St Lucia claims women Group B gold

St Georges, Grenada, June 23, 2012 -St Lucia registered a professional 3-0 victory over St Vincent to claim the gold medal in their 2014 FIVB World Championship Women’s Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Continental First Round Group B Qualifying Tournament at the Laborie Indoor Sports Facility, Laborie, St George's, Grenada on Saturday night.

Led by eventual tournament “Most Valuable Player” Dania Hamilton’s 14 points, and ten from Indira Laurencin, St Lucia won 25-21, 25-17, 25-15 in 64 minutes to complete a remarkable run of four wins from as many matches in the tournament under coach Florian Combie.

As Group B winners, St Lucia now advances to the Second Round Group J four-team series involving Curacao, Group C-Second runner-up), Antigua (F-2 runner-up) and the third place team from the AFECAVOL Group Three qualifiers involving Panama, El Salvador, Belize and Bonaire.

St Vincent, meanwhile goes into the Second Round Group K four-team qualifiers with First Round Group C winner US Virgin Islands, Group F third place team in British Virgin Islands and the runner-up from First Round Group G play featuring   Panama, El Salvador, Belize, and Bonaire.

A confident Lambie speaking after the match said the result was what he expected in terms of the victory but the manner in which in which it was achieved was not.

“Our round-robin matches for me was much more intense than what we faced tonight in the final but in the end I think the fitter and better prepared team prevailed in the competition.

Looking ahead Combie said his team’s immediate focus will be its preparations for the ECVA Championship in Antigua in November along with working on any shortcomings their game may have encountered during the tournament.

A rather subdued Gifta John, the team captain added, “We knew too expect a tough match and we came ready for it and in the end we accomplished what we aimed to do which was to take the gold medal.

Marlon Williams coach of the St Vincent squad said, “We did not show up too play mentally and I don’t want to sound negative but it’s like our players have a mental block against the St Lucians.

“Still we managed to get to the finals against the predictions of some people and qualify for the next stage and we hope to be prepared in a much better way than we were for these matches.”

Brenda Joseph, captain of the St Vincent squad admitted her team may not have lived up to the expectations of its coach but she was still as proud team leader.

“We have a lot of players who are nursing injuries and for us to come so far as a team I will like to credit my players for their effort.

Individual awards:

Most Valuable Player: Dania Hamilton (St Lucia)

Best Spiker: Dania Hamilton (St Lucia)

Best Blocker: Renisha Stafford (Grenada)

Best Server: Indira Laurencin (St Lucia)

Best Scorer: Renisha Staffod (Grenada)

Best Libero: Kashima Noel (St Lucia)

Best Digger: Dania Hamilton (St Lucia)

Best Setter: Suyne Robins (St Eustatius)

Best Reeceiver: Debbie-Ann Lewis (Grenada)