St Hilda’s end 5-year wait for C Division boys’ volleyball gold; Bukit Panjang win girls’ title

SINGAPORE – With five of their nine-man team hit by flu and fever a week before the biggest match of their season, St Hilda’s Secondary School’s volleyball team faced a huge hurdle even before the National School Games C Division boys’ final.

Up against Xinmin Secondary School at Our Tampines Hub, the illness-ravaged team were forced to field players who were not fully fit, while captain Joseph Tan missed out on the match as he had not fully recovered.

However, their woes were not reflected in the scoreline on Tuesday, as they notched a convincing 25-8, 25-20 win over their rivals to claim the school’s first volleyball gold since 2018.

Although Joseph was “envious” of his teammates, the 14-year-old was delighted to see them recapture their volleyball crown, noting that they “pulled through as a team... and I’m privileged to be a part of such an amazing team”.

Despite their struggles, St Hilda’s built a healthy lead in the first set and never looked back. Setter Jayvier Ang proved to be the key to their success, despite taking on the role just three months ago.

In a six-man volleyball team, the setter runs the team’s offence, distributes the ball to his teammates and controls the flow of the game.

Jayvier, who previously played as an opposite hitter, said he initially struggled in the new role. The 14-year-old added: “There were a few ups and downs this season. It was really hard for me to pick up all the skills and give my teammates the pass that they want.

“At first, I was afraid of making mistakes, but now I know that I’m also human, and that we are meant to make mistakes and learn from them.”

Coach Teo Siew Lan, 64, credited Jayvier for his “desire and self-motivation”, adding: “The most important thing is when he improved, he could focus on working on his skills.

“And when he sees his teammates able to spike, he has more confidence and motivation, and that’s what makes him focus.”

Vice-captain Rayn Aaryan Mohammad Fadli, 14, also stepped up, with his leadership also crucial to the win, said the coach.

While it was not the result they wanted, Xinmin captain Timothy Lim was still proud of his team for making the final, noting that “we try our hardest every training and always have the motivation to do well”.

In the C Division girls’ final, Bukit Panjang Government High School defeated Hua Yi Secondary School 25-13, 25-21 to reclaim their title – they failed to retain the gold in 2022 after losing to Nanyang Girls’ High School in the semi-finals.

The victory was also a relief for them after losing the West Zone final to Nanyang in July.

Vice-captain Eleanor Tan said: “We didn’t have the right mentality in the zonal final. We kept focusing on the points we lost rather than the next points.

“But in the national (competition), our coach told us not to think about the balls that we’ve missed but the next point instead.”

The team had a strong start but found themselves trailing in the second set as their opponents tried to force a decider. But they held on to claim a 17-16 lead before closing out the straight-set win.

Captain Valerie Lee said: “Our coach wanted us to rethink and remember how we played in the first set. And we slowly gained the points back.”