Xinmin Secondary overcome Yishun Town to finish 3rd in U-13 volleyball

By Lai Jun Wei.

Choa Chu Kang Sports Hall, Sunday, November 30, 2008 – Xinmin Secondary beat Yishun Town Secondary 3-0 (28-26, 25-19, 25-21) in their 3rd/4th placing match of the 2008 National U-13 Boys Junior Volleyball Championship.

Xinmin started off on a bad note, fumbling on their receive as the holes in their defense allowed Yishun Town to draw a lead. Perhaps they had not settled in, as their attacks could not make much of an impact as well. Yishun Town took six consecutive points, before the Xinmin coach called for a time out.

The break did not seem to help much as Xinmin blocked out a Yishun Town spike upon resuming the game. But they finally managed to put a stop to Yishun Town’s scoring streak as they successfully stuffed out a spike from an attack.

Yishun Town largely held on to a lead with Xinmin having to play catch up. Xinmin came quite close to Yishun Town several times, with their #1, Jasper spearheading many of their attacks. A good serve from him brought Xinmin to just within one point of Yishun Town.

However, Yishun Town broke free and lunged ahead. Soon, they hit the 20 point mark when Yishun Town #1 spiked from the centre right into Jasper’s (Xinmin, #1) face and saw it deflected out of bounds.

Trailing four points behind, Xinmin pushed hard to catch up. A light spike from Xinmin #15 saw his team tie with Yishun Town at 23-23. Xinmin then took the lead for the first time as a bad receive from Yishun Town saw the ball being sent into the net. But a blocking error from Xinmin saw Yishun Town tie at 24-24 to deuce. They remained tied right till 26-26, when a miscommunication in the Yishun Town side saw the ball being hit into the net. Jasper (Xinmin, #1) took home the last point when he served an ace which deflected out of bounds off a Yishun Town player.

2nd set:

The second set was also a very close encounter, with both teams inching point by point. They remained tied right up to 16-16. Xinmin managed to get some breathing space when Jasper’s (Xinmin #1) successful spike from the outside firmed up a three point lead at 20-17. An attempt at a dunk by the Yishun Town setter saw it being blocked, earning Xinmin another point.

Xinmin reached set point when Eugene (Yishun Town, #2) attempted to spike a down the line shot from the outside but saw it going out of bounds. Xinmin was denied the quick win when Jasper (Xinmin, #1) was unable to receive a spike properly to see the score at 24-19. However, he made up for it with a spike from the centre which deflected off the Yishun Town blockers and going out of bounds, hence taking the last point and the set.

3rd set:

Xinmin pulled to an early lead, firming up a six point lead at 11-5. They continued pulling forward, but a change in tide saw Yishun Town suddenly start to pick up points. Bad luck seemed to have befallen on Xinmin out of the blue as their defense suddenly went out of form. Yishun Town came to just two points away at 14-12.

A time out by Xinmin seemed to have worked wonders as they shrugged off their bad luck and pushed forth again. An ace by Xinmin #14 saw Xinmin hit game point at 24-17.

But they shot themselves in the foot when Jasper’s (Xinmin, #1) spike from the backcourt went out of bounds. They fumbled on the next rally to see Yishun Town up another point. It might have been pure nervousness as Xinmin lost the next two consecutive points to see their lead over Yishun Town erode to just three points.

Xinmin’s setter saved the day when he dunked at the second touch which saw Yishun Town unable to return.

Final score: 3-0 (28-26, 25-19, 25-21)

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!