Antigua outlasts French St. Martin in four sets

Oranjestad, St. Eustatius,  July 11, 2014 - After going down in the first set, Antigua roared back to win the following three and to take  the match 3 sets to 1 (20-25; 25-21;  26-24; and 25-18) over French St. Martin in match number 7 of the ECVA Senior Female competition. It was the most competitive match  of the tournament so far with numerous lead changes and countless tied scores  over the course of the four sets.

Coach Esron Gittens of Antigua Barbuda recounted how his team managed to prevail. "We started out on top and allowed a considerable lead to slip. However we made some adjustments  particularly in the blocking department and that made a lot of difference.

Stand in captain Rosemarie Simon further explained the tactics. "We realised that their (French St. Martin) attackers were hitting down the line so we adjusted and forced them to hit to our defenders  who were able to give us some second attacks" she pointed out.

Coach of the St. Martin team  Guilliaume  Bryan was concerned that they came up second best in a must win game for them. "At crucial points we lost concentration and became heavy on the feet  and those factors contributed to our downfall" he said.

Captain Valerie Damaseau spoke in a similar vein. "Antigua has developed a history of defeating French St. Martin and so I think the fear factor chipped in throughout the games. It came down to who could put together some mini  scoring runs and make less mistakes and we came up short" she surmised.

Sharon Payne of Antigua led all scorers with 24 points gained from 22 spikes  and 2 service aces. Naheemah Wilson was the next highest scorer for Antigua with 13 points (9 spikes 3 blocks and 1 ace.

Jacqueline Hodge with 20 points led the fight for French St. Martin while captain Valerie Damaseau supported with 16 points.

The team score sheets reflected the closeness of the match. French St. Martin led the spiking category 43 to 35 with Antigua/Barbuda carrying a 12-7 advantage in blocks. French St. Martin had 7 service aces to Antigua/Barbuda's 5 but Antigua committed less errors (31) than the opponents (44).

Antigua will now aim to win their last game against BVI in three sets to give them a better chance of getting into the semifinal pending the outcome of the other game of pool play St. Lucia vs French St. Martin.