After a strong start to the IASAS tournament in Taipei, the ISB Boys’ Volleyball team came home empty-handed after a disappointing result in the playoffs.

The tournament started extremely well for the boys, coming away with a victory over ISKL in 3 sets, before a straight sets victory over JIS. Confidence was flying and a medal looked in sight for the Panthers.

“We were pretty confident that we could compete against any team and liked our chances of coming home with a medal” admitted head coach Colin Stephenson. His statements were echoed by Captain Will Rutherford (12), who stated that “heading into the tournament, our confidence was pretty high.” He attributed this to the fact the team contained “5 seniors who played regularly,” and  that the team’s “experience, paired with the natural talent and athleticism of the underclassmen suggested that this year could have in fact been a good one.”

Early results would have done little to dampen that confidence after the side dispatched their first two opponents.

“We we’re focused and fresh,” claims Junior Kevin Irwin, “We didn’t lose concentration and stopped the opponent when we did.” Coach Cameron Macky added to the statements made by his player, saying that “against [ISKL] especially, our blockers came up big and we got on a bit of a roll. That carried over into the Jakarta game.”

The Panthers were on a bit of a form streak after the first two encounters, but the stakes were set to rise against the hosts, TAS. Coming into the match with two wins out of two as well, with a particularly notable straight-sets win over SAS, the Tigers weren’t willing to give an inch on home turf.

“Facing off against more formidable competition, I think we collectively lost some of the belief that we could win the games” admits Will Rutherford. His assessment of his own role is particularly harsh by taking responsibility for the results, as he believes that “as a leader and captain as it is [his] duty to keep the team focused and confident.”

Despite the best efforts of the ISB Panthers, the TAS steamroller continued on its path to a perfect win record. “No one came close to beating TAS this year” admits Coach Macky in hindsight. Will Rutherford called their hosts “the toughest opponent that we faced.” High praise for a side which deserved their gold medals.

Next opponents on the board were ISM, another opponent who our Panthers were understandably weary of. “We just lost focus” Kevin Irwin states regretfully. “Probably a little bit due to fatigue” he added, as the side slumped to a straight sets loss over their opponents from the Philippines.

The boys faced SAS in the final encounter of the round robin, in an encounter that would decide the boys’ placing in the round robin.

“SAS, even though they were not as strong as usual, still played outstanding defense and made us work hard for every single point” explained Coach Macky. “Still, we were quite competitive against ISM and SAS and I felt that we had our chances to win both matches.” It was not to be, however, as the Panthers would come fifth to set up a meeting with ISKL in the semi-finals.

Despite having already beaten the Malaysian school previously in the tournament, the Panthers struggled against their opposition during their second encounter.

“We did not turn up until the third set” admitted Will Rutherford. “By the time we realized we were the better team, it was too late and we were outplayed.” Will also elaborated on his role as a captain, stating that he “tried to ensure that we stepped on the court with an expect-to-win attitude, but recognizing we would have to earn our points.”

“We need to get more consistent with our level of play” concluded Coach Stephenson in retrospect. “We need to develop the ability to score and earn our points rather than relying on the other team to make errors.”

Coach Macky made a similar assessment about the team’s overall performance, but added that “learning comes from examining the performance and seeing where we fell short.” He concluded with high praise of the team, stating that “our boys worked very hard throughout IASAS and gave it everything they had.”

As always, the conclusion of the tournament comes with a desire to work harder and achieve better at the next go-round.

Gian Chansrichawla