Xinmin Sec are volleyball champions!

VOLLEYBALL

Xinmin Secondary dominated Sembawang Secondary 25-18, 25-11 to win the North Zone ‘B’ Division Finals, making it a clean sweep of both the boys’ ‘B’ and ‘C’ Division zone titles.

Sembawang Sec’s no.11 comes up against the blocking pair of Xinmin Sec’s Shang Wei (no.9) and Samuel Chew (no.5)

This was a David and Goliath clash between the volleyball giants of the North Zone, Xinmin Sec, and Sembawang Sec, an up and coming challenger from deep within the HDB heartlands of Sembawang.  Would the Hougang giant show his pedigree and take care of little David from Sembawang?

From the start, Xinmin Sec wasted no time to show who was the boss on the court, racing to a 4-0 lead in mere minutes.  The Sembawang players did not know what hit them so quickly, so fast.  Their bench called a timeout which helped Sembawang garner their first point through a good spike, making the score 4-1.  They then served but Xinmin Sec killed their brief comeback with a spike to make it 5-1.  Xinmin then served out, gifting Sembawang a point, making it 5-2 but Sembawang returned the favour with a miss.  6-2.   Xinmin Sec then spiked out.  6-3.

Xinmin Sec’s Samuel Chew unleashes another of his spikes against Sembawang Secondary

In the next rally, Xinmin Sec’s no.5, Samuel Chew, unleashed a big spike to bring their lead to 7-3.  Xinmin’s sharpness and accuracy increased the score to 9-3 forcing a second timeout call by the Sembawang bench.  The purpose was clear.  Xinmin spikers were finding big gaps in Sembawang’s net defence.  Coming out of the timeout, Sembawang came back and blocked off the next attacks to bring them two points closer to 9-5.  Xinmin then tapped down a hanging ball.  10-5.  Xinmin was matching Sembawang and keeping them at a distance.  Then a tremendous spike by Sembawang’s captain Lee Wei Lun (no.5) earned them a point.  10-6. Then another Sembawang spike made it 10-7.  Answering, a disguised drop by Xinmin brought the score to 11-7.  A nice block by Xinmin made it 12-7 while an error by them at the net gave Sembawang another point.  12-8.  Xinmin then followed up with two good spikes.  14-8.  In response, a tremendous spike by Sembawang’s captain Lee made it 14-9.

Sembawang’s captain Lee Wei Lun spikes against Xinmin Sec

At this stage, Xinmin were playing the better volleyball, serving better and more accurately.  They had a sharp attack and a reliable defence which timed their jump blocks to perfection.  Although the Sembwang attacks were powerful, Xinmin scored points through their superb blocks.  The next  couple of rallies saw a more determined Sembwang fighting real hard for every point but Xinmin responded in similar fashion, bringing the score to 20-15.  Xinmin then upped the tempo and took the remaining points to close the set at 25-18.

If the crowd of Sembawang supporters were anticipating a revitalised team to emerge at the start of the second set to rattle Xinmin, it did not happen.  Instead, what they witnessed was Xinmin growing in greater confidence with each point won through a succession of deadly serves, spikes and blocks which confounded them.  In double quick time, Xinmin had raced to a 6-0 lead before Sembawang won their first point.  A couple of lethal spikes by Xinmin’s Samuel and Aaron and a good block increased the lead to 9-1.  A counter block by Sembawang gave them a precious point.  9-2.  In an impressive, focussed, concentrated spell of non-stop attack, Xinmin blew ahead to 16-3 with points coming largely from their deadly spikers.  Two errors and a rare spike earned Sembawang three consecutive points to make the score 16-6.  Xinmin then raced to 20-9 lead with more lethal spikes while Sembawang only got their points through Xinmin errors and a good block. 

Then with a thunderous spike Xinmin vice-captain Samuel Chew brought the score to 22-10.  Xinmin’s Billy (no.12) and Shang Wei (no.9) then combined well to block for 23-10.  Another Xinmin spike and the score was now 24-10.  Xinmin served for the point and match and Sembawang returned the ball.   Xinmin set up and spiked into the blockers’ arms and the ball went out of play to give Xinmin a 25-11 second set win and the North Zone title.

Xinmin Sec’s captain, Jaryl Too, attempts a spike against Sembawang’s captain, Lee Wei Lun (no.5)

With this win, the ‘B’ boys retained the number one position for Xinmin Secondary in the North Zone and maintained their school’s proud tradition of winning every North Zone ‘B’ Division title since 1996, a 12-year winning streak. 

They will fancy their chances when they meet up to battle other schools at the National Schools Volleyball Championships.  I am sure they will find it an even greater challenge but they look up to the challenge.

For the record, Ang Mo Kio Secondary and Yishun Town Secondary finished third and fourth respectively.

 Editor’s note:  In the course of the report, we may have used jersey numbers to identify players because we do not know their names.  We may also not have given their full names.  If you can provide the person’s full name, we will gladly put it into the report.  Also, if you provide me your team list, I’ll include it in the report.

More action shots in the Picture Gallery.