By Zachary Foo/Red Sports

Bradley Lee (PHS #9) hits a strong spike towards Xinmin. (Photo 1 © Zachary Foo/Red Sports)

Yio Chu Kang Sports Complex, Monday, July 21, 2014 — Presbyterian High School (PHS) clinched the North Zone C Division Boys Volleyball Championship with a 2–0 (25–18, 26–24) win over Xinmin Secondary (XMS). They followed in the footsteps of their girls’ team, who beat Evergreen Secondary 2–0 in the earlier final to also clinch first place. They improved upon their previous showing in 2013, when they finished third.

Xinmin started the game off on a 5–0 run. They were led by the solid spiking of XMS #12, as he alternated between placement and power to throw off the Presbyterian blockers. Presbyterian High did well to tie the game up at 6–all, through some good service work by Bradley Lee (PHS #9).

Xinmin were plagued by unforced errors midway through the set, stemming from spikes into the net or out of bounds. This allowed Presbyterian High to open up a 15–11 lead.

From that point, Xinmin did well to respond with a 3–0 run, as they capitalised on Presbyterian High’s poor returns. After the timeout, Presbyterian consolidated their lead, scoring three straight points to claim the first set.

Presbyterian took the initiative in the second set, taking advantage of a shaky Xinmin defence to post a 5–0 run. The momentum then shifted in Xinmin’s favour, as they tied the game up at 5 apiece. Wngta Ang (PHS #2) and Bradley Lee (PHS #9) both launched strong spikes throughout the set. They were instrumental in helping Presbyterian High maintain the lead they had. Bad mistakes while returning the ball came back to haunt Xinmin, this allowed Presbyterian High to lead 21–15.

Xinmin showed true grit, fighting all the way back to tie the game at 21–all. Both teams were unwilling to let the other run away with the set. After hitting a missed spike which gave Presbyterian High a chance to clinch the championship, XMS #9 redeemed himself by hitting a well-placed spike to tie things at 24–all. However, that would be the last point for Xinmin, as Presbyterian took the final two points to win the championship.

Presbyterian High captain, Bradley Lee (#9), said, “We finished third last year, so it feels really good to win this time around. Although, it doesn’t really matter as long as we enjoyed the process. When Xinmin started coming back in the final set, we didn’t give up. We wanted to clinch first place as we were already halfway there and we did not want to waste our seniors and coach’s effort.

“We are determined to claim the championship at nationals. We do not want to disappoint the people who believed in us. We want to thank Xinmin for a good game and to thank our teachers, coaches and everyone in the team for this win.”

Scoring by Set
Presbyterian High vs Xinmin Secondary
First set: 25–18 (1–0)
Second set: 26–24 (2–0)

Presbyterian High Roster
Royston Cheng (#1), Wngta Ang (#2), Ryan Ham (#4), Joshua Tan (#5), M Seann Ganesh (#7), Bradley Lee (#9), Zachary Cheong (#10), Ong Ching Ta (#13), Law Ken (#14), Tristan Loo (#15), Keith Tan (#16), Dominic Berzin Chua (#17), Ben Tam Zhi Wen (#18), Samuel Htoo (#19)

Xinmin Secondary Roster
Stanford (#1), Daniel (#2), Marcus (#4), Gilbert (#6), Jerald (#7), Hanwen (#8), Andrew (#9), Chester (#10), Eugene (#11), Zheng Hui (#12), Bryan (#13), Dillon (#15), Rongen (#17)

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