Fairfield Secondary trounce Shuqun to win U-13 volleyball championship

Story by Lai Jun Wei. Photos by Tiong Ting Shan and Lai Jun Wei.

Choa Chu Kang Sports Hall, Sunday, November 30, 2008 – Fairfield Methodist Secondary beat Shuqun Secondary 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-21) to win the 2008 National U-13 Girls Junior Volleyball Championship.

Missing from this year’s top 4 were traditional volleyball powerhouses like Presbyterian High, Jurong Secondary and Ngee Ann Secondary. Most of them had been knocked out earlier on in the championship, leaving Fairfield to face off with Shuqun for the trophy.

Fairfield headed off to an early lead, scoring five consecutive points. Shuqun on the other hand had some difficulty settling down as they experience trouble on their receives. They also experienced hitches while trying to organise their attacks. A time out by Shuqun did not help as they lost the next point due to a net touch.

Shuqun only took their first point with a spike from Gabrielle (Shuqun, #10) down the centre. Fairfield stormed off to a 14-6 lead, with their #9, Jia Le and #16, Jermaine leading most of the attacks. They were quickly at 21-7 after their setter Adeline (#7) executed a well placed drop shot.

Shuqun was not going to do down without a fight and managed a brief catch up. Kavis Koh (Shuqun, #6) forced several touch outs with her spikes. Upon her turn to serve, she fired off two aces, and Shuqun was at 23-15. This catchup was enough for Fairfield to call for a time out.

Shuqun’s scoring streak ended when Kavis (Shuqun, #6) sent her serve out of bounds.

All eyes were on Adeline (Fairfield, #7) as she served the last ball. She hit a light underhand serve which was received into the net by Shuqun. Their setter Siti, tried to rescue it but it went straight into the libero and deflected out.

2nd set:

The second set saw a similar situation as Fairfield quickly stormed off to a 9-0 lead. With Jermaine (Fairfield, #16) guarding the net, she spiked to score several points and blocked off many of Shuqun’s attacks. Shuqun’s coach was forced to use his two time outs early, one at the 5-0 mark and another at the 9-0 mark.

Gabrielle (Shuqun, #10) finally scored with a drop shot that eluded the block of Jermaine (Fairfield, #16). However, Jermaine quickly took back the next point when she spiked the ball from the centre off the Shuqun blocker, and into another player who sent it out of bounds.

Fairfield looked unstoppable as Jermaine (#16) served up several good balls, adding to Shuqun’s woes. With both Shuqun’s boys and girls team in their respective final, Shuqun had hoped to have a double win, but Fairfield was making this seem like a difficult goal to achieve.

Rosanna Chua (Shuqun, #8) stopped Fairfield’s scoring streak with a drop shot. But by then, they were already lagging 13 points behind.

Shuqun did not give up, with Rosanna (#8) serving some superior shots to trouble Fairfield. With their #16, Jermaine in the backrow, there was no one in the front row to thunder down spikes or stuff out attacks. Shuqun used this to their advantage to clock up four points.

Jermaine (Fairfield, #16) brought her team to the set point after a powerful spike. But Fairfield #14 served the next ball into the net to delay the win. They were made to wait just a moment longer after Shermine Tan (Shuqun, #9) served a light shot which nobody received.

The last point was also won by Jermaine (Fairfield, #16) when she spiked from the centre into some empty space in the right corner of Shuqun’s court.

3rd set:

Shuqun was not going to let Fairfield have an easy time in the third set as they mustered up all their strength to put up a last ditch resistance. Fairfield pulled a 5-0 lead, but Shuqun did not allow them to extend it further, drawing close to Fairfield. Shuqun briefly took the lead, but it was quickly taken back by Fairfield.

The score remained close, with Shuqun hot on Fairfield’s heels. Fairfield was not going to give Shuqun any chance to take this set as they made a final push to lead at 23-15. With Jermaine (Fairfield, #16) taking the serve, it seemed like it was a sure win scenario for Fairfield. But the pressure might have gotten to her as she served the ball into the net.

Jia Le (Fairfield, #9) brought her team to game point when she tapped a ball from the outside to Shuqun’s backcourt. They were denied a quick win when Jia Hui (Fairfield, #8) served into the net.

With the score at 24-17, it might seem that all hopes had been lost for Shuqun. But they were not going down so easily, as they fought hard to delay Fairfield’s win. Siti Nur Shahirah (Shuqun, #5) served, and a miscommunication in the Fairfield camp saw the ball land between two players. Shuqun took the next point as well via Siti’s serve, which deflected out of bounds off Jia Le (Fairfield, #9).

Jia Le (Fairfield, #9) and Adeline (#7) clashed to go for the second touch in the next rally, but it was received and sent to Fairfield #16. However, she deflected it out of bounds to see Shuqun within four points of Fairfield. A long rally ensued in the fight for the next point, with Jia Le (Fairfield, #9) trying to execute repeated drop shots, all which were rescued by Shuqun. Shuqun then did a drop shot of their own with their #10, Gabrielle scoring from the outside.

With Shuqun just three points away, they were all gearing to wrestle the set away from Fairfield, but a spike from the outside saw it picked up by Jermaine (Fairfield, #16). Her facial expression showed that it was a bad receive as it headed towards the net. But it sailed right across and landed in Shuqun’s court, catching everyone unprepared.

Final score: 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 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!