Sharelin Sim (Jurong #8) spikes off the Shuqun blocker. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
PESEB, Wednesday, July 4, 2012 — Jurong Secondary booked a spot in the second round of the West Zone C Division Girls’ Volleyball Championship at the expense of Shuqun Secondary when they beat the latter 2-0 (25-18, 25-15) in both teams’ final fixture of Round One.
Shuqun had headed into the match at the top of the table with 8 points from three wins out of as many matches played. They only needed to secure one set in order to progress while Jurong were lying in third place with six points having suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat to Hua Yi earlier on.
This time round, Jurong stepped up their game to take all three points on offer to leapfrog into second place, handing Shuqun an early exit from the tournament. This is the second year running that Shuqun have missed out on a zonal top-four position.
Sharelin Sim (Jurong #8) of Jurong led the team to victory when she scored multiple kills up front and took several points with her serves. She scored seven service aces to contribute to the team total of 10 service aces.
Jurong scored 23 points from 13 kills and 10 service aces while Shuqun had 15 points from 8 kills and 7 service aces. While Shuqun only had a slight higher number of hit errors errors, their defensive and unforced errors in the second set led to a total of 27 errors compared to Jurong’s 14.
Jurong started the match strongly as they raced ahead to lead 10-2, the last two points scored via service aces from Sharelin (Jurong #8). However, Shuqun managed to turn things around as they stepped up their service game to exploit Jurong’s initial weakness at the first-ball.
Shuqun quickly came back to level the score 10-10, scoring four service aces in the process. They continued their momentum and took the lead 13-10.
Jurong were unfazed and quickly recovered to draw level before pulling ahead. Despite Shuqun’s best efforts, they could not stop Jurong as they watched their rivals take the set 25-18 after a spike to the corner by Elicia (Jurong #12).
Jurong blitzed ahead once again in the second set as they raced off to a 7-2 lead. A timeout by Shuqun allowed the team to make a comeback but Jurong’s timeout at the 8-6 mark broke their momentum as the latter pulled ahead once again.
Sharelin (Jurong #8) scored three consecutive service aces to bring the score to 13-6. A timeout by Shuqun one point later could not break her momentum as she scored two more service aces for the team to lead 16-6.
Shuqun were facing a massive ten-point deficit and appeared to have been shaken by Jurong’s scoring streak. Slowly but steadily, they tried to win back crucial points as Jurong edged slowly ahead.
Jurong were soon leading 23-12 but three consecutive spike errors by Jurong gave Shuqun some breathing space for the score to stand at 23-15. Unfortunately, a communication error allowed Jurong to take control once again with match point in hand. Jurong took this to their advantage and sealed the set, firing off a strong serve which Shuqun deflected out of bounds.
Jurong will next face Group B leaders Bukit Panjang Government High and Group A runner up River Valley High in the next round.
Final score
Jurong 2 Shuqun 0
(25-19, 25-15)
Final Group C Standings
Hua Yi (3W, 1L) – 10 points
Jurong (3W, 1L) – 9 points
Shuqun (3W, 1L) – 8 points
Unity (1W, 3L) – 3 points
Boon Lay (0W, 4L) – 0 points
For more photos, go to the next page.
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