Mountainview High School has become just the fourth school in more than 20 years to lift a prestigious badminton trophy.

Earlier this month, the school's senior girls' team, comprised of students Lois Agbas, Meisha Taha, Zoe Curtis and Chloe Smith, won the Aoraki Secondary Schools Girls’ A Grade Championship.

Since the competition began in 2000, it has historically been dominated by Waitaki Girls' High School, who have won it a staggering 21 times, with only two other schools claiming the top honour before Mountainview's recent win.

Games were played as a best of six, with each team member playing a singles match and then forming pairs to play two doubles matches.

In the final, Mountainview defeated Craighead 5-1 to claim the tournament win.

Chloe said the team went into the tournament with no real expectations.

"We obviously went in trying to win, but whether we'd get to that, we didn't know. For us, it was just going in and trying our best because for Zoe and me it was our last game for the school since it is our last year."

"The conditions were a bit stressful. They had the heaters on in the gym, so I remember in the final it was blasting right on to my court for my singles game.

"It was quite difficult for the girl I was playing and me. It was kind of a test of stamina by the end of the game; it was more about who could really hit it with enough effort rather than skill."

Zoe said when they got to the final, there was a bit of an added incentive to win.

"We actually lost against that exact Craighead team in year 10, we came second to them, so there were a lot of emotions of wanting to win.

"When we did win, there was lots of excitement; everyone was really proud of themselves, and we all played really well."

Chloe said badminton had been steadily growing in popularity at Mountainview.

"We've all been playing from year 9 until now, and at the beginning there were very few players, but the popularity of it has increased, which I'm really happy about.

"We're very thankful to our coach Alison [Collister]; she's been very helpful and has been with us since we first started."

connor.haley@alliedmedia.co.nz