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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 9,
2022 - Suriname secured the lone spot to the
NORCECA Continental playoffs when they defeated
host Trinidad and Tobago 3-1 (25-20, 25-11,
23-25, 25-13) to complete a 2-0 sweep of their
best-of-three series for the Caribbean Zonal
Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Youth (Under-19)
Championship title at the Southern Regional
Indoor Sports Arena.
With only two teams involved, the gold medal was
decided via a best-of-three series and the
visitors won game one on Friday 3-0 (25-21,
25-16, 25-21) and despite a more spirited effort
from the home team backed by a vociferous home
crowd.
Suriname held their nerve and poise to come away
with the win to seal their spot at the NORCECA
Continental Championship in Mexico from March
5-13, 2023 with the FIVB World Championship to
be staged in August with the host country still
to be determined.
The win also improved on Suriname's previous
showing in the competition of second spot in
2019 to three-time winners Barbados, who opted
not to defend their title this time around.
Speaking after his team's victory a jubilant
Suriname captain Brendan Hiwat said the team had
a game plan to serve the ball to the weaker
passers of the Trinidad and Tobago team which
provided them with easier scoring chances.
"We knew what we had to do coming off a win in
the first match and thanks to our coach we stuck
to his instructions, even though in the third
set we were a little off, to get the win, our
first title at this level."
An emotional Antoine Vliet coach of the
Suriname team said to coach at this level for
the first time as a former player and to come
away with the title brings a few tears to his
eyes.
"It's a great reward knowing that the guys have
put in the hard work to get here to eventually
come out as champions. So now we can celebrate
this win and then get down to the business of
planning for the next stage of qualifiers.
"We had to leave a few players back home from
this team and looking ahead I expect that they
will be back to give the team more quality and
give us a better chance at NORCECA." |
