It’s Not the Destination, It’s the Journey

By Mark Ho

 

During the week of Oct 16-18, Dalat hosted the boys volleyball ACSC, the biggest event of the season. This year, the varsity volleyball boys had it on our home court. There were six schools, including Dalat, that participated in the tournament. Schools like Grace International School, Faith Academy, ICS Bangkok, Yongsan International School, and SPH. All of them came from different parts of Asia.

Throughout the tournament, Dalat fought hard but came short of their own expectations. “Our team’s goal before ACSC was to try to come in either 2nd or 3rd place. We fought as hard as we could and tried our very best in every game we played,” explained Luke Ng (12). 

After playing through the round-robin and the playoff bracket, the boys came 5th. Despite this, they could have easily been higher as most of the games were close, only losing by 3 or 4 points. One of these games was against Faith, where the Dalat boys lost a set 27-29. 

Outside hitter Benjamin Yeoh (12) said, “Of course I felt disappointed that we weren’t able to close the game but it was still a great experience playing such a close game with the home crowd supporting us.” 

After going through the round-robin, Dalat was against Faith again in the double-elimination bracket. Unfortunately, they lost both sets 21-25 and 22-25. Now, the Dalat boys were in the loser’s bracket; one more loss and they wouldn’t be able to advance any further.

This time, Dalat would play ICS BKK. After losing the first set 21-25, the boys were determined to tie it up. In the second set, Dalat was down by 5 points, and the score was 14-19. After a timeout called by Coach Roylance, the boys quickly bounced back and tied the score 19-19. However, ICS continued to fight back and the game ended in their favor 25-23. This meant that Dalat’s run was basically over, and they would be playing for 5th place the next day. 

Benjamin Yeoh (12) said, “I’m not sad about the loss, I’m sad that my first season in volleyball is my last.” Many of the seniors on the team agreed with this. Covid prevented the seniors from participating in team sports for two years.

Apart from the volleyball games, ACSC week included other activities for the players. They got to tour Georgetown with the Dalat students as tour guides. ACSC was not just about playing the sport but also about getting to know other teams and hanging out with them. Many participants said they enjoyed spending time with the other teams and making new friends. 

Luke Ng (12) said, “Even though we failed to reach our goal, there were many other benefits that came out of the ACSC competition. We were able to connect with the players from the other teams during the night that we went to Georgetown, and from this, we were able to form new friendships that would hopefully carry on into our future.”

Although the Dalat boys got 5th, the team still viewed it as a great experience and really enjoyed it. 

Adam Lim (12) said, “We were also able to bond with each other as a team through the games that we played and continue to strengthen our friendship.” 

Aaron Andrews (9), the only freshman on the team, added, “Even if the skill of the team next year gets better, it won’t feel the same with the seniors gone.” Overall, it was an excellent end to the season, with players putting in the time and effort to improve their volleyball together.