Bang Na – The Seahawk Volleyball Program took a giant leap forward in earning the respect of Bangkok’s premiere international school athletic programs, garnering a rare championship sweep at the 2012 Bangkok Patana U17 Volleyball Invitational this weekend. Both the boys and girls teams brought home the gold, despite representing the smallest school in a tournament field that included some of the top schools in Bangkok, including host school Bangkok Patana, �ۿ۴�ý, Ruamrudee International School, International Community School, NIST, and the American School of Bangkok.

In the boys tourney, Wells had an early start, facing NIST in their first match. Starting out strong, the Seahawks were able to withstand several Falcon surges to win in straight sets, 2-0 (25-22, 25-18). The Seahawks were able to carry their intensity through to the second match, soundly defeating the Phoenix from Ruamrudee, 2-0 (25-16, 25-16), and securing a berth in the play-offs.

In the semi-finals, the boys faced their toughest challenge to that point, facing the Panthers of ISB. After a series of lead changes in game 1, the game was tied at 23-23 before Wells was able to pull away to win by two, 25-23. With that close game serving as a wake-up call, the Seahawks roared back to life, taking game two 25-13, and earning a spot in the championship game against NIST who defeated ICS, 2-0, in the other semi-final match up.

Having already defeated NIST in pool play, Wells had the confidence needed to build an insurmountable lead early in game 1 of the championship match, leading to a lopsided 25-10 win for the Seahawks. However, the Falcons refused to give up, putting up a fight in game two to make it a bit closer. Nonetheless, the hunger for their first championship was much too strong as the Seahawks held on for a 25-21 win, earning gold for the school’s volleyball program for the first time in its short history.

Not to be upstaged by the boys, the Lady Seahawks were also able to make it to the play-offs with a big win over Bangkok Patana, 2-0 (25-12, 25-8), and a split-set win over NIST, 2-1 (25-18, 21-25, 17-15).

However, the girls had a much tougher road ahead of them. In the semi-finals, Wells found itself backed against the wall as the Lady Panthers of ISB took charge of the match at the onset, winning game 1 easily 25-18. However, the Lady Seahawks refused to submit, dominating the second game 25-11 and moving on the finals with a win in the tie-breaker, 15-12.

As in the semi-final match, Wells put themselves in a hole in the finals, dropping game 1 to NIST, 22-25, and falling behind early in game 2. However, with the sideline urging them on, the girls stormed back to steal game two, 25-22. With everything on the line, both teams traded points with the lead see-sawing back and forth for most of the game. However, a late run of strong serving allowed the Seahawks to prevail, giving Wells a sweep of the tourney championships.

A member of TISAC, Wells Seahawks has been competing regularly with the larger schools as no other team in the conference currently has a formal volleyball program. The school hopes to change this as it plans to host, on a trial basis, the first TISAC volleyball tournament later in the school year. More photos of the tournament can be viewed on our .

GO SEAHAWKS!

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The JV Boys Volleyball Team continues to face the bigger teams of BISAC, beginning with an away game at Ekamai International School. Despite taking a quick 2-0 lead, the young Seahawks could not put it away as the host Flames roared back to win three games in a row to take the match 3-2. Similarly, inconsistency and inexperience took its toll against the Lions of Harrow International School with Wells once again dropping a close match 3-2. The Seahawks were finally able to get back into the win column with a single match during the mid-term break against the Wolves of Ramkamhaeng Adventist International School. Heroics from freshman reserve Sitibhum “Tenn” Chaiwatnarathorn and Thapadit “Oxygen” Suksakorn helped the Seahawks fend off 8 game points to steal games 1 and 3 away from the Wolves, on their way to a 3-1 win.

Also seeing action was the JV Girls Volleyball Team with a home game versus Ekamai International School. Despite showing steady improvement since the beginning of the season, the Lady Seahawks were no match for the older and more experienced Flames, losing 3-0.

The lone basketball game came just before the mid-term break with the Senior Girls hosting Regents International School. Every player on the host team had a chance to play as the Lady Seahawks dominated the game from the start and cruised to a 26-8 victory.

The Seahawks come back from break with a heavy slate of both basketball and volleyball games. The Boys JV Volleyball team stays home to take on BISAC heavyweights Bangkok Pattana (Monday) and Harrow (Thursday), while the volleyball girls take a break. In basketball, Wells takes on St. Andrew’s (U11 Coed, U15 Boys, U15 Girls), BCIS (U11 Coed, U15 Boys, U15 Girls), and St. Stephen’s (Senior Boys, Senior Girls).

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This week was dominated by volleyball as both boys and girls JV teams continued their inaugural year facing the much bigger schools of BISAC.

On Monday, the JV Boys Volleyball Team played in front of the home crowd for the first time as they took on the Falcons from NIST. Earlier in the season, our young Seahawks visited NIST and caught the taller and much more experienced hosts by surprise, beating the Falcons 3-2. However, this time it was the Seahawks’ turn to have their tail feathers plucked as the visiting team’s consistent play bulldozed its way to a 3-1 win.

The JV Girls Volleyball Team traveled to Bangna to face the Eagles of ASB. Despite much improved play and actually reaching set point twice, the Lady Seahawks eventually succumbed to their hosts 3-0.

A triple header of sports took place on Thursday with the JV Boys Volleyball continuing play against the Phoenix of Ruamrudee. Behind intense and consistent play, excellent communication and solid fundamentals, the Seahawks quickly jumped to a quick lead in game 1 on its way to an impressive 25-17 win. Nonetheless, the inexperience of this young team quickly reared its ugly head as a series of mistakes flustered the team into a downward spiral resulting in three quick wins for the Phoenix. Wells picked up its second game with a consolation 5^th set, to finish the day at 2-3.

Closer to home, the U13 Boys Basketball Team continued its romp through the TISAC season with another blowout win, this time against a hapless Bangkok Prep team. A stifling defense resulted in numerous fast break opportunities and, despite mediocre shooting, an easy 21-8 win.

In a much tighter match, the U13 Girls Basketball Team was able to get back in the winning column against what seemed to be a one-girl-team in Bangkok Prep. A 32-minute defensive battle made every shot count. However, Wells balanced attack was just enough to outscore Prep by a single point, 12-11.

The upcoming week has four scheduled games, two away and two at home. The Boys JV Volleyball Team has pair of games, playing at Ekamai International School on Tuesday and at Harrow on Thursday. The Girls JV Volleyball Team has a home game on Wednesday against Ekamai, and the Senior Girls Basketball Team has a home game on Thursday against Regents.

GO SEAHAWKS!!!

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KHAO YAI, NAKHON RATCHASSIMA – Fresh off a stunning upset in boys volleyball against New International School of Thailand (NIST) of the Bangkok International School Athletic Conference (BISAC), the �ۿ۴�ý Seahawks continued to assert themselves as a major force to contend with in interscholastic sports even amongst Thailand’s largest international schools.

Not taking any breaks after their TISAC opener the day before, the U15 Boys and Girls took their first ever out-of-town road trip, participating in the 2010 St. Stephen’s Khao Yai Invitational Basketball Tournament, held in Nakhon Ratchassima from October 1st to 3rd. Featured in the tournament were BISAC powerhouses Harrow International School (Boys) and Thai-Chinese International School (TCIS), along with fellow BISAC members Traill International School and Shrewsbury (Girls). Also entering the tournament were St. Andrew’s International School – Sathorn Campus and, of course, the host school, St. Stephen’s International School – Khao Yai.

In what turned out to be yet another classic battle between David and Goliath, the U15 Boys Basketball Team fought its way to the championship game, facing the Lions from Harrow International School. Despite suffering an early blow-out loss to the Lions, 30-12, in pool play, the Seahawks were able beat TCIS by one point, and blow out Traill, St. Andrew’s and host St. Stephen’s Khao Yai, to earn the number two spot in the championship game.

Not willing to squander a chance to redeem themselves, the Seahawks started the final game strong, taking an early lead behind the aggressive shooting of freshmen Chayut “Van” Chayutti and Sitibhum “Tenn” Chaiwatnarathorn. However, the Lions clawed their way back into the game, eventually overtaking Wells to a 15-13 lead with just a few minutes left in the fourth quarter. But the Seahawks refused to give up. A last minute offensive surge propelled Wells ahead 17-15 as the clock ticked down to zero. However, much to the dismay of a prematurely celebrating Seahawk crowd, a shooting foul was called against Wells with no time left, allowing Harrow one last chance to tie up the game. And, in dramatic fashion, the Lions showed their mettle, sinking both free throws to knot up the score at 17-17, forcing the game into overtime.

In the 5-minute extra period, veteran captain Yueh Ting “Kevin” Han decided to take charge of his team, forcing two quick steals to put Wells up 20-17 after an easy layup and 1 of 2 foul shots. But the Lions weren’t finished, catching the Seahawks with a layup and foul shot of their own to tie it at 20-20 with two minutes left in OT. However, another aggressive drive to the basket put Wells up 22-20. With the clock ticking down, the Lions rushed, perhaps too hastily, down the court only to turn the ball over on an errant pass, hence giving the Seahawks a chance to put up an insurance shot to take a commanding 24-20 lead. And, despite being able to add another two points with just 10 seconds left to close the gap at 24-22, the exasperated Lions could only chase the ball in vain as Seahawks wisely played “keep-away” to run down the clock and claim the tournament crown. For their accomplishment, team members earned themselves gold medals, 1^st place certificates and a tournament championship plaque for the Wells trophy case.

The U15 Girls Team also was able to make a statement of its own, though not necessarily in as dramatic a fashion as the boys. Despite being vastly outnumbered and outsized by the BISAC behemoths, the Lady Seahawks hung tough but lost against TCIS, 16-13, and Shrewsbury, 24-19. Nonetheless, the Wells girls were able to earn victories against Traill, also from BISAC, and host school St. Stephen’s Khao Yai, to even their record at 2 wins and 2 losses, earning Wells a spot in the championship bracket.

Like the boys, the girls were given one final opportunity to show the crowd that they belonged among the elite schools. And show the crowd they did – at least at first.

The semi-final game was a rematch between the Lady Seahawks and the Lady Storm from Shrewsbury. Behind the quick hands of freshman captain and point guard Kanny Smith, and solid shooting by freshman center Marin Takahashi, Wells was able to build a commanding 8-2 lead in the first quarter. However, the aggressive full-court pressure from Shrewsbury eventually took its toll on the already short-staffed Lady Seahawks, allowing the Storm to surge ahead 18-14 by the final buzzer.

Wells’ girls did not, however, leave empty handed, as their appearance in the semi-final round earned them bronze medals and certificates for a 3^rd place finish.

CONGRATULATIONS SEAHAWKS!!!

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The Seahawk Sports fall season officially is underway with the basketball and volleyball teams playing their first matches of the year.

In basketball, �ۿ۴�ý teams reasserted themselves as major contenders for the league championships with a very strong start, as four out of five teams scored wins against various TISAC opponents.

On Monday, the Senior Girls team traveled to Bangkok Prep to open their season. Despite the expectedly hostile crowd, the Lady Seahawks cruised to a 31-11 win riding on strong defense and balanced scoring led by freshman center Marin Takahashi with 10 points.

Across town, the Senior Boys faced St. Stephen’s in a much more evenly matched game. Going up against a significantly taller opponent, Wells was able to overcome sloppy shooting in the first half to pull away at the end and win 30-24, let by the scoring of junior point guard Tanapon “Boss” Phuripichet.

Also on Monday, the U11 co-ed team opened up their play against Bangkok Prep. Despite having several players who were participating in an organized basketball game for the first time, the youngest members of the Seahawk basketball program put up a good fight, but just couldn’t get the ball to fall in the basket, losing by a score of 22-6.

The U13 teams continued the action on Tuesday with both the U13 Boys and U13 Girls traveling to Charter International School. The host school put up little resistance as both teams came out ahead with lopsided victories – 24-5 for the boys, and 22-13 for the girls.

In its inaugural year as an official Seahawk sport, both JV Girls Volleyball and JV Boys Volleyball teams started off an ambitious schedule with games against three of the larger, well-established international schools from BISAC: Ruamrudee International School and Harrow International School for the girls, and New International School Thailand (NIST) for the boys.

On Tuesday, the JV Girls team played the first official sports match in the new coliseum, hosting the Lady Phoenix from Ruamrudee International School. With just barely three months of training, the much less experienced Lady Seahawks were expectedly nervous, succumbing to the visiting team 3-0. Thursday’s visit to Harrow International School started out with more of the same as Wells’ girls struggled to score for the first two games. However, a line-up change by Harrow gave Wells a chance to build up their confidence in a more evenly matched game, thus resulting in their first game win in the young program’s history. Finally, with the match on the line, the hosting Harrow team put in their big players to cruise to a final game victory to seal the match at 3 games to 1.

On the other side of the coin, the JV Boys Volleyball team made a big opening statement by taking on the much more experienced Falcons of NIST. Playing for their first time ever, the young Seahawks were noticeably nervous at first, dropping both games 1 & 2 by the score of 25-23 and 25-21. However, the overconfident Falcon squad played their bench in game 3, allowing Wells to gain just enough confidence to overcome their nervous start, and to beat the Falcons 26-24. In game 4, the Falcons began mixing up their team a bit, but to no avail as the Seahawks cruised to a 25-16 win, knotting up the match at two games each, and forcing a 15-point tie-breaker set. In that final game, the score see-sawed back and forth until a late surge gave NIST quadruple match-point at 14-10. However, not wanting to disappoint the large contingent of Seahawk supporters in the stands, the JV boys ran off six straight points behind the consistent-under-pressure serving of freshman setter Praat “Tan” Sukriket, stunning their hosts 16-14, to win the very first match for the Wells Volleyball Program.

Next week is light week in sports with a friendly basketball game versus BCIS and a couple of league basketball games versus Bangkok Prep. At the end of the week, the Under 15’Boys and Under 15 Girls, both TISAC defending champions, travel to Khao Yai to participate in the 12-team St. Stephen’s Invitational Basketball Tournament.

GO SEAHAWKS!!!

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On Nut – In a classic match-up of David versus Goliath, the Wells Under 15 Boys basketball team successfully defended the home court by topping BISAC powerhouse Ekamai International School, 48-43 in overtime.

Despite towering over their hosts, the visitors were unable to contain the well-balanced shooting of the smaller but quicker Seahawks. Behind the strong play and leadership of team captain Kevin Yuan, gr. 8, and the outside sharp-shooting of forward Harjas Anandsongvit, gr. 9, and guard Jim, gr. 9, the home team effectively implemented their signature swarming defense that forced their opponent to take a number of rushed, low-percentage shots.

At the onset of the game, Wells jumped out to an early lead, taking advantage of Ekamai turnovers and miscues, as well as the surprisingly strong rebounding of center Joon Lee, gr. 9. However, EIS flexed its muscles behind BISAC MVP Songvit, gr. 9, to take the lead into half-time, 19-17.

The visitors stretched their lead to as many as six points midway through the second half as foul trouble forced the Seahawks to go to their bench for back up. However, a string of points to start off the fourth quarter by Kevin and power forward Van, gr. 8, kept the resilient Seahawks within striking distance.

Then, with less than two minutes in the game and down by one, basketball rookie Jack, gr. 9, was fouled under the Seahawk basket, putting him in a high pressure situation at the charity stripe. After missing his first shot, Jack sunk his second shot to tie the game, much to the delight of the screaming home crowd. Another Ekamai foul and a free throw by Kevin put the Seahawks in the lead for the first time since the first quarter. However, the visiting team showed some resilience of its own to tie the game in the closing seconds of regulation time, 37-37.

In overtime, the Seahawks struck first with another outside jumper by Harjas. Then, after Ekamai tied the score again at 41-41, a free throw and a couple of quick scores put the Seahawks up 46-43 going into the final seconds of the game. However, it was a crucial rebound by Jack at center and two foul shots by guard Jim that placed the proverbial stone on the sling. And as the buzzer sounded, the giant had fallen.

The Seahawk scorers were led by Kevin with a game-high 17 points, followed by Jim with 12 points. EIS was led by Apisith with 12 points.

Wells resumes its TISAC league-play with several home and away games against Keerapat, Rasami, and Bangkok Prep on October 14 and 15.

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