B Div Vball: Dunman see off Catholic High to finish third

Presbyterian High, Monday, April 2, 2012 — Dunman Secondary held off a late challenge by Catholic High to win 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-23) in the 3rd/4th placing match at the National B Division Boys’ Volleyball Championship.

Dunman, who emerged as the East Zone champions after beating reigning champions St Hilda’s Secondary, were the initial favourites to feature in the final. However, they met St Hilda’s again in the semi-finals and suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to miss out on the chance to play in Dunman’s first ever B Division Boys’ final.

Dunman dominated the match with 41 kills as opposed to Catholic High’s 25 kills. Mark (Dunman #11) emerged the top scorer of the match with 17 points scored from 17 kills. Second in line was team mate Kok Soon (#1) who finished with 12 points from 10 kills and two blocks.

Dunman made their presence felt right at the start as they raced off to a 12-6 lead. Catholic High had difficulty attacking as their centre committed several hit errors to give Dunman the point. Despite a considerably slow start for Dunman, they quickly warmed up to pull ahead, eventually winning the set 25-14.

Catholic High made a resurgence in the second set as they tried their best to keep Dunman at bay. The scores were close at the beginning but Catholic High managed to pull ahead to lead 9-7. This lead was not for long as Dunman quickly closed back in to tie the score 15-15.

Dunman did not seem to have in their usual form as they found it hard to break free from the stalemate. The score was tied right until the 22-22 mark before Dunman managed to break away. Dunman led 24-22 after Kok Soon (Dunman #1) stuffed out a loose ball by Catholic High.

Dunman were unable to convert the last point as a net touch by Wei Xiang (Dunman #7) saw Catholic High come to within one point of Dunman. Dunman chose to use both their timeouts at this point as they sought to reorganise for the next rally. Kok Soon (Dunman #1) secured the last point as he spiked to the line to hold off Catholic High.

Dunman got off to another slow start in the third set but managed to pull ahea to lead 16-13. A timeout by Catholic High could not break their momentum as they pulled ahead to lead 23-17.

However, Dunman experienced a sudden drop in form as they saw themselves held for two points before Kok Soon (Dunman #1) took match point with a spike from the outside.

Catholic High were not going down easy as they fought back to keep Dunman at bay. Anders (Catholic High #15) came raring back as he scored five kills in the set, many towards the end. Dunman also saw many of their spikes blocked by Catholic High to eventually allow the latter to narrow the gap to 24-22.

Dunman were forced to call another timeout when Catholic High narrowed the gap further after Humphrey (Catholic High #13) blocked a spike by Mark (Dunman #11).

Catholic High were unable to stage an upset as a hit error in the next rally gave Dunman the final point and the match.

Final score
Dunman 3 Catholic High 0
25-14, 25-23, 25-23

Dunman vs Catholic High - Match Statistics

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