The two top dogs in Volta Region’s list of Senior High Schools have both qualified to the preliminary stages of the 2020 National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ).

Mawuli School and Bishop Herman College both produced outstanding performances to drown their opponents in Ash Wednesday’s qualifiers at the GNAT Hall in Ho, the Volta Regional capital.

There were four contests for the day, the first one featuring favourites, Sonrise SHS, Hohoe EP SHS (HEPSS) who were expected to give a challenging contest, Some SHS and Dabala SHS.

HEPSS looked like they would upset Sonrise but after their Round One triumph, the favourites restored the contest to factory settings and carried the day without qualms.

Then came the widely acclaimed best girls’ school in the region, Ola Girls SHS who were being challenged by Tongor Senior High, Technical School and Dorfor SHS.

Without giving it an iota of doubt, the ever recognisable blue and white checked clad young ladies blew out their opponents, finishing the tie with a 39 point gap between them and the closest contender.

Then came the Mawuli School, which flew Volta’s banner high in previous competitions but suffered a one-eighth stage knockout in 2019, casting them to the regional qualifiers.

There was no doubt about it and they delivered the blow as expected, ruthlessly. After four rounds of mauling, the scores stood at: Mawuli School 54pts, Adaklu SHS 10pts and Anfoega SHS: 1pt.

Bishop Herman College then took the stage to defend their 68-year-old reputation as Volta Region’s best.

The Kpando-based boys’ school took nothing to chance, descending heavily on the contest. Their display inundated Dzolo SHS and Agotime SHS who both had a hard time picking up points.

While Biheco cruised to a 67 point tally, Dzolo garnered five whereas Agotime SHS finished the contest with no points for consolation.

Biheco would hope to make it past the first single-elimination stage at the nationals which has been their last stop for three years running.

To do achieve that, consistency with today’s performance plus a perfect strategy to score high marks in the ‘Problem of the Day’ section of the national contests would be required.

Anything short of that may just see history repeat itself for the Bihecans for a fourth consecutive year.