Trinidad and Tobago wins to Suriname in final performance at Pan Am Cup

COLIMA, Mexico, June 19, 2019. - Trinidad and Tobago won 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-16) to Suriname in their final performance at the fourteenth edition of the Men’s Pan American Cup in Colima, Mexico.

Trinidad and Tobago beat current CAZOVA champions Suriname to finish eleventh place prevailing with huge 37-19 margin in attacks and a 7-0 advantage in aces, while benefiting by 23 error points and allowing Suriname to score 18. Suriname was dominant in blocking with 12-8 margin.

Opposite Ryan Stewart was Trinidad and Tobago’s top attacker scoring 19 points including 14 kills and 3 aces; outside hitter Marlon Phillip joined in with 11 points on 9 kills and 2 aces. Middle blocker Marc Flu of Suriname scored 7 points, followed by opposite Zefanio Beinburg and David Pinas with 6 points apiece.

Comments:

Akim Bushe, captain Trinidad and Tobago: “With this victory we’re sending a message for the future. Trinidad is a force and we are happy to have been in this competition and for the upcoming as well. Suriname was up in the second, we dropped our intensity but we managed to fight back. Everyone did their part to stand with the victory”.

Keven Sporkslede, captain Suriname: “We didn’t execute our game-plan; Trinidad did exactly what they needed. There was less effort from our side, so that made a difference. We now have the continental championship in Canada and we learned a lot from this experience, hoping to be stronger”.

Gideon Dickson, coach Trinidad and Tobago: “Our counterparts, our neighbors, we share the same zone and we know each other well; on this occasion we showed we deserve to be here, it reflects in the scores because after losing to them back at the CAZOVA championship we worked hard to improve our level. This tournament was beyond our expectation, great job from the Mexican people.

Roberto Joval, coach Suriname: “I am very disappointed because we could have done much better. We started good, the concentration wasn’t in the game; the players didn’t prove they wanted to be in the game. Our defense was real bad, we made too many service errors as well as in attack. In the end Trinidad played good volleyball, that’s why we lost”.