B Div Vball (Girls): Xinmin knock out defending champs Jurong after 2-0 win

Presbyterian High, Tuesday, March 27, 2012 — Defending champions Jurong Secondary were knocked out of the competition following a 2-0 (25-18, 28-26) loss to Xinmin Secondary in their final Round Two, Group X match at the National B Division Girls’ Volleyball Championship.

Jurong had come into the match in third place with three points and needed to win at least one set against Xinmin in order to keep their hopes alive. After Cedar had won one set in their earlier match against Anderson, Xinmin were already eliminated from the competition regardless of the result today. However, they still went all out in their last match and pulled off a victory over Jurong.

Looking at the scoring tally, Jurong should have been the clear winner as they scored 28 kills compared to Xinmin’s 20 kills. Between the two Jurong centre spikers, they scored 27 out of the team’s 28 kills. Qiuluan (Jurong #13) was responsible for 16 kills while Aijia (Jurong #4) scored 11 kills.

However, the sheer number of hit errors by Jurong meant that all their work was undone. Jurong had a total of 20 hit errors compared to Xinmin’s four. In addition, they scored a total of 13 blocks in the match, with Kim Choo (#7) successfully blocking nine of Jurong’s attempts. All Xinmin needed to do was to play consistently and they were able to cruise to victory.

Jurong had initially started with the lead as Qiuluan (Jurong #13) put up several good spikes. However, Xinmin quickly closed in to level 8-8. The score was then tied point for point as the teams edged ahead.

Xinmin managed to pull ahead after the 17-17 mark to force Jurong to call a time out at the 19-17 mark.

Jurong continued to be plagued by hit errors and eventually saw Xinmin leading 24-18 after Aijia (Jurong #4) sent her spike out of bounds. Xinmin then sealed the match after Kim Choo (Xinmin #7) successfully stuffed out a spike by Aijia (Jurong #4).

The second set saw a close start as Qiuluan (Jurong #13) fought hard to keep the score line close. However, Jurong began to concede the lead as Qiuluan (Jurong #13) was rotated out from the backrow. Aijia (Jurong #4) saw her spikes consecutively blocked by Kim Choo (Xinmin #7) which allowed Xinmin to pull ahead.

Jurong continued to be stuck in their weak rotation and were trailing 17-11 when they called a timeout.

Jurong kept up their efforts and finally managed to break out of their weak rotation. With Qiuluan (Jurong #13) back in front, Jurong closed in the gap and tied the score 21-21, before leveling the score 23-23.

Xinmin managed to take match point after Kim Choo (Xinmin #7) managed to block Qiuluan’s (Jurong #13) spike but Qiuluan subsequently saved the match point with a drop shot.

Jurong then took the advantage after Aijia (Jurong #4) spiked off the Xinmin block. However, bad play by Jurong saw their loose attempt blocked by Kim Choo (Xinmin #7).

Kim Choo (Xinmin #7) then put up another excellent block to bring the score to 27-26 as she stuffing out a spike by Aijia (Jurong #4). Jurong’s efforts to continue the fight was cut short as they were fouled for a position error just as Xinmin fired off their serve.

Final score
Xinmin 2 Jurong 0
25-18, 28-26

Final Group X Standings

Xinmin vs Jurong - Match Statistics

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