USTC: USTC Volleyball Teams Set a Record of Two Silvers

The USTC men’s and women’s volleyball teams emerged as the silver medal winners in the Anhui Province Student Sports League respectively, setting a record in USTC’s history of the event.

This competition was divided into Division A, B, and C depending on players’ level, and both men’s and women’s teams, led by coach SI Youzhi and CUI Xia respectively, took part in Division A. The 28-team event lasted from December 3rd to 8th.

The first round of the game saw both teams’ cohesion and timely-adjusted tactics. The men’s and women’s teams entered the quarterfinals through their solid defense and hard offense.

The men’s team met the defending champion—the team from Anhui Agricultural University—in the quarterfinal round. Before this game, the two teams had a friendly match. Although the USTC lost that game at the time, they got three easy wins and secured a victory this time. The women’s team also claimed another victory through the match with Anhui University of Technology.

In the semifinals, USTC men’s team pocketed its fifth win after beating Anhui Medical University 3-0. The women’s team took on Anhui Normal University (ANU) again, a rival to whom USTC got its first loss in the first round of the game. This time, however, ANU, after a brief lead, failed to stop USTC’s strong attack and lost the match. Both of the USTC volleyball teams made it to the finals.

USTC men’s and women’s teams, however, suffered losses to Anhui University of Chinese Medicine (AUCM) and Hefei University of Technology respectively in the finals. The men’s team got off with a good start under AUCM’s fierce attack and evened the match in the fourth set after losing two sets. But the players succumbed to their declining strength and got a narrow loss eventually. Similarly, the women’s team took the lead by winning the first set but failed to retain it in the following sets due to a lack of strength. Both teams ended up in second place.

Never give up till the ball lands—this is an idea the USTC volleyball teams have been holding. The members, despite pains or sweat, express their love and passion through perseverance and teamwork.