The 17-year-old Queens High School pupil won the senior English section at the 2009 Otago and Southland Manu Korero secondary schools speech competition yesterday.
She also won the competition in 2007 and represented Otago and Southland at the national final then.
But the success has not gone to her head.
"I entered the competition because I love being Maori and representing Maoridom - not winning prizes for it," Matoia said.
And, for that reason, she was not nervous when delivering her speech on stage.
"I had a message to share and I was excited about that."
The topic of her speech was "diligence eclipses intelligence" and after a lot of soul-searching and research, Matoia said she was convinced the topic was not true.
"My main point was that diligence is the ability to apply intelligence and it doesn't eclipse it."
Matoia will be joined by Logan Park High School pupil Jessica Hohaia (impromptu senior English winner), South Otago High School pupil Jaydin Cassel (junior English), and Te Wharekura o Arowhenua (Invercargill) pupils Shandley Aupouri (junior Maori) and Darlene Pierson (senior Maori) at the national finals of the competition in Rotorua in September.
Matoia said she did not win any prizes the last time she competed in the national final, but believed the experience would be very useful for this time around.
"This time, I know what to expect. I've got a grasp for how the competition works and I'm going to work hard and make a more educated bid for a placing."
