Haiti grabs important third spot in Pool C
ST CROIX, Virgin Islands, May 27, 2012 - Olmine Beaucejour and
Nirvah Hilaire each had 15 points as a determined Haiti overcame
Martinique in four sets (22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-23) in the 2014
FIVB World Championship Qualification First Round Women's Pool C
Third Place playoff match at the Ronald "Ranche" Charles"
Basketball Arena on Sunday night.
With the win, which came in one hour and 43 minutes, Haiti
joined host US Virgin Islands and Curacao as qualifiers from the
four-team group for the Second Round of qualifiers later this
year. USVI and Curacao met in the final.
In addition to Hilaire and Beaucejour, who sustained an ankle
injury earlier in a round-robin match with Curacao, Carline
Pierre and Astride Jusma chipped in with eight points each for
the jubilant Haitians.
Stephanie Trefle with 16, Laurianne Gwed 12 and Sabrina
Leopoldie got ten for Martinique in the loss.
It was the second win of the tournament for Haiti over its
fellow French-Speaking rivals after a 25-13, 25-22, 26-24
triumph in the round-robin series.
Haitian coach Frederic Francois speaking after the tense
encounter said he was a relieved man.
"For us this match against Martinique was a final as the two
teams were fighting for one spot to the next round.
"It started out well for us but then we were under some pressure
as our captain got injured but luckily for us our bench
responded very well and was a key to our victory.
Team captain, Nadege Louisma added: "For me I'm glad the team
won but at the same time a bit sad because I got injured and
could not play a bigger role in the win. But credit to our other
players because they kept up the high level and going forward we
know we have to work twice as hard if we want to get further in
the tournament.
A disappointed Mickael Tramis, coach of Martinique first
congratulated Haiti on the win as they played a very tough
match.
"They (Haiti) kept up their high play and we are happy for them
but at the same time we are sad because we had high hopes of
being the third team from the group to qualify. But that's how
it is in sports sometimes and maybe the next time it will be us
celebrating.
Tramis also noted that it was tough for him to ask any more of
his players having played three matches in two days already with
only a roster of nine.
"For us to play with only nine players on our roster against a
team like Haiti was always going to be difficult but we fought
as hard as we could and gave our best, but it was not good
today,” Tramis concluded.
Martinique captain Soraya Yazza also painted a picture of
disappointment on her face as he said her team had high
ambitions of winning to qualify.
"We really felt we could have come out and get the win against
Haiti but tonight we missed something in our game. We committed
too many errors and now we have some regrets because we are not
going forward. |