B Div Vball (Girls): Defending champs Jurong in narrow win over Cedar

Presbyterian High, Tuesday, March 20, 2012 — Defending champions Jurong Secondary barely survived the challenge of Cedar Girls’ Secondary as they scraped through to a 2-1 (17-25, 26-24, 29-27) victory in their Round Two, Group Y match at the National B Division Girls’ Volleyball Championship.

Jurong had a poor performance in the first set as their inability to make decisive kills saw Cedar take the set. They then allowed Cedar to pull a commanding lead in the second set and were staring in the face of defeat as Cedar held the lead towards the final few points.

However, a dramatic event changed the dynamics of the match as several points had to be replayed due to a substitution error by Cedar which went unnoticed. Cedar had made a substitution earlier in the set and the player was subsequently replaced by the libero after Cedar’s service was over. However, upon rotation to the front row, the wrong player came back on court.

Cedar’s momentum was clearly affected and let slip the set to Jurong. Jurong then took advantage of Cedar’s errors in the third set to pull a decisive lead. Cedar managed a comeback but ultimately lost the set after a valiant fight.

Jurong scored a total of 42 points with 36 kills, two blocks and four service aces. Cedar had 37 points with 26 kills, eight blocks and three service aces. Jurong centre Ong Qiuluan (#13) was the top scorer with 20 points from 18 spikes and two blocks. Next in line was Cedar’s Claudia Tan (#18) who had 16 points from 14 spikes and two blocks.

Jurong had a startling 28 hit errors compared to Cedar’s 14. However, they were fortunate as they managed to make up the difference with a superior kill tally.

Jurong had started the first set on a good note as they pulled ahead for an early lead. Cedar however managed to close in as they exploited a weak spot in Jurong’s defense. They leveled the score 16-16 before pulling ahead to win 25-17.

Jurong were then plagued by a drastic drop in form in the second set. Consecutive setting errors gave Cedar the chance to race ahead. Even with a change in setter, Jurong were still staring at a six-point deficit as they trailed 4-10.

Jurong made several changes to their lineup and soon managed to shake off their bad start. They played their own game and slowly narrowed the score gap. They were soon trailing by just one point at the 11-12 mark after an ace from Aijia (Jurong #12). However, Cedar subsequently pulled ahead once again to lead 17-13, prompting a timeout from Jurong.

Jurong came close once again at the 18-17 mark but saw Cedar pull ahead once again. The match was played till the 23-20 mark with Cedar on the verge of victory before the error was discovered.

The score was reset to Cedar 22, Jurong 21 and the latter took advantage of the confusion to level the score 22-22 after a strong spike by Qiuluan (Jurong #13). A ‘double’ by Qiuluan (#13) in the next rally saw gave Cedar the advantage but Claire (Cedar #2) unfortunately sent her serve out of bounds.

Cedar regained their chance to win the set after Claudia (Cedar #18) took match point after a well executed drop shot. However, Cedar were unable to take the point after they committed a service error to send the set into a deuce.

Cedar were made to pay the price for this mistake as Jurong subsequently took the advantage and finished off the set after Aijia (Jurong #4) spiked down the Cedar block which the latter could not return.

The narrow win in the second set breathed life into Jurong’s play as they started the third set strongly.

Cedar seemed to have been unable to shake off the loss in the second set as they committed many errors in the third set. Jurong were soon leading 16-11, prompting a timeout from Cedar.

Cedar came back fighting upon the restart and leveled the score 18-18. Both teams traded blows and kept the set tied at the 19, 20, 22 and 23-point mark.

Jurong called for a timeout in a bid to reorganise and subsequently took the advantage when Kelly (Jurong #10) spiked down the Cedar block. Claire (Cedar #2) managed to save the match point with a spike of her own but a miscommunication in Cedar’s camp allowed Jurong to lead once again.

Jurong were unable to make use of their advantage as Cedar saved match point once again and took the lead via Claire (Cedar #2).

Qiuluan (Jurong #13) came to Jurong’s aid as she saved the set point with a well placed shot. Jurong managed to saved yet another match point for the match to be eventually tied 27-27.

With Jurong leading 28-27, it was a nerve wracking moment as the team fought for that one crucial point.

As the ball was set for Vanessa (Jurong #5), she sent her spike high which went to the back of Cedar’s court. Cedar chose not to return, judging it as an out-ball but it was just not their day as Vanessa’s spike clipped the backline for Jurong to take the final point.

Final score
Jurong 2 Cedar 1
17-25, 26-24, 29-27

Jurong vs Cedar - Match Statistics*

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