One-woman army Hunsel floors USVI

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Thursday July 27, 2017 - Sandrina Hunsel put on a one-woman scoring display to power Suriname to a 3-0 victory over the US Virgin Islands in their International Volleyball Association (FIVB) World Championship Qualifier on Thursday afternoon.

The outstanding hitter nailed 25 kills in a high-scoring 28-point tally that not only cast her numbers way above any other player on the court, but made the difference among the combatants as her team won 25-23, 25-9, 25-22 in their Group E encounter at the National Indoor Sports Centre, Independence Park Complex.

Interestingly, Hunsel had scored an identical 28 points on Wednesday’s opening night of the tournament that is also the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Women’s Championship.

On that night, her team were losers, after suffering a narrow 2-3 loss in a tight five-setter against Curacao.

Mercedes Willemsberg, who scored seven points and Kame Sigourney, with three kills, were among the other leading scorers for Suriname, a statistic that shows the vast disparity of Hunsel’s contribution in the match that lasted one hour, 17 minutes.

Interestingly, Suriname, with 25, committed far more errors than the US Virgin Islands’ 17.

However, the number of chances created facilitated a distinct scoring advantage – 75 points from 190 opportunities as opposed to USVI’s 178, from which they scored 54 points.

I’tiana Taylor, like their first game, was the star for the USVI team again, nailing eight kills in 13 points. Valissia Brathwaite (8) and Danielle Selkridge (7) numbered decent points, while Anisa George was big defensively, making nine blocks.

The USVI team were suffering for the second consecutive game, having lost 0-3 against Jamaica in their opening tie.

Trinidad and Tobago are the defending champions in the tournament, which comprises eight teams.

The competition doubles as the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Championship and the highest ranked team, along with already qualified Trinidad and Tobago, will advance to the Third Round of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) World Championship Qualifiers.