St Hilda's march into B Division volleyball boys’ final with comeback win over Catholic High

Story and pictures contributed by reader Ian Chew

St Hilda’s libero Wei Zhi urging his team not to give up. He succeeded as his team made up a 0-2 deficit for a thrilling comeback win. (Photo © Ian Chew)

CCAB, Tuesday, April 8, 2008 – Catholic High suffered a heartbreaking five-set loss to St Hilda's Secondary in a National Volleyball Championship semi-final playoff thriller. Having fought their way to the semi-final game with a perfect record in their group games, they nevertheless lost to their more focused nemesis 2-3. St Hilda's had earlier lost to Shuqun 0-2 to finish runner-up in their quarter final group.

Catholic High started the game with purpose, racing to a an overall 2-0 lead with some inspired play from their attackers Qing Shan, Melvin Goh and Chung Chi Shun. The second set particularly was a whitewash with Catholic High easily winning the set 25-19. The St Hilda's players seemed to have lost the plot at that moment.

However, no one counted on the famed fighting spirit of the St Hilda's team as they came back in such spectacular fashion. They returned with a vengeance in the third set to take a 6-3 lead.

Catholic High was also guilty of taking their foot off the pedal with a 2-0 lead. Their players made some mistakes at crucial moments to allow St Hilda's to take the third set 25-20. The score read 2-1 with St Hilda's morale lifting at that point.

With a more determined defense in the fourth set, Catholic High managed to prevent their opponents from scoring easily. But St Hilda's, led by star spiker Benjamin Choo and libero Wei Zhi, lit up their team with some inspired play to take the fourth set. Benjamin Choo, in particular, single-handedly hauled his team back into contention. He hit three successful spikes with venom to take his team to a 20-18 lead. St Hilda's subsequently closed out the set 25-21 and the score now stood at 2-2.

The fifth and final set was a tense affair. Both sides like boxers in a ring, traded points with the teams never more than one point apart.

The crucial breakthrough came however, when St Hilda's opened up a two-point 11-9 lead. The rattled Catholic High team never recovered from that setback and proceeded to lose two consecutive points while trailing 11-13 to hand St Hilda's the win. The St Hilda's supporters, who never stopped cheering for their team, erupted at the winning point.

St Hilda's will now proceed to the final against Shuqun to be played on Friday, April 11 at Toa Payoh Sports Hall. Shuqun had qualified earlier for the final with an easy 3-0 win over Yishun Town.

Catholic High will now face Yishun Town in the third and fourth placing match on Wed, April 9 at CCAB at 2 p.m.

St Hilda’s Benjamin Choo had an outstanding game, leading his team to a 3-2 semi-final victory over Catholic High. (Photo © Ian Chew)

Catholic High’s Sher Zi Ao ready for service. (Photo © Ian Chew)

Catholic High’s Melvin Goh had a good game, but is pictured here dejected after a spiking error. (Photo © Ian Chew)

Catholic High’s Chung Chi Shun ready for service. (Photo © Ian Chew)