Spike and Strike: Go Eagles!

Anson Chin

The crowd goes wild as Dalat Eagles win their game against Heng Ee. The whole stadium was filled with joy and had an amazing atmosphere to it. But without the help of Benjamin Finlay’s (12) and Woo Young Chung’s (12) amazing cheering, the stadium’s atmosphere would have been really different.

The varsity team won the first set against Heng Ee with a comfortable 10 point lead against them. The team was elated at this first set win. They went into the second set with a confident mindset. Hasung Cho (12) said, “After the first set they walked onto the court pumped and confident.”

The second set, however, was not the same story. The Heng Ee team, boosted by a pep talk by their coach, upped their game against the boys. Both teams traded points against each other, but in the end, Heng Ee pulled out a lead and won the second set by 6 points. Understandably, the team was frustrated and dejected at the loss.

In the period before the third set, the varsity boys’ coach, Mr. Roylance, motivated the team by saying, “Reset, and let's get the third set and win this one.” However, it was the crowd that truly motivated the boys. Ben and Woo Young, seeing the boys look unmotivated, started to lead the crowd by initiating cheers.

Every point in the third set was cheered on enthusiastically by the crowd. Halfway through the third set, the boys were leading by two points. The boys continued to play hard and smart until it was game point. With a 4 point lead by Heng Ee, however, the boys lost focus…until Woo Young and Ben again led the crowd on with a football cheer. It was infectious and the whole stadium was soon following the cheer. The boys, inspired by this change of mood and atmosphere, played a phenomenal point to ultimately win against Heng Ee.