Temasek Polytechnic, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 – Singapore Institute of Management men’s volleyball team will look to compete in the 2009 Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic Games’ finals.

The team powered their way through to the final without losing a set, defeating Singapore Management University 3-0 in the semi-finals yesterday.

In the third set, the Singapore Management University team kept the game tight, but lost on several faults. The Singapore Institute of Management team won 25-21.

“SIM has a very strong team, with two very good players,” said Lim Poh Soon, coach for the Singapore Management University men’s volleyball team.

“Most of their players were previously national youth players,” he said. “Most of my players are relatively new to the game and we have not been training much either, actually four times before the IVP Games only.”

With a team made up of experienced players who have had won medals at National Inter-School A Divison Volleyball Championship and IVP Games, Singapore Institute of Management took control of the game from the start as their opponents paid for a lack of organisation.

As if having weak organisation is not detrimental enough, the team did not have a good setter.

“Having a good setter is very important to the game,” said Lim. “A good setter is someone we do not have at the moment.”

Though there were flashes of good volleyball displayed by the Singapore Management University team, they were unsuccessful at blocking some very powerful spikes from their opponent.

Previously a national youth player, Jonas Su is known for his powerful yet effective spikes and is regarded the best player of the Singapore Institute of Management team.

Su, together with his fellow team player, Daniel Chua, both qualified coaches provide training for their own team members.

In preparation for the finals, Su and Chua will continue to work together with their team members to streamline their strategies.