By Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports
Johner Tham (#5) of NTU spikes the ball against NUS. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)
Singapore Institute of Management, Wednesday, September 30, 2015 — In their earlier round robin game, three-time champions National University of Singapore (NUS) beat Nanyang Technological University (NTU) 3-1.
Today, however, the storyline was vastly different.
A spirited NTU overcame their traditional rivals in three tightly contested sets to clinch their first Singapore University Games (SUniG) men’s volleyball championship title in four years.
“Today, we were more determined and we really wanted to win this,” said NTU captain Caleb Kan (#1).
“We were really motivated because we haven’t won the title for quite some time and that was what gave us the upper hand in this game.”
Both teams went back-and-forth throughout the game, but NTU had the upper hand on the defensive end.
Heng Yong Jie (#9) came up huge at the net, denying and roofing most NUS spikes.
Offensively, Johner Tham (#5) and Melvin Goh (#17) stood out, forcing SIM to concede several points from their spikes.
In the third set, Yew Zi Wei (#13) managed to spark an NUS comeback from a five-point deficit after a brief respite.
Despite his efforts, crucial last-gasp mistakes by the NUS team ended their SUniG title reign and served NTU the third-set victory.
“This is the perfect game to sum up our SUniG experience,” said Keith Choi (#13).
“Our journey here today wasn’t very smooth-sailing and we didn’t win all our games. But I’m glad to say that we managed to grow together as a team and build stronger bonds between us.”
Score by set
NUS vs NTU
1st set: 21-25
2nd set: 18-25
3rd set: 22-25
NUS Roster
Lim Wei Yang Alvin (#1), Liew Jia Onn (#2), Lu Zuokun (#3), Ng Jun Hao Samuel (#7), Zhao Defa (#8), Liao Jun Xiong (#9), Cheong Jiawen (#10), Phua Zheng Yong Brandon (#11), Ng Tianfong (#12), Yew Zi Wei (#13), Koh Zuo Quan (#17), Lim Wei Song Galvin (#18)
NTU Roster
Caleb Kan Jit Chun (#1), Cheng Yu Chao (#2), Johner Tham Kei Nam (#5), Lee Hong Zhou Trevis (#6), Yap Kian Jun (#7), Aden Ang Mingcheng (#8), Heng Yong Jie (#9), Ong Hong Yuan (#10), Tan Jun Ze (#11), Choi Kar Kit Keith (#13), Goh Teng Kuan, Melvin (#17), Zhou Zhiyao Benjamin (#19)
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