By Tay Jun Wen/Red Sports
Kenneth Xu (St. Hilda’s #9) spike get blocked by the wall created by Ang Jun Xian (YTS #6) and Jonathan Ang (YTS #9). (Photo 1 © Joseph Lee/Red Sports)
Presbyterian High School, Monday, April 1, 2013 — St. Hilda’s Secondary qualified for the semi-final with a crucial 2–1 victory over Yishun Town Secondary in the National B Division Boys’ Volleyball Championship.
Since Punggol Secondary had topped Group X with seven points, Yishun Town and St. Hilda’s were vying for second place. Previously, St. Hilda’s defeated Shuqun Secondary 2–0 (25–19, 25–22) to gain three points and they got another point from their 1–2 (25–17, 20–25, 23–25) loss to Punggol.
Before the game, Yishun Town lost to Shuqun 0–2 (20–25, 22–25), gaining only one point from their 1–2 (25–22, 12–25, 18–25) loss to Punggol. They needed to defeat St. Hilda’s 2–0 to stand a chance of entering the semi-finals.
St. Hilda’s opened the first set strong with four consecutive points. Yishun Town made efforts to chase and close the gap, with strong spiking by Koh Zhi Wei (#7) contributing most of his Yishun Town’s points. However, Yishun Town still trailed 6–10.
Yishun Town had their break when they scored three in a row, coming close at 9–10. However, St. Hilda’s reacted with a four-point streak to pull away, 9–14. St. Hilda’s were constantly wary of their opponents and maintained their five-point lead up till 22–17. A final three-point streak saw St. Hilda’s winning the first set, 25–17.
The second set was a close one with both teams refusing to give their opponents the lead. An early 4–1 lead by St Hilda’s ended up tied at 5–5. Only letting their opponents be ahead of them by only one point, this tug-of-war continued up till 11–11. However, Yishun Town then went on a four-point streak to lead 15–11. The four point gap became five at 13–18 and turned into a six point lead at 14–20.
St. Hilda’s got their act together as they tried to regain their lead by going on a whopping five-point streak. Being ahead by one point (20–19), Yishun Town started matching St. Hilda’s for every point scored. Without being overtaken, Yishun Town edged towards 24–23 and eventually scored a final point to win the second set, 25–23.
The final set was an equally matched one. St. Hilda’s were constantly in the lead by two points but Yishun Town constantly challenged them, eventually tying the set at 12–12.
St. Hilda’s finally broke through as they went on a four-point streak to lead 16–12. Yishun Town made attempts to close the gap but St. Hilda’s were scoring more points with every point that Yishun Town scored. It became a five-point gap at 19–14 and then a six-point lead at 21–15 to St Hilda’s. Though Yishun Town managed to reduce the difference to three at 23–20, a final two points sealed the set for St. Hilda’s at 25–20.
Jonathan Ang (#9), captain of Yishun Town, said: “Although we lost and are not in the top four, we fought hard to win. We have been wanting to meet St. Hilda’s since C Division and we were finally able to play against them today.”
Jonathan added that his team has become close and they have learnt to take losses in their stride.
St. Hilda’s co-captain, Royston Ho (#7), said: “We could have better teamwork and have more communication today.”
Darius Lim (#1), St. Hilda’s other co-captain, added: “We did not play our best. They (Yishun Town) tried their best and had a good fighting spirit.”
Darius commented that it could be a tough semi-finals for them as Dunman Secondary are a strong team.
This win gave St. Hilda’s two points, giving them a total of six points to finish second in Group X. They will play their semi-final against Dunman on April 3, 12 p.m. in Presbyterian High School.
Score by Sets
Yishun Town vs St. Hilda’s
1st Set: 17–25
2nd Set: 25–23
3rd Set: 20–25
Yishun Town Roster
Leon Tan Li Yang (#1), Yeo Jun Rui (#2), Wong Wei Zhe (#4), Ang Jun Xian (#6), Koh Zhi Wei (#7), Lim Zi Yang (#8), Jonathan Ang Chin Kiat (#9), Viresh Krishnan Sukumar (#10), Lim Yang Wei Aylwin (#11), Wong Yu Jun (#12), Goh Qi Long (#13), Ranmel Tubilina Carin (#14), Darren Teou Jun Wei (#17)
St. Hilda’s Roster
Lim Chuan Zhi Darius (#1), Maguire Ong (#2), Lim Jing Qiang Dennis (#3), Adriel Tan Wen Zheng (#4), Jonathan Goh Qing Yan (#5), Neo Jia Cheng Aloysius (#6), Ho Zhe Wei Royston (#7), Tian Seet Khuen (#8), Kenneth Xu Jun Zhi (#9), Ho Lien Hong (#10), Lee Kang Yue Marc (#11), Clement Tan Kai Ern (#12), Chua Tian Wen Edwin (#13), Kazushi Fujiwara (#14)
2013 National B Division Boys’ Volleyball Championship – fixtures and results
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