St Maarten overcomes St Vincent in five- setter

ROSEAU, DOMINICA. Sept. 21, 2023: St. Maarten made the fifth set count, clawing their way back to beat St Vincent and the Grenadines 3-2( 25-16, 25-23, 17-25, 22-25,  15-9) to win match three in Pool A of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Under-23 Women’s Championships, here at the Massacre Indoor Facility.

St Maarten, after winning sets one and two, was confronted by a re-energized St Vincent and the Grenadines team, who took charge of the sets three and four, that necessitated the decisive set.

St Vincent and the Grenadines registered 11 points consecutively in the fourth set, after St Maarten led 22-14.

Head Coach of the St Maarten – Leonardo Romeo agreed: “ A win is a win, but we have to fine tune going forward in our next matches”.

Reflecting on the mixed performance of his team, Romeo indicated, “Losing the third set was no problem, but we made the statement in the fourth, but the girls being young may have thought the game was over, but I have to commend St Vincent and the Grenadines for fighting to the end”.

Meanwhile St Maarten’s Captain – Aarti Gianchandani, expressed that there no complacency after winning the first two sets.

“ It was competitive for sure…. We had to fight to the end., because we recognized our mistakes in the third and fourth sets so we know what we have to do in our next matches”, the St Maarten team Captain expounded.

And, Head Coach of the St Vincent and the Grenadines- Eardley Martin was gracious in the defeat, noting that his players gave of their best.

“ The ladies played their hearts out, especially in the fourth set…Throughout the match, we had a serve and receive issue and that affected the setter being able to create any reasonable plays… In short, we made too many simple errors which had our opponents four and five points advantage on us”, Martin reasoned.

He however, expects an improved showing in future matches.  

Match four, also in Pool A, pits St. Lucia against Saba.