Dutch St Marteen wins ticket to second round

MARIGOT, St. Martin, August 28, 2016 - With a berth in round two of the FIVB World Cup qualifiers at stake, Dutch St. Maarten defeated French St Martin with a score of  25-13, 22-25, 22-25, 26-24, 15-10.

The Dutch side unleashed a torrent of blocks, defended and attacked like never before.  Ace, Outside hitter Captain Jeffers led the all round effort as he scorched the palms and court of his opponents.  He was well supported by lefty Riegmar Valies, who seem to leap in the heavens and Stephan Ellis. Valis contributed 23 points while Ellis added 20 points.  With a change in the middle St. Maarten clicked on all cylinders. 

French St. Martin got off to a slow start but was unable to find the winning combination.  Ace opposite hitter Rotilio blazed the court on several occasions, but good defense prevented his scoring surge from erupting. Captain Paul Quellery also added his contribution of points but it was not enough to change the course of the game.  The main scorers for the team were Rotilio Richardson with 24 points, Timothy Leito and Julien Sponsper with 12 and 10, respectively.  The Dutch defense prevented the rise of the “Phoenix”.

Ebullient Dutch St. Maarten’s Coach Demitri Beauperthuy and Captain Jeffers were elated at the victory and were rather pleased with the performance of their charges. The former indicated he is lucky to coach such a team and thinks he has the keys to the “Mazarati”.  For them it was a dream accomplished and further improvement for the team.  Both gentlemen offered words of encouragement for their opponents. 

 Coach Thierry Stephens accepted the loss but was proud of his team’s effort.  Both Captain Quellery and Coach Stephens felt the team gave it their all but they came up short.  Their parting words to the champions “Do your best and represent the country”.