At 8:00 pm on April 22, 2021, at the Yunyuan Gymnasium, the Volleyball League of the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) came to a successful conclusion. The Men's Volleyball team from the School of Energy and Power Engineering (EPE) won the champion in the "HUST Cup" men's team with a score of 3:0 as against its opponent from the School of Mechanical Science & Engineering.
In the first game of the final, both sides slowly came into their own after a foul shot for each, with the offensive advantage of the team from EPE (the former team) gradually shown. Following the excellent performance of the No. 10 player and the back row attack, the former men's team soon took the lead with a score of 9:4; while its opponent team was forced to call timeouts for two consecutive times. Since then, the former team proceeded steadily and surely, and meanwhile, its opponent also made an adjustment in time and scored many counterattacks. The former team also called a suspension for keeping its morale. In the volleying, the former team made fewer mistakes and did a better job in block and defense; and it won the first round at 25:18.
At the beginning of the game, the situation on the court was quite worrying, during which the No. 9 player from the former team himself successfully blocked, winning uproarious applause from everyone present. In the middle of the game, the first passer of the opponent team made mistakes one after another under the impact of the strong service from the former team, resulting in net when the block was about to score, with the score gap getting quite large. The former team became even more cautious thereafter in the game: its coach called a timeout when the scores were about to turn even, and the No. 15 player, middle blocker, scored a number of points cleanly, successfully suppressing the momentum of its opponent's counterattack. In the end, the former team kept making great efforts and won the second game at 25:17.
In the third game, the former team performed even better while keeping its high morale from the second game. The No. 9 player adjusted his offense many times. At the same time, the setter of the opponent team was unsteady in performance, with the ball passed close to the net, hard to receive, resulting in a score at 14:5, with the former team taking the lead. However, when the opponent team of slow reaction recovered after a timeout, its player No. 3 scored consecutively. In the case that the former team couldn't block, its coach called for timeout twice for redeployment. On the other hand, the opponent team scored more and more with the alternating good performance of its players No. 3 and No. 16. However, the setter of the former team, player No. 3, got physically tired somewhat: every time he blocked, it's quite difficult for him to adjust and pass after running. Then player No. 11 actively shared the pass task when the back row received the ball. But the scores were still getting closer one by one. To disrupt the opponent's serving rhythm with no timeout, the bench setter No. 8 of the former team, who reappeared at the critical moment of 24:23, came onto the court as a replacement to free the chief setter. As the opponent team had a receive miss, the former team won the game narrowly with a score of 26:24 and a total score of 3:0.
More than 400 students from 42 male and female teams representing diverse schools participated in this competition, with the teams from EPE winning the team competition and got included in the top eight with the first place among the teams, successively defeating that from the School of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering at 2:0 and 2:1 in succession. The Men's Volleyball Team of EPE has won the championship in 2016 and 2019, and continued the rank this time with a record sweeping the board.
Whether it's scorching hot or in severe cold, these players of vigorous figures would exercise on the volleyball court in the West Playground. The No. 17 player, middle blocker and young player, was so calm even though he had never been in the finals. They have been of solid basic skills through hard training, flexible ball handling capabilities through constant thinking, and incomparable tacit understanding through frequent exchanges. Volleyball brings them ability, challenge and tacit understanding.
"Volleyball is not only a pleasure for us, but also a responsibility, a spirit of our team. On this side of the net stand our teammates, fully trustworthy, who would rush desperately to rescue balls, and nothing can stop them from moving forward whether it is injury, cramps, or fatigue."
