Shuqun Secondary progress to final with victory over Jurong Secondary in B Division West Zone Volleyball

Story and Pictures by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports

Chua Chu Kang Sports Hall, Wednesday 18 February 2009 - Shuqun Secondary fought off a resistant Jurong Secondary side to reach the final of the B Division girls West Zone Volleyball Championship with the score of 2-0 (25-17, 25-20). They will face Bukit Panjang Goverment High in the final.

"I feel glad about the win! They put up a really good fight and didn't make things easy for us. I believe it was rallies in the first set that was critical in our victory," said Shuqun's captain Fernanda Tan.

The match began intensely as both teams fought for the first point in a long beginning rally, ending only when Shuqun's #8 just failed to tip the ball over the net. But they struck right back, giving Jurong's #4 no chance to control a powerful spike. Shuqun's #11 then gave the lead back to their opponents as she fail to tip the ball over again.

Shuqun was finding it hard to get settled as simple mistakes plagued their game, allowing Jurong to race to a 6-2 lead and forcing a time out early in the match.

But it seemed to do wonders, as after the coach's team talk, Shuqun pulled back level and with an ace, took the lead for the first time in the match at 8-7.

Jurong on the other hand, were finding it had to handle Shuqun's mini comeback. Together with captain Fernanda Tan's unstoppable spikes and multiple unforced errors by Jurong, Shuqun was allowed to take a 22-15 lead.

A hesitant Lim Zi Qing (#15, Jurong) failed to spike and continued to extend Shuqun's lead to 23 points. Seah Siew Hoon (#11, Jurong) made a powerful spike to save a point, but a bad serve by Lim Zi Qing gave Shuqun set point.

A Cherly Teo (#2, Jurong) cross court spike from the left saved one point, but #5 was unable to handle a Shuqun spike and that gave Shuqun the set at 25-17.

Jurong finally got their game together in the second set as they seek to turn the match around. Spikes from the right from Seah Siew Hoon and Cherly Teo bombarded Shuqun's side of the net.

However, despite clearly playing better, Shuqun was still giving Jurong a tough time and were able to take a 19-13 lead. It didn't take long for Shuqun to have match point at 24-18.

A Seah Siew Hoon (#11, Jurong) spike saved match point, and Lee Yi Xuan (#10, Jurong) followed up by saving another with a spike of her own. However, they were powerless as #8 ended the match with a spike ending the second set 25-20.

Final score: 2-0 (25-17, 25-20)