9. Edel Frisby 0-1, Ann Marie Phelan 1-5, Denise Gaule 0-1, Kay Ryall 0-1, Anna Farrell 0-1. Coláiste Bríd went on to become Leinster Champions beating Borris V.S. in the final.
Interprovincial Colleges Camogie
St. Brigid’s had two representatives on the Leinster Colleges Camogie Team which won the interprovincials in March. Congratulations to Leann Fennelly and Kate McDonald.

JUNIOR CAMOGIE

St. Brigid’s progressed to the Leinster Junior A Final this year.
The first match was against Borris Vocational School whom St. Brigid’s defeated well - 5-10 to 1-0. Castlecomer Community School was their second game and again the Callan girls were successful. 4-10 to 1-1. Michelle Farrell 0-3, Denise Gaule 0-2, Anna Farrell 1-4, Mairéad Power 1-1, Louise Dunne 0-1. Coláiste Bríd Enniscorthy was the final game in the league and the St. Brigid’s final game in the league and St. Brigid’s again had a great victory – 5-12 5- 1-3. Louise Dunne 1-3, Anna Farrell 1-5, Denise Gaule 1-4, Laura Dunne 1-0, Michelle Farrell 1-0. The Leinster final was played in January against an excellent Loreto Kilkenny side. Even though the Callan girls played with great determination and enthusiasm, a better Loreto side won the trophy – St. Brigid’s 1-2, Loreto Kilkenny 3-2. Denise Gaule 1-1, Anna Farrell 0-1.
St. Brigid’s Panel: Kate McDonald (Capt), Denise Gaule, Edel Frisby, Alison Walsh, Louise Dunne, Áine Manning, Anna Farrell, Nicole Corrway, Joanne Cody, Mairéad Power, Alison Fennelly, Rachel Dowling, Eleanor Lacey, Sarah Mockler, Laura Woodcock, Rebecca Walker, Michelle Farrell, Niamh Dowling, Laura Walker, Emma Boland, Donna Weekes, Laura Dunne, Jennifer Cunningham, Katie O’Meara.

7-A-Side

St. Brigid’s won its first All Ireland Trophy back in October when the 7-A-Side camogie team won the All Ireland B Colleges 7-A-Side competition. Having defeated Presentation Kilkenny and Castlecomer Community School in the Leinster rounds, the Callan girls lost to Loreto Kilkenny by one point in the Leinster Final.
On All-Ireland Final Day, St. Brigid’s played Shannon in the first game and defeated them 2-7 to 2-2. The next game was against Maghera (The Ulster champions) and again St. Brigid’s won this encounter 3-5 to 1-1.
The final was set between Shannon and St. Brigid’s. Loosing by 1-2 to 3-4 at half time, the Callan ladies had to pull out all the stops to snatch a fantastic victory with a final score of 4-2 to 3-4.

First Year Camogie

The future of St. Brigid’s looks promising with an excellent group of first Years all very capable and enthusiastic. These girls have been training and practicing over the past few months and will participate in a Kilkenny First Year Blitz towards the end of May.
First Year Panel: Laura Dunne, Jennifer Cunningham, Katie O’Meara, Rachel Hogan, Niamh Walsh, Stacie O’Brien, Claire Hennessy, Katie Power, Áine Butler, Michaela Nugent, Leanne O’Neill, Caroline Carey, Niamh Bambrick, Aisling Cody, Jade Prior

MINOR CAMOGIE 2006/2007

In September, we welcomed 36 girls to the Minor Camogie Team. Even though a few fell away at the starting hurdles i.e. the laps!!!, most stayed for the punishment and we hope all had a great time
Our first outing was our first Minor Chamionship match against Colaiste Bhrid, Enniscorthy. The team played so well but unfortunately it wasn’t their day.
Next up, was Loreto Kilkenny, a formidable side. Again, the team played their hearts but it wasn’t to be.
On a happier note, the Minor Panel took part in a Camogie Blitz held by WIT. Great success here, the St. Brigids First Team won their group final, so great celebrations. A great day was had by all, apart from the freezing weather at the start!!!
Thanks girls for your great participation, determination and good cheer throughout the year, we hope you have all enjoyed it as much as we have!! - Ms Raggett & Ms Murphy

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