Hi Tigers Sports Fan,
Today was the 2nd and final day of SCISAC volleyball action here in Taichung. Let’s give you an update as to what happened with our teams in today’s action:
Boys
The boys wrapped up their preliminary round segment of the tournament with a tough test versus XIS. The boys battled hard in the first set and built a big lead mid-way through the set. Despite leading through much of the first set, XIS rallied late for a 25-20 victory. Perhaps still distracted by the XIS comeback, the boys never fully recovered and lost the 2nd set to XIS after being bombarded with tough serving all set.
With the loss, the Tigers needed some help from HKA match against LIS in order to advance into the playoffs. However, as fate would have it this year, it was not to be and the boys were placed into the 5th vs 6th seeding game.
Still with pride and redemption to play for, the boys put together a strong effort against HKA. The team was led by captain Mike Lin and the strong serving of returning players Kenneth Lo and Sunny Lei. The match was a back and forth affair the whole way, with each team splitting the first 2 sets at 1-1. The Tigers finally took control in the 3rd set winning the set and match 2-1. At the tournament-end banquet, Jacky Ao Ieong was awarded the Play Hard, Play Fair Award for the TIS boys.
Good effort this year boys and there is sure to be an exciting future ahead for this young team.
Girls
The girls wrapped the preliminary round with 2 more games against ICA and XIS
. The girls hit the ground running with a resounding victory over ICA, proving that their domination from Day 1 was no fluke. The Tigers roared to a 25-14, 25-10 win. The team was led by Lauren Baker in the serving game with 6 aces whilst implementing her jump float serve. Alvina Cho chipped in with 3 kills with Dalia De Pina leading the way with 6 assists.
Having secured the 1st seed with the win over ICA, the team decided to rest many of their starters in their final game against XIS. Despite the starters being given a rest, the team showcased their depth by pounding XIS 25-10, 25-12. One of the girl’s most promising rising stars, Trinity Krakora, chipped in with 3 kills while Emily Varga, having been moved to the setter position was an offensive juggernaut, racking up 3 kills to go along with 4 assists. The girls ran the table in the preliminary round, going undefeated and winning every set by a margin of 11 or greater.
With superb results from the preliminary round, the team wound up in the favourable 1st vs 2nd playoff match which was the best route through the playoff rounds as a single loss would not have resulted in an immediate elimination. The girls were set to square off against HKA again with a direct berth into the finals on the line
. Despite a vastly improved effort from HKA, the girls still had a tight grasp of the game winning the match 25-14, and 25-19. Nicole Krause lead the way offensively with 3 kills and 6 aces. Alison Tang distributed the ball beautifully as the setter, picking up 9 assists. Defensively, libero Danica Ng was at the receiving end of many of HKA’s serves yet only committed 1 overpass on nearly a dozen receive attempts. She was also great with tip coverage during the long rallies in the match.
Having secured the direct entry into the finals, TIS patiently awaited the semifinal winner, which just so happened to be HKA who managed to beat XIS for the only other entry into the finals. The stage was set for the 3rd and final clash of the top seeds of the tournament.
The girls dominated the first set of the finals, taking a commanding lead midway through the set and took the set 25-16. The stage seemed set for TIS to win the tournament with a perfect record but HKA had other plans. The HKA girls hung tough with the Tigers and took advantage of a few consecutive miscues on the Tigers’ serve receive to take a late 23-22 lead. Despite the Tigers expending their last timeout, the HKA defense held firm and took the set 25-22.
In a situation eerily similar to the finals from SCISAC 2013, the Tigers were stunned to find themselves one more set loss away from failing to defend their SCISAC title. A team that absolutely steam-rolled all their competition in the preliminary rounds faced an outcome nobody would have thought possible mere hours earlier. Carrying on the momentum from the 2nd set win, HKA jumped out to a 4-2 lead and really put the pressure on the Tigers. After a critical side-out, the Tigers put the ball in the hands of Nicole Krause. With a serve that intimidates male volleyball players above her age group, Nicole rolled off 8 consecutive service points put help the Tigers build a big 11-4 lead. The Tigers reclaimed the momentum and had success in immediately siding out before team captain Alison Tang delivered 3 precisely placed serves to win the set and match for the Tigers 25-16, 22-25, and 15-5.
At the awards banquet, team captain Alison Tang was awarded the Play Hard, Play Fair Award for the TIS girls.
Congratulations to both of the teams! The boys battled tough all tournament long with everything seeming to work against their favour and received a well earned 5th place finish. For Coach Liu and the girls team, it was mission accomplished for a year-long goal of defending their SCISAC crown. Thank you for your support of the TIS junior volleyball teams during their team here in Taichung for the 2014 SCISAC tournament. Go Tigers!
