French St. Martin wins border clash over Dutch St. Maarten

Marigot,  French St. Martin,  September 2nd,  2012 - Buoyed by a small but noisy crowd French St. Martin persevered over their Dutch counterparts 25-16, 20-25, 25-17, 21-25 and 15-12 to secure second place in the FIVB Men’s World Championship Qualification Tournament NORCECA Group D.

It was really a thrilling encounter that lived up to expectations in the ding-dong manner that it was competed.

Captain Paul Quellery the French captain was ecstatic. “It is over now and we are in the ECVA finals, so now we have to focus on preparing for that,” he said.

Coach Jean Luc Lizen of French St. Martin knew that with one point from this game he would have finished second to Antigua. “Although we knew we were second after the first set, I kept encouraging them to finish well. I tried several new tactics from game to game and it all came together in the final set,” he concluded.

Coach and captain of the Dutch team were in one accord in assessing the game. “I am satisfied the way my guys played, firing on all cylinders right to the very end. I expected that and I am happy that they gave such an effort but in the end the better team won,” Coach Jacobs said.

Leonardo Jeffers the Captain agreed. “I can’t be disappointed the way we laid it out there on the court responding every time to their charges, it just that we did not get over the hump in the final set,” he added.

}

Jeffers himself was the highest scorer of the match with 22 points made up of 17 spikes and 5 blocks. For French St. Martin, Henry Julius was the leader in points with 16. He had 11 spikes and 5 blocks.

The final team positions are as follows:

1. Antigua/Barbuda     17 points

2. French St. Martin    13 points

3. Anguilla                   9 points        

4. Dutch St. Maarten    7 points

5. Bermuda                 4 points