B Div Vball (Girls): Presbyterian High hold off Nanyang Girls’ for crucial win

Presbyterian High, Tuesday, March 20, 2012 — Presbyterian High handed Nanyang Girls’ their first defeat of the entire season as they won 2-0 (27-25, 25-22) in a Round Two, Group Y match at the National B Division Girls’ Volleyball Championship.

The teams were evenly matched and it was a tough fight right to the finish. Presbyterian High had to hold off a late challenge by Nanyang in both sets to ultimately triumph.

Presbyterian High scored a total of 28 points, with 23 kills, four blocks and one service ace. Nanyang Girls’ had a slightly better tally with 30 points scored from 24 kills, two blocks and four service aces. However, it was the number of hit errors which Nanyang had that ultimately made the difference. Nanyang had 19 hit errors compared to Presbyterian High’s 11.

Presbyterian High started the first set with the advantage as they held a constant lead over Nanyang. Nanyang came close to leveling the score at several occasions only for Presbyterian High to pull ahead once again.

Midway through the set, errors by Nanyang allowed Presbyterian High to pull further ahead for a comfortable lead. Open spiker Pua Le Jie (Presbyterian High, #18), who had rotated to the front row exploited the weakness in the Nanyang block and took several points for the team.

Nanyang were forced to call a timeout at the 21-18 mark but could not catch up as Gwyneth (Nanyang #1) sent a free-ball into the net upon the restart.

However, Presbyterian High found themselves held at the 23-point mark as Nanyang staged a comeback. Nanyang brought themselves to just one point away at 23-22 after a service ace by Nicolette (Nanyang, #8). Presbyterian High were unperturbed by this and took set point after a spike by Le Jie (Presbyterian High #18) but they subsequently found it hard to convert the last point as Nanyang closed in to level the score 24-24.

The set went into a second deuce as the teams found themselves level at 25-25 but a stroke of bad luck hit Nanyang as they lose the next two consecutive points for Presbyterian High to win 27-25.

The second set was a hotly contested one as the teams went ahead point for point.

After being tied for most of the first half, Nanyang pulled a fast one over Presbyterian High to lead 13-11, forcing a timeout from the latter.

Presbyterian High then had to play catchup as the teams edged slowly ahead.

Presbyterian High’s efforts soon paid off as they caught up and tied the score 18-18 before stealing the lead from Nanyang. Nanyang’s efforts to hold on were not helped by a sudden drop in form as they started committing several hit errors. In the second set, Nanyang’s hit errors made up almost 2/3 of their total hit errors while Presbyterian High kept theirs at a low five.

Presbyterian High soon pulled ahead and were leading 24-22 after a bad receive from Nanyang. Amanda (Presbyterian High #11) sealed the final point for the team as she powered a spike from the centre, which Nanyang deflected out of bounds.

Final score
Presbyterian High 2 Nanyang 0
27-25, 25-22

Presbyterian High’s win comes at a much result considering they are drawn in a tough group alongside Dunman Secondary and Ngee Ann Secondary. Presbyterian High will next take on Ngee Ann before facing it off with West Zone champions Dunman Secondary.

Presbyterian High vs Nanyang Girls' - Match Statistics

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