St Lucia females claim gold and ticket to Nanjing, China- 2014

PIGEON POINT, St Lucia, October 20, 2013:   St Lucia claimed the gold medal in the female component of the   Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association(ECVA) Zone of the  NORCECA Round of the Youth Olympic  Beach Qualification Tournament, and booked a direct place to Nanjing, China in August 2014.

Making the historic leap  was the  pair of Dala Noel and Skye Mondesir  who left their best for when it mattered most  and book their country’s passage to the first ever Beach Volleyball at the Youth Olympics.

Noel and Mondesir claimed the title after beating the Grenadian duo of Jomelar Billy and Carsie Paul in the final  which was played over a best of three series.

Noel and Mondesir took the first match 2-0 ( 21-19, 22-20) and romped home in the second also 2-0 ( 21-8, 21-0).

In reaching the finals, St Lucia defeated  St Vincent and the Grenadines overall 2-0, also in the best of three match series.

Modesir and Noel cleaned up Angelique Allan and Mikhailla Matthias 2-0 ( 21-13, 21-10) and  also 2-0(  21-12 , 21-12) in the second match,  to set up their meeting with Billy and Paul.

In the other half of the semifinal, the situation was not as straight forward, as it was taken to a golden set.

Grenada claimed the first match 2-0 ( 22-20, 21-17) . Antigua and Barbuda’s pair of Natasha Best and Zenelle Edwards brought parity to the contest by taking match two, 2-0 ( 21-15, 21-15).

Grenada though closed out the duel by winning the golden set, but not without a nervy finish, 15-13.

For St Lucia it was a total shift in fortunes which finished last in the pool play on Saturday.

Commenting on her team’s turn around, captain- Noel stated,  “ Despite we only trained together once before the tournament, but the preparation was good… We started out rough at the beginning, but we fought it today and it brought us the success”.

“ We need to now train harder as a team , co-operate together as getting to know your beach partner to know their weaknesses and their strengths”, she noted.

Mondesir  in her review said:  “ I am really happy that we won…I am hoping that I make the trip to China and hope that we will do our best”.

“….At the beginning we took a while to get going but we picked up, because we knew we really wanted it .. Anytime we set out to get something we go out and get it ….We have a lot of confidence in each other “,  Mondesir added.

Antigua and Barbuda secured the third place over St Vincent and the Grenadines, both by 2-0 margins: (21-19, 22-20) and( 21-12, 21-12).

Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda await the next phase of the qualifiers, as they go for their second chance of reaching China.

Final standings : First- St Lucia; Second- Grenada; Third – Antigua and Barbuda; Fourth – St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Full Results - Best of Three series

FINAL: LCA d GRN 2-0 (21-19, 22-20) and 2-0 ( 21-8, 21-0); Semifinals - GRN d ANT  2-0 (22 -20,2 1- 17) ANT d GRN 2-0 ( 21-15, 1-15) Golden Set: GRN d ANT 15-13.LCA d VIN 2-0( 21-13, 21-10); LCA d VIN 2-0 ( 21- 12,21-12);Third Place:  ANT d VIN  2-0 (21-19, 22-20) and 2-0 ( 21-12, 21-12).