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From October 19 to 23, the boys varsity volleyball team travelled to Hanoi to attend the Volleyball Super APAC (Asian Pacific Athletics Conference) Tournament, which was organized by the United Nations International School of Hanoi. Unlike annual APAC tournaments, which include 6 teams and is held separately into two conferences, Super APAC tournaments include all 12 schools registered in APAC. The 12 schools are Brent International School of Manila (BISM), Shanghai American School of Pudong (SASPD), Shanghai American School of Puxi (SASPX), Taejon Christian International School (TCIS), Seoul Foreign School (SFS), Concordia International School Shanghai (CISS), United Nations International School of Hanoi (UNIS), International School of Beijing (ISB), Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), Canadian Academy (CA), Hong Kong International School (HKIS) and American International School of Guangzhou (AISG).
Prior to the team’s departure to Hanoi, the boys were able to clinch first place in the Guangzhou International School Athletic Conference (GISAC) Tournament and League, remaining undefeated throughout the season. The boys hoped to carry on the positive energy to Hanoi.
After one day of rest, the tournament commenced with a warm welcome from the director of activities of UNIS, Tarique AL-Iesa, and a few eye-opening dance performances from the elementary school kids and from a high school drummer. In his opening speech, Tarique AL-Iesa emphasized the importance of this tournament as it is an optimal opportunity to have students from diverse backgrounds socialize and reach further within the community.
The first match of the tournament was AISG against TCIS. After dominating the first set with minimal numbers of mistakes, the game potentially seemed like it would help the boys gain their first win of the tournament. However, it was too early to celebrate. After losing the first set by a big margin, TCIS recomposed themselves and defeated AISG by scoring 25 points before AISG scored a double digit score. Starting from the second set, TCIS’s specialty — impressive defense — stood out as their defense was virtually impermeable. Subsequently, the winner of the final third set was TCIS as they were able to carry on the momentum from the second set. The boys lost their first match by a set score of 2-1. Not a terrible start.
Our boy’s second match of the day was against HKIS and any sign of lack of energy from their first defeat was no longer evident as they mercilessly overpowered their opponent, securing their 2-0 victory. The final match of the day was against SFS, a top 3 contender, as they were undefeated. Throughout the tournament, SFS was known for their efficient usage of middle blockers for attack and as expected, our boys struggled blocking their middle blocker. However, the boys did not give up and fought back with tenacity but were unable to come back from the large point deficit. Additionally, fatigue from playing the whole day had a major effect on our boys. Like that, the first day of the Super APAC Volleyball ended with 1 win and 2 losses for our boys.
On the second day, there were two group matches scheduled for our boys: CISS and UNIS. In the match against UNIS, our boys played with great effort as the loss from the previous day acted as strong motivation. As a result, the boys were able to clinch the win against UNIS in 2 sets. After their sweet victory, the boys went head to head against CISS. The game against CISS was a long-fought game as the game needed 3 sets to determine who the winner would be. With intense rallies and endless deuces happening, the atmosphere of the gymnasium intensified. In the final set, our boys were down by more than 10 points and they miraculously managed to come back and tie the set. The miraculous comeback boosted our boys morale as it pushed them to win the game by a set score of 2-1. The scores of the three sets— 25:23, 24:26, 26:24— shows how hardly earned their victory was. After their victory, Andy Jeong (11), the boys team’s libero, was “impressed by how the team did not give up even when the opponent was pushing [them] to the edge of the cliff.” Also, he could not help but express the importance of winning this match as “it showed what [they] are truly capable of doing.” By finishing their last group stage match with a successful victory, the boys had 3 wins and 2 losses in total, and were able to secure the 3rd seed in the Pacific Division, a satisfactory result. By doing so, the boys were qualified in the playoffs and were guaranteed at least 8th place.
Starting from the playoffs, matches were played out of 5 teams, and the teams who would lose were eliminated, meaning that they would no longer be able to advance higher in ranking. Our boys’ first opponent in the playoffs was SASPX, a very well organized team striving for the championship this year. In contrast to our team, which did not have any seniors, the SASPX’s starting 6 was mostly formed by seniors. Our boys clearly lacked in big tournament experiences. However, our spirit and passion to win did not lack. Even against SASPX’s various kinds of attacks, the boys were not discouraged as they fought back every single point by hustling. Especially in the 3rd set, the boys tenaciously hustled for the ball and did not show any sign of discouragement against a strong opponent. Unfortunately, the boys ended up losing the match 3:0. Despite the disappointment, the boys recomposed themselves and were determined to perform better in the 5th to 8th playoffs.
In the 5th to 8th playoffs, the boys was victorious in their first game against ISB as they swept their opponent with a set score of 3:0. After the win against ISB, the boys would meet CISS again for their final match of the season to compete for the fifth and sixth spot out of 12 schools. Since the boys previously defeated CISS in the group stage, the boys went on the court with solid confidence. However, CISS turned out to be the winner of the rematch and the boys lost 3:1, taking the 6th place spot in the tournament over our boys. Inarguably, the season was a huge success as 6th place is the best record our boys volleyball team has ever done in a Super APAC Tournament. After their defeat, our boys were not disheartened but were excited for next year’s APAC. Daniel Park (10), the team’s opposite hitter, emphasized how “all the main players of other APAC schools are mostly seniors and [how] they will be not be present in next year’s APAC. He was thrilled by how “there are no current seniors in [their] team, which means that [their] team can keep this roster and improve upon it for next year.”
The final of this year’s Super APAC was essentially a rematch from last year’s APAC Tournament: BISM against SASPX. The result of the finals was identical as last year as BISM won the championship in a hard fought game consisting of 4 sets. In the award ceremony, Javin Liu (Junior) received the honor of being a member of the All-APAC team of the tournament. The end of the Super APAC tournament marked the end of the boys’ 3 month long season. The boys achieved an unprecedented school record as the previous best performance in this tournament was 11th place. With such a great improvement from years ago, the future of the boys volleyball is brighter than it has ever been.
The boys’ volleyball team would like to express their immense gratitude to their coach, Adam Tomassen, who has led the team for 3 years and who would not hesitate to sacrifice his own time to schedule practices. Alongside, the boys would like to thank Mr. Elliot and Ms. Michelle for organizing transportations and game schedules throughout the season.
For further details regarding the tournament, please visit Super APAC Boys Volleyball. For match videos, please visit UNIS Hanoi Co-Curricular Youtube Channel.
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