VOLLEYBALL

National ‘C’ Division Semi-Finals
Catholic High School vs St Hilda’s Secondary
Xinmin Secondary vs Dunman Secondary

National ‘B’ Division Semi-Finals
Catholic High School vs St Hilda’s Secondary
Xinmin Secondary vs Bukit Panjang Government High

Tuesday, 3 April 2007 at CCAB

Update provided by Mr Ian Chew of Catholic High. Thanks, Ian!

Catholic High competed in both the ‘B’ and ‘C’ Division National volleyball semi-finals yesterday but were beaten by St Hilda’s in both matches.


Xinmin’s spiker Andy Koh in action against Dunman Sec. Xinmin won 3-0 in the best of five semi-final and will meet St Hilda’s Secondary in the final. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports

The highly anticipated match-ups between Catholic High School and St Hilda’s Secondary at the National Inter School volleyball semi-finals turned out to be a pretty one-sided affair. St Hilda’s C Division team easily won their earlier match 25-15, 25-19, 25-12 while their B Division team cruised to a 25-19, 25-9, 25-12 win over the older ‘B’ team about an hour later.

In the first match, Benjamin Choo of St Hilda’s (No 7) starred with many powerful spikes throughout the match to pile up the points for his team. Though Benny Lam (No 11) and Koh Zuo Quan (No 7) of Catholic High School did manage to reply with some good spikes of their own, St Hilda still impressed with their overall match play. St Hilda’s players were generally quicker to react to every ball and made significantly fewer errors compared to their Catholic High counterparts.

Their seniors were no different. After a close first set, St Hilda’s B Division team quickly stamped their authority on the match by taking an 18-1 lead in the second set. The key attacking players of the Catholic High team, namely Samuel Ng, Lennis Seow and Melvin Goh could find no way past the tight St Hilda’s defence. Although Catholic High managed to close the gap, St Hilda’s still won the set eventually 25-9.

The third set progressed in similar fashion with the St Hilda’s taking a quick lead before closing out the set and match 25-12. No 7 of their team was outstanding for the team, making many crucial spikes and intelligent plays.

Afterward, a disappointed Koh Zuo Quan, captain of the Catholic High ‘C’ team commented:

“We were just not good enough where it mattered, in our fundamentals and court movements. They definitely performed better than us today. However, all is not lost. We will make improvements and do our best for the third and fourth placing match.”

Their next opponents in both B and C Division finals will be Bukit Panjang Govt High and Xinmin Sec respectively while Catholic High will face Dunman High in the C Division third/fourth placing and Xinmin Sec in the B Division third/fourth placing.

Editor’s note: Names and quotes from St Hilda’s reps weren’t forthcoming. Nobody wanted to talk to me. That’s fine with me. I respect their privacy. So to ensure their continued privacy, I don’t think I should be publishing any pictures related to St Hilda’s out of courtesy too.