Heart ache for TH Volleyball Girls!
I report on this semifinal match with a heavy heart. After having such a good time watching our TH Volleyball girls completely demolishing KE last week, all of us – the TH supporters - had a hard time watching yesterday night’s semifinal match against Sheares hall.
At 8:30, both the teams were getting ready for the big battle, warming up and practicing by using the spectators around the volleyball court as targets to smash their serves on. This TH spectator narrowly dodged a few killer strikes himself – ala the Matrix J Ok, so it wasn’t that dramatic, but the match that was to follow had all the makings of a classic Greek tragedy (seriously!)
At opposite ends of the court, Temasek supporters were cheering on our team vigorously, as where the Sheares hall supporters on the other side. As the first set kicked off, anticipation was in the air. And Temasek kicked off the match with a blistering serve point to get the points rolling. There were some excellent digging action by Luo Hui, who helped us win the first epic rally of the match in good style. After that, TH built momentum, as our girls completely ripped through the SH defence with three amazing serves in a row (sizzling!) And we were up 8-5.
We were starting to pull away, with a great partnership between Cen Ying and Lois at the offense. SH was giving back as good as it received, with some good serves of their own to keep up the pressure. Cen Ying was having an amazing day, spiking and smashing the ball over the net over and over again. Luo Hui did an amazing defense move, whacking back a scorching serve over the net which SH could not handle. Bonnie’s spike was deflected away by SH defence, but she returned the favour to keep the score at 15– 13. The game was evenly poised, when Sheares Hall started gaining on us and took the lead for the first time. But our girls kept pushing back. In fact, there was one really epic rally with over 40 hits, which left the crowd enthralled. TH won the rally!
Our girls started clawing back the points. But then… SH completely stole the set with a late flurry of points which our girls could not answer. And Sheares somehow managed to steal the first set away from us L
On to the second set. TH came back on court, encouraged by our amazing supporters! Another long drawn rally, neither side giving up… Until the killer serve by SH (No.11).
SH hit the ground running in the second set, smashing two consecutive points past us. Our girls fought back, bringing the game at a stalemate at 5-5. Unfortunately, due to some confusion between the defense players, we were having a tough time returning some of their aggressive attacks. Lois and Bonnie led the resistance, with some great work near the net to deny SH more points. After some more crazy rallies, we got a sudden boost in momentum (12- 12). The game was back on! Our girls were revitalized – and Bonnie had some super blocks and smashes to bring TH the lead finally –the first time in the second set. Some Sheares players kept making blunders by touching the net, which handed us a few neat points.
This set was still on a knife edge at 16-16, when suddenly, the SH offense kicked into high gear and bombarded us with crazy shots which we couldn’t parry back. In fact, their players often slipped the ball over the net rather sneakily (something they’ve become rather adept at doing). Cen Ying again made two amazingly fast reflex blocks to win us valuable points. After another Bonnie special spike, the suspense was killing us as the game was poised at 23-23. Uh oh… And then suddenly, before we knew it, SH slipped two points past our defenders … to somehow clinch the second set (sigh).
Come on, TH! We knew that we had to put in a real superhuman effort overturn the massive lead of two sets to nil. As our girls came back on to the court, our supporters didn’t give up hope. Another special mention for our very own ‘official’ cheer leader, Ju Rong, who was continuously cheering on the team with his magical vocal cords J
But the Sheares’ well oiled machine, fueled by IVP players, never let up on the pressure. Their monster server, No. 18 (this time I’m sure about the number 
) unleashed some killer serves. But now our team was giving a more concerted effort, trying to plug in some holes in the defense, which helped us to surge back. An SH blocker touched the net during play, but this was waved off by the Ref. Our valiant girls fought back, but SH always seemed to be a few points ahead. I guess that the extra experience of the Sheares IVP players helped them to defend against us. Despite the amazing efforts of Bonnie, Cen Ying, Lois and Co, TH just could not overturn the huge deficit that SH had built up (22-15). Our fans were hoping for a late miracle which unfortunately didn’t arrive. A collective sigh by all the TH supporters as we lost the final set.
It was such a heartbreaking time for all of us(sob L). But, as our gladiators bravely walked back on to the arena to shake the hands of the Sheares players, I’m sure that all Temasek supporters felt proud of our brave girls, who never gave up in the face of overwhelming adversity.
I’m sure there’s a lot to learn for the volleyball players from this experience. For, although we didn’t win, we gained valuable insights into how to improve to become the best next year.
Well done girls! See you next year as the champions!
By Parth