South Zone B Div Vball: Fairfield and Chong Boon qualify for final

By VBFan

Daniel, the Chong Boon libero, dives to get the ball. (Photo 1 courtesy of the Chong Boon Multimedia Club)

CCAB, Thursday, February 9, 2012 — Fairfield Methodist School and Chong Boon Secondary qualified for the final of the South Zone Boys’ B Division Volleyball Championship. Fairfield saw off favourites Catholic High 2-0 (26-24, 25-18) while Chong Boon beat Ang Mo Kio 2-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-18).

The first semi-final saw an outstanding Fairfield Methodist team play a sensational game of volleyball. Defending champions Catholic High, having topped their group rather comfortably in the first round, were heavily favoured to win. However, it was the boys from Fairfield who came out the hungrier of the two teams.

The first set was a close affair with both teams trading point for point in the early stages. Fairfield showed much fervour in offense through the attacking strength of their #7, #16 and #17 spikers. The Fairfield #16, in particular, played a key role in the win with his intelligent placement and purposeful hard hits to help his team win the first set 26-24.

The second set proved rather one-sided, with Fairfield leading 19-8 at one point in the game. The Catholic High boys seemed strangely subdued and their game was plagued by unforced service errors. The spikers often opted for safe shots which the Fairfield defense had no problems picking up.

The set was eventually won by Fairfield 25-18 to ensure a 2-0 victory and Fairfield qualified for the final at the expense of the defending champions.

The second semi-final of the day pitted Ang Mo Kio against the surprise of the season, Chong Boon. Ang Mo Kio stamped their dominance right from the start, and were always slightly ahead throughout the first set. Chong Boon, on the other hand, seemed slightly unsettled, committing many unforced errors in defense due to communication breakdowns to yield the first set to Ang Mo Kio 25-21.

The second set saw Chong Boon spring to life. They turned up the heat convincingly, with their key spikers Cher Ping (#6), Jovinus (#2), Dane (#11) and Alvin (#8) pounding Ang Mo Kio with hard hits. Good blocking was also evident from the Chong Boon team as the Ang Mo Kio quick spikers often saw their attacks snuffed out. Chong Boon took the second set 25-20.

The third set was a see-saw affair, which saw the lead change hands several times in the early stages. However, it was Chong Boon who settled into the game much more assertively. Once again, Chong Boon’s all-round attacking strength proved to be the difference. They were in the lead at the court change-over juncture, and further pulled away to win the third set 25-18.

The South Zone B Boys’ final will be the second match between Fairfield and Chong Boon at the championship. Although Chong Boon had emerged 2-1 victors in the group stage, the current form exhibited by the Fairfield boys hints at a very exciting final to come.

The final will be played at Delta Sports Hall on February 16th, 3pm.