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PHILLIPSBURG, St. Maarten – July 24, 2015- Fortunes flowed like
a metronome between Dominica and Grenada in Match # 6 of the
ECVA Junior Male Tournament. Both teams battled for almost two
hours. First Dominica controlled the momentum and then suffered
a meltdown that allowed Grenada to take over and level the
series. It was only until the final game that Dominica got a
spark and used it to blaze a fire to the end and won in 5 sets –
25 -14, 25-19, 6 -25,18- 25 and 15-11.
Dominica had a spread offence with no one really dominating but
everyone contributing. Camron Challenger had 7 points, Tamir
Lawrence and Daniel Pollock had 6 each while Faywani Foye and
Arden James both chipped in with 5. On the other hand Grenada
rode on the back of Jernel John who had 18 points gathered from
9 Kills and 8 service aces. Jayvon Gilbert was the other high
scorer with 12 points.
Despite winning the game, Dominica was behind in all the scoring
categories. They trailed in spikes 22- 28. They had 7 blocks to
Grenada’s 10 and could only manage 5 points from the service
line while Grenada won 13. They were however fortunate to
collect a whopping 55 points from errors during the game.
Coach Ray Robinson had this to say when asked about the game.
“We started very well and everything was going according to plan
in the first two sets. In the third we had a total melt down
and lost all concentration. We probably thought that we had the
game in our hands and let down our guard. I must commend Grenada
who realized this and fought a good fight to level the scores.
In the team huddle we emphasized teamwork as the spirit of the
guys were being affected by the resurgence of Grenada. The
leadership of our captain paid off as he was able to bring back
some vibes and a fighting spirit back on the court. It was
immediately after that our game came together and we started
doing the correct things of blocking, creating offence and
gaining points. I am just happy that our game came together at
the right time”, he said.
Josh Noel of Grenada had a different view “We laid back and
underestimated the opponents. We then got into our game and tied
up the scores but in the final game I believe we became too
confident especially after getting out to an early lead on the
back of winning the last two games. I must commend Dominica as
they did very well to come back”, he intimated.
Dominica was left with one more crucial game against St. Lucia
to determine Pool winners and the right to play against St.
Vincent and the Grenadines from Pool B. Grenada meanwhile was
knocked out of medal contention and at best could only play for
4th provided that they win their last game against
Anguilla. |
