Curacao eases past Belize, sets up St Lucia final meeting

WILLEMSTAD, Curacao, May 12, 2013- Hosts Curacao warmed up for the finals of the 2014 FIVB Women’s World Championship NORCECA second round Group J qualifiers against St Lucia when they held off a spirited Belize in straight sets 25-11, 25-19, 25-11 in the final round-robin match of the four-team tournament at the International School of Curacao Auditorium, Willemstad on Sunday morning.

The win, accomplished in 63 minutes, was the third from as many matches in the series for Curacao to end with maximum 15 points.

USA-based Christine Anthony top-scored for Curacao for the third straight outing with 13 points while Lianne Jamanika and Geraldine Grigorius got ten each.

Prior to first serve Curacao had already qualified for the final after winning its first two matches while Belize needed to win in straight sets to pip Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association champions, St Lucia for a final spot.

The tournament final will see Curacao and St Lucia battling for gold from 7pm on Sunday afternoon while the third placed encounter, Belize against Antigua & Barbuda serves off two hours earlier, with the winner still in with a chance of qualification to the third round.

However, it will only do so as the best third place finisher from all six groups of the second round qualifiers.

Curacao captain, Maya Gomez was again satisfied with how her team dictated the match.

“The first set was very easy, but in the second set Belize showed more fight and as a team we were very determined and did what was needed to get the victory.

Looking ahead to the final against St Lucia, which it swept in round-robin play 25-12, 25-22, 25-19, Gomez said. “We need to stay consistent, pass and serve the way we can, play our game and execute our game plan.”.

Speaking after her team’s second loss, Sherylee Young-Thornton said her team came out with the drive and passion to win against Curacao.

“But playing against the host country who won their first two matches we knew it was going to be tough as they are a bigger, more athletic and experienced team than us, but we fought hard as we could and had a good match.

With respect to the performance of the younger players on the team in the second and third sets, Young-Thornton said the Belize team knows its capabilities and something when something is not working with one group, there is enough confidence from the staff to give the other players the chance.

Henri Delfina, coach of Curacao congratulated Belize for giving his team what he described as its toughest test to date.

“We had two easy matches and today Belize showed a lot of courage and heart and I was glad because going into the final we needed that kind of competitive match.”

Allan Sharp, coach of the losing Belize squad said he was very proud of the effort from his players.

“We started off slow, but in the second set we showed a lot of fire against a Curacao team which is much bigger and technically sound than ours.

“We had a good serving game, but unluckily for us I think this was by far Curacao’s best game defensively mainly due to the play of Chrsitine Anthony and Neysa Hooi who both did a great job passing against our serves.”