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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 9, 2022 - Antigua and
Barbuda advanced to the gold medal match of the
Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA)
Senior Men’s Championships, with a 3-1 ( 22-25,
25- 21, 25-22 , 27-25) hard fought battle
against St Maarten, here at the YMCA Indoor
Facility.
Going into the semi- final as the first place in
Pool A, Antigua and Barbuda was put on the back
foot in the first set by a St Maarten team that
drew on all their experiences.
However, the home team rallied back in the other
three sets to finally cross the line and a place
in the final.
Again, Antigua and Barbuda’s Captain- Adrian
Constant was almost unstoppable, as he poured in
30 points. He was ably assisted by Jamarie
James, who contributed 22 points.
For St Maarten, Reigmar Vallies had 18 points,
Rajheem Muelens– 14 and Leonardo Jeffers- 13
points.
Antigua and Barbuda was more proficient on
Attacks, winning 61 of their 117, while St
Maarten made good 44 of their 115.
Likewise, the Antiguans were better on Blocks
10-5, however, St Maarten aced 7 serves to
Antigua and Barbuda’s -2.
Antigua and Barbuda’s Constant who led from the
front in many aspects of the semi- finals,
remarked in a post -match interview, “ It was
a roller coaster game for us emotionally,
because at times the other team was completely
out of it and we were on top and there were
times they were on top of us and we were out of
it”.
Constant thus praised the home crowd’s response
in his team’s time of need.
“ The crowd kept us 70/80% and we just needed to
find the other 20”, Constant related.
Looking forward to the final versus St Lucia,
Constant quipped: “ When you are in the final,
you are expected to win”.
Joining Constant in lauding the performance of
the Antigua and Barbuda team was Rosemarie
Simon, the Assistant Coach.
A happy Simon said:” My players came into the
semi- final with a mission and that was to leave
and go to the final and we did that”.
“ There were times when we were down and we had
to pull the guys back together, but overall they
played a splendid game”, the female Assistant
Coach commented.
Anticipating that Antigua and Barbuda will trump
St Lucia, Simon projected that her team has what
it takes to go all the way and take gold.
And, in spite of losing the match, St Maarten
Head Coach- Clayton Holiday, was high in praise
for his team.
Holiday assessed: “ I am proud of the way they
played… My guys did well … It is regrettable
that they ran short of courage to press on when
we took the lead, but I must give them credit
from rebounding from the previous match against
St Lucia… We made some changes which panned out
well”. |
