Ngee Ann beat Dunman Secondary in U-16 volleyball

Story By REDintern Koh Yizhe. Pictures By Lai Jun Wei.

Hougang Sports Hall, Sunday, November 2, 2008 - Ngee Ann Secondary took advantage of Dunman Secondary’s unforced errors to win 2-0 (25-5, 25-22) in a Group B match at the 2008 National Under-16 Girls Junior Volleyball Championship.

As both teams shared the same coach, they had to fight it out by themselves and it was a definite feast for the eyes. Dunman seemed a little off form in the first set, and it was only in the second set when they posed a challenge to Ngee Ann. However, it was a little too late. as Ngee Ann easily closed out the match.

Dunman took the first point of the game with their towering middle spiker Jia En (#2) spiking to the back of the Ngee Ann court. Ngee Ann initially thought it was going out and chose to left it go. But to their dismay, the referee indicated it was in.

However, Ngee Ann quickly got over it to score the next two points with a perfect block against Jia En (Dunman, #2) for the first point. A spike from the Ngee Ann outside hitter into an unguarded area scored the second point.

A series of powerful serves from Ngee Ann followed, forcing Dunman to commit many errors as they struggled to pick up the serves. Ngee Ann soon leapt out to a 14-3 lead.

The Ngee Ann spikers made plenty of accurate spikes down the line to score more points while Dunman committed many faults such as net touches. Several spikes also found the net, gifting more points to Ngee Ann. Before long, Ngee Ann were in a commanding 23-3 lead.

Needing only two more points to win the set, Phebe (Ngee Ann, #13) sent a strong spike straight down the middle and a miscommunication between Jia En (Dunman, #2) and Claira (Dunman, #6) gave Ngee Ann the set point.

However, Dunman managed to hold off Ngee Ann, saving two set points to go to 5-24. But Jia En (Dunman, #2) had no reply for an unstoppable spike by Ngee Ann which won them the set 25-5.

The second set was much tighter, starting with a long rally that ended with the Eileen (Dunman, #12) spiking the ball down the line. Dunman were playing with renewed vigour and soon took a 5-1 lead.

Ngee Ann were shocked by the surprising energy from Dunman and had had trouble retrieving spikes, especially those from Weiyu (Dunman, #1). However, Ngee Ann did not let this get them down, responding with another series of excellent serves to haul themselves level at 6-6.

With their teacher-in-charge screaming instructions from the bench, Dunman in turn showed their quality with serves from Jia En (#2) and powerful spikes from Eileen (#12). Dunman, trailing 10-15 at one point, mounted a comeback and after a remarkable fight, leveled at 18-18. Both teams were giving it their all and it showed as they stayed neck and neck for the next few points.

Mistakes by Dunman however proved to be their undoing. Dunman, with Weiyu (#1) serving while trailing 22-23, saw the serve go wide, to the cheers of Ngee Ann. At match point, Jia En (Dunman, #2) unfortunately committed a net touch, gifting the point to Ngee Ann and with it, the match.

Having lost this match and their previous one against Fairfield, Dunman Secondary have dropped out contention in the championship. Ngee Ann on the other hand have emerged top of Group B after winning all their matches. Ngee Ann now progress into Round 2 with Fairfield Methodist.

Editor's note: If you recognise yourself or your team mates in any of the photos, please feel free to leave the names behind in the comments section and we will update the captions accordingly. Thanks!