St. Lucia books a final spot with victory over St. Kitts Nevis
in semis
Oranjestad, St. Eustatius, July 13, 2014 – St. Lucia ensured
that they were en route to defending their OECS Female
Volleyball title when they defeated St. Kitts/Nevis 3-1 ( in the
first of two semifinals played at the Earl Merkman Sports Hall.
The St. Kitts/Nevis Coach Steadroy Collins was furious after the
game. “We got the win we wanted in set number two and we had the
momentum going into the third. There was no way our game should
have fallen so flat” he charged.” I think that we have the best
defense in the tournament but our passing and unforced errors
let us down” he said.
Captain Antoinette Henry wasn’t looking forward to the third
play off. “I am obviously disappointed; we have the better
defense so we should have been matching their attack. They were
swinging while we were dinking” she complained.
Natalie Edward captain of St. Lucia said that they were out of
their comfort zone for a while. “The game did not go as we
expected to, it was going too slowly and that placed us out of
our element but we were able to get the win and that is most
important for us” she noted.
Coach Florian Combie of St. Lucia was gratified. “This is
usually a tough match as historically St. Kitts/Nevis and St.
Lucia are arch rivals at this level. It wasn’t surprising then
that they improved their game against us. Usually we defeat them
in five set so I am grateful that we improved to beat them in
four (sets)” he intimated.
St. Lucia was dominant in every scoring department. They
registered 50 spikes to St. Kitts/Nevis 31, outscored St.
Kitts/Nevis 8 to 4 in blocks and had 10 service aces to St.
Kits/Nevis’ 4.
On an individual basis Samantha Mann led all scorers with 22
points while she got assistance from Natalie and Latoya Edward
with 14 points each. On the losing side Brenda Allen led with 13
while Shanicia Dyer chipped in with 9.
St. Lucia awaits the winner of the Dominica versus
Antigua/Barbuda semifinals while St. Kitts/Nevis has been
relegated to play for bronze. |