Story by Zachary Foo/Red Sports. Photos by Louisa Goh/Red Sports
Jevvon Tan (FMS #10) spikes against Catholic High. (Photo 1 © Louisa Goh/Red Sports)
Delta Sports Hall, Monday, July 21, 2014 — Fairfield Methodist School (Secondary) (FMS) retained their status as zonal champions with a 2–0 win over Catholic High School (CHS) in the final of the South Zone C Division Boys Volleyball Championship.
Catholic High took the first point of the game, when Clive Ling (CHS #13) launched a nice spike that Fairfield Methodist were unable to return. But from that point on, Catholic High’s return game suffered a little. This opened up the opportunity for Fairfield Methodist to take the lead. Behind the play of Luc Belanger (FMS #7) and Wang Kaiyan (FMS #17), Fairfield Methodist went on a 9–0 run to take a 16–11 lead.
Desperation seeped into the Catholic High team, as they saw a comfortable four-point lead evaporate in front of them. Nevertheless, they showed great perseverance to score two points. Towards the end of the first set, Fairfield Methodist made it a point to set up their best spiker, Luc Belanger (#7). This strategy proved to be successful, as Fairfield Methodist took the set 25–21.
Catholic High seized the initiative in the second set, again behind the good spikes of Clive Ling (CHS #13). As the set progressed, Catholic High’s started to hit errant spikes again. This cost them dearly, as it gave a lot of free points to Fairfield Methodist.
The most exciting rally of the match happened when Catholic High returned three straight spikes from Luc Belanger (FMS #7), before Jevvon Tan (FMS #10) finally succeeded on the fourth try. That point brought the game even at 12-all.
The match was a tight one from that point onwards, with both teams separated by no more than one point. Luc Belanger (FMS #7) made an amazing play, running out of bounds to hit a seemingly hopeless ball back into the Catholic High area. All Catholic High could do was to hit it back into their own net. This fired up the Fairfield Methodist bench, which they channeled into their play. They eventually eked out the second set 25–21, defending their title.
Fairfield captain, Luc Belanger (#7), said, “It was all thanks to our coach, who put in a lot of effort to train us. We are really thankful for him. We did our best today and put in 110%. We feel that we’re in a very good position now and we hope to continue to do our best at nationals too.”
Scoring by Set
Fairfield Methodist School vs Catholic High School
First set: 25–19 (1–0)
Second set: 25–21 (2–0)
Fairfield Methodist School Roster
Zhou Xiang Ming (#1), Kenneth Kuah Zhi Yong (#2), Oakar Aung (#3), Javier Hwa (#4), Wu Yuheng (#6), Luc Yi Ming Belanger (#7), Matthias Tan (#9), Jevvon Tan (#10), Koh Yew Siong (#11), Caleb Seah (#13), Ryan Wong (#15), Johnsen Villocino (#16), Kaiyan Wang (#17), Ken Tan (#18)
Catholic High Roster
Wang Liang Bing (#1), Joel Oh Kai Shun Hiroyuki (#2), Deng Jiayao (#3), Leong Yew Kit (#4), Wee Song Ming Nigel (#5), Sean Tay Swee Sheng (#6), Dai Xinlong (#7), Lee Ying Long Xavier (#8), Lee Zi Bin (#9), Hoi Cheng Yen Daryl (#10), Clement Wong Jing Liang (#11), Ho Juay Xuan (#12), Ling Chieh Shyan Clive (#13), Manfred Fong Yong Jie (#14)
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