Fairfield Methodist see off Anderson Secondary to progress into U-13 girls volleyball final

Story by Lai Jun Wei. Photos by Ng Cheng Cong and Lai Jun Wei.

Hougang Sports Hall, Saturday, 29 November, 2008 – Fairfield Methodist Secondary beat Anderson Secondary 2-0 (25-15, 25-18) in a semi-final of the 2008 National U-13 Girls Junior Volleyball Championship.

Pancy (Anderson, #1) opened the scoring for her team with an underhand serve that saw Fairfield unable to receive. But Fairfield levelled at 1-1 when Jolly (Anderson, #9) spiked into the net at the next rally.

Fairfield held on to a slight lead, leaving the fumbling Anderson to play catch up.

Fairfield quickly built up an eight-point advantage over their opponents at 16-8. Anderson on the other hand were struggling to find their form. They were making many unforced errors which gave Fairfield easy points.

A touch out by Pancy (Anderson, #1) saw Fairfield hit the 20-point mark with Anderson a distant nine points behind. But Anderson desperately tried to close the gap. However, Fairfield still got to the better of them and saw themselves at the set point when an Anderson ball went awry.

Jia Le (Fairfield, #9) scored the last point with a serve that clipped the net, the ball rolling into the Anderson court and catching everyone off guard.

Fairfield duly took the first point of the second set. But a spike from Pancy (Anderson, #1) deflected off Fairfield for her team to tie at 1-1. A light serve from her saw Fairfield unable to receive. However, her next serve was just short and could not cross the net. Fairfield were now level again at 2-2.

Unwilling to see a repeat of the first set, Anderson fought hard to gain an advantage. They sat on a comfortable four point lead at 11-7, but they unfortunately lost the chance to extend their scoring streak when Fairfield spiked a ball into Anderson’s empty backcourt.

Anderson held on to their lead, but Fairfield continue to pound them with spikes coming mainly from their #16, Jermaine, feverishly trying to close the gap. Their efforts paid off as they tied with Anderson at 14-14 when a spike from Pancy (Anderson, #1) was stuffed out.

Fairfield then took the lead when Anderson #3 could not receive a serve from Simin (Fairfield, #14), opting to rescue it with one hand but to no avail.

Utilising their #16, Jermaine, Fairfield quickly hit 20-15. She scored two consecutive points through her serves as they edged closer to the win against a crumbling Anderson side.

At the 23-18 mark, Cally (Anderson, #3) could not receive a ball from Fairfield, and saw it deflected out. Fairfield subsequently won the game with a spike which deflected off an Anderson player and could not be rescued.

Final score: 2-0 (25-15, 25-18)

Fairfield will now play Shuqun Secondary in the final tomorrow, 30 November at Choa Chu Kang Sports Hall right after the 3rd/4th placing match between Anderson Secondary and Xinmin Secondary at 10.30am.

Good luck!

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