Victoria sweep aside St Hilda’s to win C Division boys’ volleyball 3rd/4th placing match

By Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports

CCAB, Wednesday, April 7, 2010 - Victoria School defeated St Hilda's Secondary 3-1 (25-17, 25-13, 24-26, 25-14) in the National C Division Boys’ Volleyball Championship 3rd/4th placing match.

Victoria started off the match well, holding off St Hilda's to win the first set 25-17. They had an easy second set, commanding a decisive lead. Despite St Hilda's efforts to catch up, Victoria won easily. In the third set, St Hilda's pulled up their socks and turned the tables on Victoria. They took a lead halfway through the set, and held on to win. In the fourth set, Victoria blitzed to an early lead, holding on to post an easy win.

1st set
Victoria had a good first set, and despite St Hilda's efforts, Victoria triumphed 25-17.

2nd set
Victoria started their second set on a good note as well, blitzing to a 16-8 lead. St Hilda's put up a valiant fight, but were unable to stop Victoria from reaching set point after a drop shot by Zhi Rui (Victoria #11). Ryan Sim (Victoria #9) then took the last point with his serve, when he saw his serve clip the net, falling into St Hilda's 3m zone.

3rd set
St Hilda's took the first point after Ryan (Victoria #9) spiked out. St Hilda's took the next point as well after Nickson (Victoria #6) spiked into the net. However, Chew Sze Lin (St Hilda's #10) had a foot fault while on service for Victoria to take their first point.

Royston (St Hilda's #1) however executed a well placed drop shot to continue their scoring streak. Zhi Rui (Victoria #11) then spiked into the St Hilda's block to see the score stand at 4-1. Despite trailing initially at 2-6, Victoria fought back and leveled the score, subsequently pulling ahead to lead 15-9 before a time out was called.

St Hilda's were not going to let Victoria have an easy win, and fought hard to deny Victoria the set. The turned the tables on Victoria and went forth to lead 19-16. Victoria could not keep up the chase and saw St Hilda's reach 23-20, leading to a time out.

Ryan (Victoria #9) denied St Hilda's set point after spiking off Amos (St Hilda's #3). Good blocking by the St Hilda's #4 however saw them take set point. A bad return by St Hilda's unfortunately held off their win, and an unforced error by St Hilda's saw the score stand at 24-23 in favour of St Hilda's. The St Hilda's #4 spiked out on the next rally to see the game come to a deuce. St Hilda's promptly called for a time out.

Upon the restart, Darius (St Hilda's #6) spiked from the opposite corner, seeing Victoria deflecting the ball out. St Hilda's then sealed the set when Victoria were unable to spike over.

4th set
St Hilda's blocked a spike by Ryan (Victoria #9) out of bounds in the first rally for Victoria to take the first point. Despite a close start, Victoria managed to lead 9-5. They increased their lead to 15-7, leading to a time out by St Hilda's.

St Hilda's simply could not kill off Victoria, and the latter continued applying pressure on St Hilda's to establish a 20-9 lead. St Hilda's were not going down without a fight and took five consecutive points to see the score stand 23-14. Sze Lin (Victoria #10) forced a touch out on the next rally to reach match point. Victoria then sealed the set when St Hilda's were unable to receive Zhi Rui’s (Victoria #11) serve.

Final Score
Victoria 3 St Hilda's 1
(25-17, 25-13, 24-26, 25-14)