On Tuesday, we were up against 36, who couldn't handle the serves, so all the reserves got substituted excpet me. BOO. PC 3 took over as the setter. The second match was against ARMCEG, which was a very stable team. They had NY's vball cap Xuan You, whom I hadn't seen play volleyball since J1 and he was really good. His playing style is pretty cool and he'd stop at nothing to get the ball. We lost the first game to them and that was when Master Ang stepped in and led us to win the subsequent games against ARMCEG. In two days I've sat through more volleyball matches than I ever witnessed in the past 4 years, so I really got to learn a lot. Every night before I slept, images of the volleyball being served, spiked and saved ran through my mind endlessly.
We had our final match on Wednesday. It was quite funny because we thought it'd be in the morning so we got there at 0730hrs. After warming up for awhile, we realised that none of the other teams were present and when we asked PC 3, he told us that our match was at 1330hrs! In the end we spent the morning playing casually. I'm usually quite nervous when playing so it was kind of cool to just play for fun and gain experience at the same time. The guys were all very encouraging, and they made me feel like part of the team (which is the first time I'm in ANY team), and that was cool. PC 3 came to serve a few balls while Jun Yong, Daniel and I stood on the other side to try to hit the ball to Samuel who'd set for someone to spike.
We ate our lunch at 1115 and the finals 3rd and 4th place were played and ARMCEG won. When it came to us against 35, our people from our unit came in the give their support. I suppose it was a good thing but it did make the guys a bit more nervous as well.
I warmed-up with Daniel in the presence of our platoon and it was quite... scary for me even. It was kinda hilarious that whenever he went close to them to pick up the ball, there'd make a hell lot of noise for him. Quite the celebrity, Mr Goh.
In our first game with 35 (best-of-5), we lost quite badly. I was in disbelief because their standard of playing was much higher the previous day when they played with ARMCEG. Everyone was quite disappointed but judging from our team's playing pattern, we always became better in subsequent matches. Also, there was this very good player from the 35, who serves like he's spiking and his spike was really pretty powerful. I became really worked up when they lost by a little in the second round. It was only during the third that we managed to win 1. Therefore to win the entire thing, we'd have to win the next 2 matches. However, when it came to the fourth game, the aforementioned player got a lead for his team when he got to stand at the front again. In the earlier part of the match, the points were pretty even, and no one could predict who'd win.
Well, I was sad for the team because I thought we didn't deserve to lose. A lot of people were saying that because 35 had that star player, they had a much better chance at winning anyway. But of course I feel otherwise because our team had a much more stable and matured group of players than theirs. It would have been nicer to see a more even game but we had a lot of missed opportunities while they were very alert and their teamwork was so good that they got most of the balls we fang over. There was even one point where they didn't manage to hit the ball over the net. The ball was rolling on the net for a good 3 seconds before it fell over to their side but they picked up from there and managed to hit the ball over.
There were 10 trophies but 11 of us. I really didn't want to go up and take the trophy because I really didn't deserve it. I was happy enough to be able to share the team's glory when they won, cheered when they scored and see their skills during the match. However Master Ang asked us all to receive it and said that he's got a lot of trophies already. After all that, CO came to congratulate us on getting 2nd place, and asked us if we had anything to add. At that point of time I wanted to thank Master Ang for guiding us through the matches, because without him, we might not have won ARMCEG and everyone might not have played to their fullest potential.
After watching the entire team play so hard, there are some things that stay stuck in my mind. Images of the game. Like how Jiaming would arch his back slightly when he serves (killer), how PC 3 said, "Ba di yi li qiu jie qi lai!" during the last match, the way Samuel spikes with his left hand, the way Yi Liang manages to set the fiercest of balls to the setter no matter what, the way Si Ming jumps (combined with his height) to spike... It was pretty insane, watching all of them play with fluid motion. I'm just happy enough that I got a chance to watch it all, and yeah, they were really really good. There are so many things that I can remember from the matches (like the way No.2 from ARMCEG likes to say "Zhu yi di yi li!" which we went on the mimic when we were playing around), and how Humphrey, no.17, was a pretty unique name and also a good spiker from 35.
It is with a tinge of sadness that all this was over in a mere matter of three days (I could carry on watching for a month and not be bored and of course I got to miss SK), and that we didn't get champ, but at the same time, these three days are one of my most memorable times I've spent in army. The times where we went to eat lunch and dinner before others, we didn't have to wear long 4 for the entire 3 days, all the times before every match where we'd say 39! Oei! and go on to win spectacularly. (And there was one when Master Ang accidently said 36 and we were stunned. He used to be from 36 instead of 39!)
Really really very honoured that I was in their presence, and got to make friends with such cool people.
To the team: Master Ang, Yi Liang (fellow NYJCian and our cap), Jiaming (also NYJCian, senior), Samuel, Siming, LTA Lee (PC3), Kian Guan, Jun Yong, Daniel G and Shawn.
Thanks for the helluva experience that I'll never forget.
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