St. Lucia triumphs in tense final battle with Dominica

Oranjestad, St. Eustatius July 13^th 2014 – In front of a jammed packed Earl Merkman Sports Hall St. Lucia got their necks in front of Dominica and never looked back  beating them three sets to one ( 25-18; 15-25; 25-23 and 28 -26) in the finals of the ECVA Senior Women championship.

It was an intensely competitive game with long rallies as both teams matched each other in scoring and non-scoring skills.

The score sheet underscored this as the kills were even at 54 each. St. Lucia however got the better of Dominica in blocks 15 to 8 while Dominica edged St. Lucia in aces (4-3).

“I believe our exposure to a higher level of competition certainly helped our girls here. We trained constantly but when it came down to the pressure of these very close games it was our experience that allowed us to remain calm even after falling behind. We had some lapses in concentration but I noted that the opponents were tiring just a bit in the final moments of the pivotal set and this gave us the edge that we needed” recounted Florian Combie Coach of St. Lucian team.

His opposite number Albert Loblack was almost at a loss for words ruing his missed opportunities. “We made too many errors at critical points. The girls did not stick to the defensive game plan that we outlined and that resulted in giving up some easy points. On the other hand they made us work for every point. I guess they were hungrier than us” he pointed out.

Captain Anna Maria Xavier took the defeat gracefully. “Of course we are disappointed that we did not win but I know we played our hearts out. We had a problem with the defensive rotation but in general we played hard so I know we will bounce back …we always bounce back” she stated.

Captain Natalie Edwards was delighted. “We are just relieved and happy that it ended in our favour. There was a lot of pressure on us coming into this game and Dominica really made us fight. However I think we wanted it really badly so we stayed focused and got rewarded” she beamed.

Edward was the highest scorer on the night with 20 points which included 18 spikes. Support came in the form of 18 points from Latoya Edward and 13 from Samantha Mann.

For Dominica the pair of Zahidu Henry and Marcia Renault- Gustave contributed 18 points each while Xavier added 13.