Story by Jiexin Neo/Red Sports. Photos by Clara Yuan/Red Sports

CDIV-VOLLEYBALL-ZHS-VS-QTS-2

Choy Joon Ian (Queenstown #9) spikes against Zhonghua. (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)

Physical Education and Sports Education Branch, Thursday, July 3, 2014 — Zhonghua Secondary (ZHS) beat Queenstown Secondary (QTSS) 2–0 (25–13, 25–22) to secure their semi-final spot in the South Zone C Division Boys Volleyball Championship.

This is Zhonghua’s second consecutive win in the tournament, and they will face Fairfield Methodist School in their final group game. On the other hand, Queenstown have failed to qualify for the semi-finals with this loss. They will meet Queensway Secondary in their final game of the season.

Leroy Lee (ZHS #11) made a strong unattended drive to clinch the first point for his team. Queenstown then managed to level at 1–1 and both teams were tied again at 3–3. Following Zhonghua’s defensive mistake, Queenstown gained their first lead of the game (4–3).

Thereafter, Zhonghua took the lead and scored seven unanswered points to push their lead to 11–4. Seeing that Zhonghua were on a scoring streak, the Queenstown side called for a time-out which proved to be effective as they managed to put a stop to their scoring shortly after the game resumed (5–12). From there, Queenstown continued to chase the points with Choy Joon Ian’s (#9) good spike blocks and Joel Pang’s (#8) timely attacks. However, Queenstown failed to reduce the deficit significantly and Zhonghua then closed out the first set 25–13.

At the start of the second set, Zhonghua and Queenstown appeared to be evenly-matched again. The game was tied at 2–2 but thereafter, Joel (QTSS #8) stepped up his offensive game and paced his team well with his consistent, well-timed attacks. This allowed his team to take a 5–2 lead.

Seeing that Queenstown were enjoying a good performance, Zhonghua then stepped up on their defensive game to gradually chase until it was level at 7–7. Both sides were putting good efforts into the game, but they also had their fair share of mistakes. As such the game was tied again at 11–11.

From there, Tilakk (ZHS #7) stepped up his offensive game and made an instant impact as he secured crucial points for his side. Defensively, Tilakk also made well-timed blocks at the net to limit Queenstown’s attacks. With good team effort, Zhonghua managed to cut off Queenstown’s scoring entirely, going on a 7–0 run to pull away to 18–11.

Queenstown then called for another time-out, after which Joel (QTSS #8) came back stronger into the game to help cover up for his teammate’s mistakes on the court. With Firdaus Shahrin’s (QTSS #10) setting good balls, Joel (QTSS #8) constantly threatened Zhonghua’s defence with his strong spikes. This allowed them to catch up with the scoring and then trail only by one point (17–18).

Despite that, Zhonghua continued to focus on their game, pulling away again to take it 25–22 to secure their spot in the semi-finals.

Zhonghua captain, Jayden (#1), said, “It was a pretty easy game but we made many mistakes. I think we can work on cutting down on our mistakes and don’t be too stressed up doing games, and just play and do our best. Our goal is to enter the final.”

Scoring by Set
ZHS vs QTSS
First set: 25–13 (1–0)
Second set: 25–22 (2–0)

Zhonghua Secondary Roster
Jayden Siah (#1), Chua Woon Khai (#2), Fan Jinwei (#3), Sean Lee (#5), Kevin Yeo (#6), Tilakk (#7), Epaul (#8), Eric Leong (#9), Leroy Lee (#11), Clarence Lee (#12), Edwin (#15), Aziz (#16), Cheong Yu Kai (#17), Cody Poh (#18)

Queenstown Secondary Roster
Dillion Ng (#6), Joel Pang (#8), Choy Joon Ian (#9), Firdaus Shahrin (#10), Donovan Koh (#11)

We do not have the complete name list of the players. If you recognize any of them, please leave a comment below and we will update the post. Thank you.

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