Written by: Amanda Ong
Edited by: Jared Rajiv
Photos by: EusoffWorks
Low and behold, 12th January marks the very first game for our Eusoff Male Voll(eh)ball team. Just like in Attack on Titans, these tall men (or titans) marched on to face Raffles Hall for their first match of the season!
Final Score: 3 - 0 to Eusoff
First Set: 25-20 to Eusoff
Second Set: 25-20 to Eusoff
Third Set: 25-20 to Eusoff
Here is the breakdown and highlights of the match!
In the first set, the boys put up a tough fight, resulting in an 18-5 scoreline. Many beautiful sets were made by Setter Jireh #74, which translated into beautiful spikes, with notable ones made by Pin An #28. A clean spike right into the gaps between the Raffles opponents. Middle Blocker Sihern also shut out some spikes from Raffles, tallying up more points in this set. But alas, Raffles started to make a comeback. 20-13 to EH. A quick by Alvin, 22-16 to EH. And another spike by Zu Le, 23-16 to EH. This close set has everyone on the edge of their seats, fervently cheering on their teams and inspiring some World Cup predictions. A serve by Alvin also found itself colliding with the face of a Raffles player and OVER the net, driving the crowd wild by the unintentional assist and point, 24-18 to EH. Tiny errors by the team gave way to Raffles to catch up, but timeouts and pep talks from their coach Pei Jie helped the team to regroup and come back stronger. Bringing it home for Eusoff was an insane spike from Pin An, breaking through an amazing defense by the Raffles Team, drawing the end of the first set with a 25-20.
Poetry in motion, as Jireh looks to give another pristine set to Zule
The second set started with the following players in court: Xinlong, Pin An, Alvin, Sihern, Jireh and Daryl. Starting the set with a beautiful flick by Alvin and a clean spike by Pin An, sets the team up 4-1. Together, the team held up a good defense, rallying the ball until a Raffles player spiked it out. With everyone on court having each other’s back, the team played on with gusto. Quick ball by Alvin. 9-3 to EH. Good play by Daryl. Some points lost in serving but the boys go again. Line spike by Xinlong earns a point. Zhi Yuan subs Alvin. Daryl wins the point with a spike. Followed by a nice two men block by Zhi Yuan and Pin An, 19-10 to EH. Notable defence by Raffles but even better spiking from our Eusoff Team finds the scoreline at 21-11 to EH. A nice spike by Vice-Captain Pin An beats the block. 22-12 to EH. Jireh blocks a ball, 23-12 to EH. After a timeout by Raffles, our opponents were all fired up, picking up the score to a 24-19 to EH. But the set ended with Raffles’ serve into the net. 25-20 to Eusoff!
Captain Xinlong calmly receives the ball up with perfect form
Third Set sees a rendition of Haikyuu by the Eusoff Team. Starting off with a service ace, wait DOUBLE service ace. With spectator Matt commenting that it’s just like the anime (Haikyuu, of course). The score was equalised by Raffles, 3-3. A close and intense game is always the thrill in the anime. With a beautiful connection between Jireh and Sihern, two-thirds of the VJ Freshie Trinity, finds the score at 4-3 to EH. But Raffles was going hard in this set, constantly equalising with Eusoff as our team held out a good defense. From 4-4 to 8-8 to 11-11. Spikes and service ace were served but mistakes like rotation error and service into net gave way to Raffles and they caught up. The VJ connection from the freshies were at play again, leading to a 12-12. Jireh wins another point and a block out by Pin An pulls us just away at 16-15 to EH. Khan makes an appearance on court. At 22-17 to EH, Raffles makes a service ace, threatening a comeback. Commentator Jerica notes that it is a mental game at this pivotal moment as the pressure is on, 22-19 to EH. With a block out by Xinlong, 23-20 to EH. Jireh follows with a service ace, 24-20 to EH. Timeout called by Raffles to disrupt the flow as the match point is about to be played. Alas, match point was secured with our defense showing off a tall block, intimidating the opponent into spiking into the net.
Despite a funny start to the day, with the boys forgetting to bring their volleyball balls with them to UTSH, they still ended the game off with a W, 3-0 win over Raffles Hall. Good job and rest well athletes! Catch their next match in UTSH1, 17/1 Tuesday against KE7 at 7pm!
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