Xinmin Secondary beat Catholic High 2-0 in Round 2 of U-16 volleyball

Story and photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports.

Hougang Sports Hall, Thursday, November 6, 2008 – Xinmin Secondary beat Catholic High 2-0 (25-21, 25-21) in a closely fought Round 2, Group X match at the 2008 National U-16 Boys Junior Volleyball Championship.

Catholic High were playing without a coach and were the weaker team of the two when the game started despite looking good during the free spiking session. Qingshan (Catholic High, #7) showed off some thunderous spikes during the practice session but was notably playing differently during the game.

Xinmin led comfortably for the first half of the first set but Catholic High caught up with Xinmin slowly but steadily. Their efforts saw them trail Xinmin by two points at 10-12.

Lim Dao Liang (Catholic High #18) narrowed the gap further when he spiked from the outside into Xinmin’s back court. The Xinmin libero dived for the ball but just could not reach it to give Catholic High the point at 11-12.

However, Xinmin responded with a resounding spike from their #13 from the centre, and soon pulled away from Catholic High.

Deeper into the set, Royston Chan (Catholic High #9) served a ball out give Xinmin a free point and a 21-16 lead. But Catholic High came back, serving several good balls to draw closer to Xinmin.

At the 21-19 mark, Xinmin’s setter #9 made a drop shot which went out of bounds to bring Catholic High within striking distance. But Xinmin held on to push ahead to 23-21. Ang Wei Cheng (Catholic High #12) then served the next ball out of bounds to bring Xinmin to the set point at 24-21.

All eyes were on the Xinmin #7 as he had the final serve for the set. He almost got an ace but the shot was rescued by Catholic High and a nerve wrecking rally ensued, bringing everyone to the edge of their seats. A loose ball that was not properly received by Catholic High was sent straight to the hands of the Xinmin #7, who guided the ball into the opposite corner of Catholic High’s court, earning the last point of the set.

Catholic High started off the first point of the second set when Qingshan’s (Catholic High, #7) spike from the opposite side was deflected out of bounds off a Xinmin blocker. Xinmin #7 replied with a resounding attack from the opposite corner as well.

It looked to be a very tight match as both teams continued neck at neck. But Xinmin eventually prevailed, winning the set 25-21.

Final score: 2-0 (25-21, 25-21)

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!