Guadeloupe dashes Martinique junior men dreams

 

RIVIERE-SALEE, Martinique, December 11, 2019: Guadeloupe ended the dreams of host Martinique lifting the 2019 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Junior (Under-21) Men Championship crown via their 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-23) triumph in their quarterfinal at La Ville de Riviere-Salee Palais Des Sport.

 

With the win, Guadeloupe reached their fourth-ever semifinal and will face three-time defending champions and five-time winners overall, Barbados in the second men’s semifinal on Thursday from 4 pm, while Curacao meets Trinidad and Tobago from 2 pm in the other.

 

Quarterfinals losers, host Martinique, champions in 1999 will contest the fifth-place playoff with US Virgin Islands on Friday from noon.

 

For Guadeloupe, Alexander Lancelot led three players in double-digit scoring with 14 points while Damien Leveille and Lucas Vadimon added 11 each as they dominated the host on blocks 7-4, and service aces 10-2 to compensate for their narrow defeat on spikes 26-27.

Guadeloupe also scored one less error than the host, 31 en route to victory.

 

Guadeloupe captain: Isaac Valetudie said his team did not plan any special tactics for the clash with their rivals.

 

“We just came to win because between Guadeloupe and Martinique the matches are always spicy as it an old rivalry, and we played with the desire to win.

 

Martinique captain Mathias Melinard that it seemed as though his team did not want to win because of so many mistakes.

 

“The difference in the match was the unforced errors and we just made too many to win the match”.

 

Coach Gayetann Broussillion added, “For us, this was like a final playing against Martinique at their venue, and this is a bonus for us as we are improving with each match and looking forward to our semifinal with Barbados."