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St. Martin edges Grenada for a finals spot

ST JOHNS, Antigua, August 19, 2018 –St. Martin sneaked into the finals after they emerged 3-2 winner over Grenada in the first semifinals of the ECVA Senior Female Competition.

Grenada drew first blood by taking the first set but St. Martin clawed back to be victors in a grueling match – (24-26, 25-21, 21 -25, 25 -15 and 15 13).

The game came down to a battle of the Middle Blockers in Renisha Stafford for Grenada and Jaqueline Hodge for St. Martin as both team went to their key players seeking points. Hodge won the battle 19 to 12 as she poured in 11 spike and 8 blocks. Stafford on the other hand seemed a bit off as the Grenadian high scorer was Outside Hitter Thonia Williams with 16 points.

In general the score sheet showed that the teams did not enjoy a vast advantage over each other. Spikes were 39 to 24 in favour of St. Martin. Grenada had 15 Blocks to 1 for St. Martin while St. Martin recorded 10 Aces to Grenada‘s 6.

Coach Raphael Braithwaite was not a happy camper.  “I think there are times when there is a drop in the concentration levels and at times it is very difficult to get it back especially when you playing against teams like French St. Martin. They rely heavily on #11 (Hodge) and when we were able to shut her down we won games but you got to be consistent and we were not. So although I am not happy with the effort I am satisfied that we were able to get thus far”, he admitted.

David Williams Coach of St. Martin was pumped and pleased.” We are right were we wanted to be- in the finals. This came as a result of hard work   to get pass Grenada. It is no secret that we go to Hodge a lot. She came out very hyped today and chalked up some valuable points for us. However I would like to think that success came from a more all-round effort through which we used some of our bench players to prevent fatigue from setting in.

In fact St. Marten had a total of 8 players scoring. Apart from Hodge Valerie Damaseau and Georgina Zenon combined for 22 points

On the other hand only six players recorded points for Grenada. The third place play off will feature Grenada and the loser of Antigua vs St. Lucia.