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PHILLIPSBURG, St. Maarten October 14, 2022.- St.
Lucia remained in full control of their
encounter with Antigua & Barbuda winning in
straight sets (25-18, 25-19, 25-15), for an
undefeated record at the ECVA Women’s
Championship.
Despite some early leads by Antigua & Barbuda,
St. Lucia appeared to be coasting for victory in
every game and in doing so, ended pool play
undefeated.
St. Lucia was led by outside hitter Kerin
Neptune with 15 points (10 spikes and 4 service
aces). Two other teammates had double figure
scores in middle blocker Tyna William with 11
points made up of 6 spikes, 3 blocks and 2 aces,
while outside hitter Amalia Louis had 10 points
including 6 blocks and 3 aces.
Antigua Barbuda did not have anyone with double
figures; Sharon Payne led with a total of 7
points.
The huge disparity in attack (St. Lucia 37 to
Antigua 7) was a huge factor in determining the
game. Other scores were close, but St. Lucia
led in all categories 10 to 8 in serves and 6 to
5 in blocks.
The win meant that St. Lucia earned a bye to the
semifinal while Antigua and Barbuda was
relegated to the quarter final. These matches
take place tomorrow Saturday 15th
with the finals on Sunday 16th.
Coach Kendall Challery of St. Lucia was upbeat.
“I am finally seeing my team. Tonight, our
service game made the big difference, we served
very well and upset their attack. It seems as if
my team has a tendency to drop their game
according to who is in front of them. We know
that Antigua Barbuda is an arch rival so our
level of play increase in intensity.” He
concluded.
Captain Cindy Wilson had a slightly different
view. “Tonight, we brought the vibe as promised
and we were able to play our game there was no
pressure throughout”, she beamed.
Coach Benjamin from Antigua and Barbuda gave his
own account. “Although we were more aggressive
tonight we had some lapses and decided to do
some switches. They did not quite work so it’s
back to the drawing board for us,” he reported.
Rosemary Simon the captain of Antigua and
Barbuda was not a happy camper. “I am
disappointed, we have played St. Lucia many
times with different results. However, we have a
lot of new players so it was somewhat a testing
process for us. We were neck and neck in the
games, so it was not a case where they just
steamrolled us”, she countered. |
