Nanyang Junior College overcome Dunman High in A Girls volleyball

By Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports.

CCAB, Tuesday, May 5, 2009 – Nanyang Junior College overcame a spirited Dunman High 2-0 (25-19. 25-15) in Round 2 of the A Division girls Volleyball Championship.

The evenly matched teams traded points with each other early in the game, with the score tied at 7-7 after a net touch by Dunman. A brief spurt by NYJC saw them pull a four point lead at 12-8, leading to a time out by Dunman.

But this was not enough to break the team’s momentum as they charged forward, they were soon at 20-13 after a well executed spike from the outside.

However, Dunman was not to be put down easily and fought back to hold off NYJC’s win. They clawed their way up while NYJC could only inch slowly to set point.

At the 22-16 mark, outside spiker NYJC #11 lightly tapped a shot to Dunman’s court. Dunman stumbled on the receive and NYJC was now two points away from taking the set. They hit set point when Dunman #8 failed to pick up NYJC #10’s serve.

Dunman was not going to allow NYJC an easy win, with their centre spiker #11 spiking down the line to an empty spot. Dunman #11 then fired off two strong serves which NYJC could not receive.

A third attempt saw Dunman organise a free ball by NYJC into a spinning spike to the latter’s back row. A time out was called to break Dunman’s momentum, and NYJC promptly stopped Dunman’s advances by finishing off the set with a spike down the centre by their #8.

NYJC took the first point of the second set when Dunman #10 sent her spike into the net. They were all fired up, with their #9 sending several ferocious serves to the Dunman side. Dunman were struggling to organise, as their spikes were going out of bounds and balls were going awry.

Confidence seemed to be wavering as NYJC took point after point. A time out by Dunman after NYJC had notched a seven point lead was of no use, as NYJC #9 continued her rampage, forcing touch outs from Dunman.

The scoring streak was momentarily stopped when NYJC #9 sent her serve into the net. However, NYJC took the point back right after with a spike from the opposite end. With the score at 10-1, it seemed like it was going to be a herculean task for Dunman to catchup.

Dunman #11 took a few points with her serves, but NYJC had already taken a 16-6 lead. Things did not help when Dunman wasted their chances and gifted points away. At 19-8, Dunman had to call for a time out in order to revive any chances for a comeback attempt.

NYJC were comfortably sitting on a 11 point lead whereas Dunman had hints of deject on their demoralised faces. With words of encouragement from their coach and fellow players, they came back after their time out to grab hold of any possible chances to score.

They struggled to fight back the authoritative NYJC, and earned a few points through the latter’s unforced errors. But there still seemed to be little hope as NYJC brought the score to 23-10 when NYJC #10 managed to sneak a point when her mis-hit ball saw it roll lightly into an empty spot.

But NYJC denied themselves a quick win when their setter #9’s attempt to hook a ball backwards on the second touch found the net instead.

Dunman’s efforts seemed to be paying off as their never give up spirit seemed to have put pressure on NYJC. Three consecutive spikes which either went out of bounds or into the net saw the score stand at 23-14.

With his team throwing away precious points, NYJC’s coach tactfully called for a time out to calm his player’s nerves. Dunman’s back court spike was sent back by NYJC straight to a waiting Dunman blocker. But a mid-air challenge saw NYJC being called for a net violation, the referee deeming them as having interfered with play when they reached over the net.

Dunman’s efforts to stage a surprise comeback was stopped short when opposite spiker NYJC #7 sent a ball to the far left corner, just out of reach of the Dunman back row player. NYJC took home the set and the win when Dunman’s second touch was ruled a ‘double’.

Final score: 2-0 (25-19. 25-15)

Editor’s note: If you recognise yourself or any of your team mates in any of the photos, please feel free to leave the names behind in the comments section and we will update accordingly. Thanks!