Story by Lai Jun Wei and Claira Ng. Photos by Lai Jun Wei.

Hougang Sports Hall, Sunday, November 9, 2008 – Fairfield Methodist beat St. Hilda’s Secondary (SHS) 2-0 (25-23, 25-22) in a Round 2, Group Y match at the 2008 National U-16 Girls Junior Volleyball Championship.

Fairfield showed their dominance early in the first set, scoring the first point with some good play. They also took the second point when the SHS #2 failed to stop a spike from Fairfield. Eleanor Toh (Fairfield, #7) continued the scoring streak with an ace to bring the score to 3-0.

However, SHS put Fairfield’s scoring streak on hold with a drop shot from their #16. Unfortunately, they lost the next point to Fairfield. Fairfield grabbed hold of the advantage, storming to a 7-2 lead when the SHS libero missed a spike from Fairfield.

While SHS managed to put up some form of resistance, Fairfield still managed to maintain a comfortable lead.

Fairfield wasted no opportunities in adding to their tally. Outside spikers Kimberly (Fairfield, #9) and centre spiker Chew Hui Min (Fairfield, #3) raked up several points with their attacks, most of them avoiding the SHS blockers.

Soon, Fairfield had established a 12-point lead at 20-8 when the SHS libero #14 could not retrieve a ball. A timeout was called by SHS, and this seemed to work as SHS returned to the court with added vigour.

SHS started to claw their way back, with their #2 and #16 scoring several points. Fairfield also gave SHS assistance with several unforced errors. At the 20-11 mark, Eleanor (Fairfield, #7) spiked a ball out. Two points later, Adelin (Fairfield, #5) was unable to receive a spike from the SHS #16, which saw SHS inch ever closer to Fairfield.

Kimberly (Fairfield, #9) brought SHS to just one point away from Fairfield when she accidentally spiked a ball out of bounds at the 23-21 mark. Fairfield’s libero was unable to receive a serve by the SHS #5, which saw the game tie at 23-23m a remarkable comeback from 12 points down by SHS.

It was certainly shocking to see how Fairfield squandered away their lead to allow SHS to tie at such a late moment in the set.

But Fairfield pushed on, and Chew Hui Min (Fairfield, #3) brought her team to the set point when she scored with a spike to the back court. Lee Yutong (Fairfield, #11) finally won the set when her spike was too strong for the SHS #16 to retrieve.

The second set was a much closer one, as SHS put up a remarkable fight to hold off Fairfield. SHS initially took a comfortable 11-7 lead. But they let it slip away and Fairfield tied it up at 11-11.

Trailing 11-12, SHS called for a timeout for the coach to rally his players.

Eleanor (Fairfield, #7) earned a point for her team upon resumption with an ace. She scored the next point as well with a back court spike that no SHS players could retrieve.

SHS tried to fight back, with their #9 taking on most of the attacking responsibilities. SHS eventually tied with Fairfield at 17-17 when the SHS #5 served an ace.

Fairfield however, were not going to let SHS take the game so easily as they pulled ahead, maintaining a slender lead. But once again, they allowed SHS to catch up again at 21-21 when Hui Min (Fairfield, #3) failed to receive a serve from the SHS #1.

Some back luck befell the SHS team when their series of errors gave Fairfield several crucial points. A miscommunication between the SHS #16 and the SHS #1 saw the ball fail to clear the net. A touch out by the SHS #9 during the block gave Fairfled a 23-22 lead.

Fairfield were then gifted the match point when the SHS #1 spiked the ball into the net. Fairfield then wrapped up the set with a good attack that SHS could not recover from.

Final score: 2-0 (25-23, 25-22)