Ngee Ann in close win over Kolam Ayer CSC

VOLLEYBALL

National Junior U-16 Girls Volleyball Championships 2007
Semi-finals
Ngee Ann Secondary vs Kolam Ayer CSC
Saturday, 17th November 2007 at Hougang Sports Hall

Pictures and story by Red Sports volunteer Lai Jun Wei.
Play-by-play updates by Red Sports reader Tiong Ting Shan.

Ed’s note: As part of the Red Sports efforts to tell the stories in different ways, the following post will be done in dual-language. If anyone can provide translations into other languages, please feel free to email it to us. 🙂

Ngee Ann vs Kolam Ayer CSC

Isabel (#7) sets the ball out to the spikers. © Lai Jun Wei

Ngee Ann Secondary (NAS) met Kolam Ayer (KA) CSC (a team made up of Cedar Girls’ players) in the semi-finals of the recently concluded U-16 Volleyball Championships. Both teams exhibited strong potential to move on to the finals as they showed off their skills during warm up.

Both teams were neck and neck in the early stages of the game. With strong spikes from both teams, the score was close as the teams fought for every point. However, KA flexed their muscles in the later part with many service ace from KA’s #7. Extending the lead to 16-9, NAS’s hopes looked dim. A time-out by NAS coach hoped to break KA’s serve. This marked the start of the great NAS catch up. With the steady serves of Phebe (NAS, #13) and Shirley (NAS, #17), NAS managed to reduce the gap to three points (20-23). However, Phebe hit the ball out to give KA a set-point. The last point was won when a NAS player failed to receive a serve properly, and saw it deflect out-of-bounds.

The second set saw NAS’s fighting spirit grow as they proved hard for KA to overcome and they managed to pull ahead to 6-3. Zuoyi (#8, NAS) spiked a well set ball into the an unguarded space to bring the score to 7-3. A spike into the net by KA’s #4 allowed NAS to further increase their lead. KA’s #4 was substituted b #3, but the latter missed two consecutive shots subsequently to give NAS a 10-3 lead. At the 11-3 mark, KA’s coach called for a time-out to break the rhythm of NAS. The commencement of the game saw the KA setter commit a fault (double). A ‘net-touch’ by the KA #11 gave NAS another point to increase their lead to 14-3.

KA started closing the gap when Phebe faulted after the 14-point mark. The NAS libero, Sarah (#16, NAS) missed a spike by KA #2 which allowed KA to climb up the score ladder. Shirley brought NAS closer to winning the set when she spiked a ball into an empty area of the KA court. However, her next shot found its way into the net to gift KA a point, allowing them to reduce the gap to six points (17-9).

The score moved to 17-11 after a long rally when Roxanne (#18, NAS) failed to receive a hard hit spike by KA. After a time-out was called at 18-13, an ace by KA’s #8 brought the score to 18-14. Carolyn (#1, NAS), the ‘outside-hitter’ ended KA’s serve when she spiked the ball into the corner of the KA court to bring the score to 19-14. However, she spiked an ‘out-ball’ on the next shot. Phebe of NAS helped earn the next point with a drop shot after a long rally to make the score 20-15. At the 23-19 mark, KA’s #8 delivered a heavy spike to make it 24-20. It became 24-21 when Zuoyi failed to receive another spike from KA’s #8. Shirley helped take the second set with her spike which KA failed to return.

The match then entered into a rubber set. KA got to serve and they wasted little time in getting the first point. The second ball however saw NAS setter Isabel (NAS, #7) do a drop shot into the middle of the KA court to level the score at 1-1. Rally after rally saw both teams progress to 7-7. In a net encounter, KA’s #8 collapsed and sprained her ankle when her attempt to block a NAS spike saw her land awkwardly. An injury time-out was called as her teammates attended to her. Upon commencement of the game, Shirley of NAS spiked a good ball to increase the lead to 9-7.

An accidental clash between NAS players Phebe, Carolyn and Zuoyi while receiving a KA attack saw them sprawled out on the floor. Then Phebe committed a fault when she made contact with the ball above the KA court while attacking. A net touch by KA saw NAS extend the lead to 12-11. A time-out by KA’s coach at the 13-11 mark saw him giving his players crucial advice to take the set. However, NAS were not easily put down as Phebe successfully blocked a spike from the KA centre spiker #11. NAS looked set to win but a failed block by Phebe allowed KA to rescue a game point and climb to 14-12. NAS won their last point when a KA spike went into the net.

Final score: 2-1 (20-15, 25-21, 15-12)

The girls erupted into cheers at qualifying for the final. Unfortunately they subsequently lost the final to Presbyterian High who proved too strong.

However the NAS girls proved able to withstand challenges as they successfully managed to come back in this semi-final game after losing the first set. Carolyn got hit on the head twice during the game. Shirley was heard asking Carolyn outside the sports hall:”Carolyn, are you ok?!” Well, we hope that you’re ok too, Carolyn. 🙂

Ngee Ann vs Kolam Ayer CSC