B Division Girls’ Volleyball: Consistency gives Ngee Ann victory over Jurong in Round 2 of nationals

By Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports

Presbyterian High, Tuesday, March 22, 2011 – Ngee Ann Secondary’s consistency was a winning factor as they beat Jurong Secondary 2-0 (25-20, 26-24) in their Round 2, Group X match of the National B Division Girls’ Volleyball Championship.

Jurong’s 13 unforced errors in the first and 12 in the second set were a key factor in allowing Ngee Ann to dominate. Between the three Ngee Ann spikers who scored for the team, they only shared five unforced errors in the first set and had none in the second. Despite Ngee Ann having seven service faults, their consistency in attacking ensured that they did not lose valuable points to their opponents.

Right from the start, Ngee Ann were well ahead with a 5-1 lead. This slowly increased to 12-6 while Jurong were left to play catch up. By the 18-11 mark, Jurong had conceded 11 points to Ngee Ann through unforced errors. A Jurong time out proved effective in reducing their mistakes and they started being more consistent in their play. Fong Shi Yun (Ngee Ann #16) was however a constant threat to Jurong with her powerful spikes at the net. She soon took set point for the team after a spike off the Jurong block.

Jurong were at that point trailing by seven points, but this narrowed to four after a spike from Tan Libing (Jurong #9), a service ace by Lim Tingyee (Jurong #11), and a fault by Ngee Ann’s setter. A time out was called by Ngee Ann, and upon resumption, Shi Yun (Ngee Ann #16) sealed the set with a spike from the opposite corner.

The second set started off with a tight rally, before Ngee Ann took the point after a net touch by Lim Ziqing (Jurong #8). Jurong were able to pull themselves together to keep the scores close. With the score tied at the 9-9 mark, Jurong subsequently managed to establish a lead, prompting Ngee Ann to call a time out at the 13-17 mark. Unfortunately, Jurong were undone by their own mistakes yet again as Ngee Ann were able to come back and level the scores at 19-19 after a block by Wen Yi (Ngee Ann #3).

As the match progressed, both teams were neck and neck, with Jurong pulling ahead to lead 23-21, prompting a time out from Ngee Ann. Ngee Ann regrouped, and subsequently leveled 23-23, prompting a time out from Jurong. Ngee Ann then went one up after Shi Yun (Ngee Ann #16) blocked a spike by Rachel Lau (Jurong #12).

However, the scores were leveled once again after Wen Yi (Ngee Ann #3) served into the net. Shi Yun (Ngee Ann #16) then took match point for the team with a spike from the outside, with the subsequent point gifted to Ngee Ann after Ziqing’s (Jurong #8) spike found the net.

Shi Yun (Ngee Ann #16) was certainly her team’s best performer with nine kills and three blocks. Peh Qian Hui (Ngee Ann #17) follows in second place with six kills. In the Jurong team, Rachel (Jurong #12) was on a better attacking form with nine kills as well. Ziqing (Jurong #8) on the other hand was certainly in a very different form from her previous matches as she had nine unforced errors and one service fault.

Drawn into a group consisting Shuqun Secondary, who they lost to in the West Zone final, and Cedar Girls’, who staged an earlier upset by beating Shuqun, Jurong will need to go all out to win their next two matches in order to proceed to the next round. By then, hopefully they will have regained their form to storm the court once again.

Final score
Ngee Ann 2 Jurong 0
25-20, 26-24

For more photos, go to the next page.