B Division Girls Volleyball: Presbyterian High hold off Hua Yi while St Hilda’s edge out Cedar in nationals

By Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports

Presbyterian High School, Monday, February 28, 2011 — Presbyterian High and St Hilda’s Secondary emerged victorious in their round one Group D matches at the National B Division Girls’ Volleyball Championship. Presbyterian High were worked hard by Hua Yi Secondary who finished fourth in the West Zone, but eventually held on to win 2-0 (25-23, 25-15).

St Hilda’s, on the other hand, needed a third set to stage an upset against the South Zone runners-up, beat Cedar Girls’ Secondary 2-1 (25-23, 15-25, 25-21).

Hua Yi started their match with a 3-1 lead and attempted to keep their morale high with energetic cheers and celebrations after each point won. It certainly worked to their advantage as they displayed a commendable performance right from the outset. The match was a close affair in the first half, with Presbyterian High unable to break the Hua Yi defense. Unforced errors also allowed Hua Yi to earn valuable points.

However, Presbyterian High soon found their footing in the second half of the first set. Presbyterian High stormed ahead to garner a comfortable lead, only for Hua Yi to fight back to close in. The match was filled with exciting rallies as each went out to break the other, but it was Presbyterian High who held on to their advantage, taking the last point after a drop shot from the centre by Lejie (Presbyterian #18).

Hua Yi were not going to give Presbyterian High an easy second set. The scores continued to be neck and neck, and it was clear that the winner was going to need endurance. Presbyterian High continued to keep a slight advantage over Hua Yi, but the latter were constantly hot on their heels.

Presbyterian High pulled a fast one over Hua Yi and pulled ahead in the second half of the second set. Spikers Hui Tien (Presbyterian #1) and Sarah Lew (#4) started making their mark as they took several points. Outside spiker Lejie (#8) also stepped up to her game and put several points on the score board particularly towards the second half of the set.

As both teams started to show signs of fatigue, Presbyterian High’s early lead put them in a very advantageous position as they soon brought themselves to match point with Hua Yi trailing behind at the 13-point mark. It was quickly over as Presbyterian High secured the last point and took the match.

In the other Group D match, St Hilda’s put themselves in an advantageous position for qualifying after they staged an upset to edge out Cedar 2-1.

Errors plagued the Cedar camp early in the set as many spiking errors saw St Hilda’s run off with the lead. A time out by Cedar at the 6-1 mark allowed the team to turn things around as they embarked on a chase to eventually level 11-11.

Despite St Hilda’s pulling ahead, Cedar were constantly able to catch up. Even when St Hilda’s were in an advantageous position at the 23-point mark, Cedar were quick to nullify any lead to tie the match at 23-23 via a superb block by Heng Yan Jing (Cedar #9).

An unfortunate error by Claire (Cedar #5) stopped Cedar in their tracks as her serve went out of bounds. St Hilda’s took advantage and Stella Tan (St Hilda’s #7) finished off the set with a spike from the centre.

Cedar were however rejuvenated in the second set. Despite a shaky start, they quickly pulled ahead to lead 11-7, prompting a time out from St Hilda’s. St Hilda’s were able to draw level at the 11-11 mark, but things went downhill from there as Cedar stormed ahead to 24-14 after a strong spike by Cheryl (Cedar #10) from the outside. Despite Stella (St Hilda’s #7) managing to hold off Cedar on the next point, Yanjing (Cedar #9) took home the final point after a spike from the opposite corner found an empty spot in St Hilda’s court.

The third set was equally a hotly contested affair. Despite Cedar’s valiant efforts, they were however unable to prevent St Hilda’s from winning the set 25-21.

Drawn in a tough group together with North Zone champions Presbyterian High and West Zone third runners-up Hua Yi, Cedar face an uphill task of qualifying for the next round. They will need to win all their remaining matches to prevent a repeat of history. Last year, they were edged out of the national round after a shock loss to St Hilda’s.

Final Score
St Hilda’s 2 Cedar 1
(25-213 15-25, 25-21)

Presbyterian High 2 Hua Yi 0
(25-23, 25-15)

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