St Vincent and the Grenadines take gold in Group E

GROS ISLET, St Lucia, August 10, 2017 -  St Vincent and the Grenadines secured the gold medal with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-21) trumping of Dominica in men’s Group E of the NORCECA Zone World Championships qualification round for teams in the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA), here at the Beausejour Indoor facility.

After losing the first set, the Vincentians regrouped and took command of the championship match, by some controlled spiking, and astute blocking  to numb Dominica’s plans.

Combining their scoring prowess, Opposite Hitter – Ronaldo Franklyn with 16 points; Outside Hitter- Asmond Franklyn- 15 points, and Middle Blockers- Kemaul Lee and Marcus Thomas, contributing 11 points each, St Vincent and the Grenadines distributed the responsibilities.

In contrast, only Middle Blocker – Yhan Florent with 22 points, got into double figures for Dominica.

St Vincent and the Grenadines was better at Attacks 44-39; Blocks 10-7 and Service Aces 8-4.

Glee etched on the faces of St Vincent and the Grenadines head coach – Brian Burke and team captain – Daryl Franklyn, at their team’s accomplishment.

An elated Burke speaking on his team’s triumph stated, “ Words cannot describe the feeling , as we have a set of youngsters, with half of them either still in school or just graduated and come here and accomplish this is really a tremendous feat”.

Burke said that preparations for the team’s next assignment will begin immediately on return to their homeland.

Meanwhile team captain Daryl Franklyn reflected: “I am very excited about this win … It is the first time I am taking home a victory as the team’s leader “.

Franklyn reported that after losing the first set to Dominica, they were not daunted as they knew they had it to bounce back instantly.

“During the first set the players were nervous because they really wanted to win… I had to reassure them that all of them are match winners and they all  have the ability to score, receive, pass and this paid off for us”, Franklyn related.

Losing captain- Ray Robinson in congratulating St Vincent and the Grenadines in their triumph noted, “St Vincent and the Grenadines seem to want it more than we … They have some good young talents and they played well”

Reflecting on his team’s performance in the championship match, Robinson stated, “We did not play as hard as we should … We played better than our first match, but at some crucial moments , we left too many points slide”.

By virtue of winning the group, St Vincent and the Grenadines booked a place as one of two representatives from the ECVA zone,  to the NORCECA Continental Championships in Colorado Springs USA next month.