TTO's Drakes expects 'good game' from Jamaica

KINGSTON, Jamaica, July 30, 2017 - Trinidad and Tobago’s assistant coach, Nicholson Drakes, is looking forward to a good challenge from Jamaica when the team’s clash in the final of the 2017 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball

Association (CAZOVA) Women’s Championship at the National Indoor Sports Centre, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

“We’re expecting a good game tomorrow from Jamaica, very tactical,” said Drakes, as he watched Jamaica close out a first-set win over Guadeloupe in their semi-final on Sunday night.

Drakes’ team, the defending champions, had earlier sealed their spot in the final with a 3-1 win over Suriname.

It was the first time since the start of the tournament that the Trinidadians had dropped a set and Drakes said there was a lesson to be learnt.

“Every day is a work in progress. Every team has a different strategy so we need to be able to work with it to be successful in every game we play,” he noted.

“The players need to be on top of their game, they need to come to their level and be on top all the time. This will boost your confidence. However, like today when you lose a set, it happens to let them know that you could lose a set,” he reasoned.

“However, how you recover and be able to come back up is most important because you will never always be on top, sometimes you’ll be down and you’ve to get yourself up to be able to maintain your level and stay on top.”

The win enabled Trinidad and Tobago to stay on course to retaining their crown in the championship, which also serves as the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Second Round World Championship Qualifiers.

Trinidad and Tobago were already assured a Third Round Worlds qualifying spot coming into the tournament and Drakes said practice matches will be key to their preparation.

“This is the second phase of the World Championship qualification. This now will enable us to have more match practice, we need to be able to invite some teams to have more match practice because we need more match practice for when we got to the third phase,” he outlined.

The crucial FIVB Round Three elimination will be hosted by three countries later this year, with each being a four-team tournament. The first will be staged in Canada from September 26-30; Trinidad and Tobago will host the second from October 4-9; while the third will be held in the Dominican Republic from October 11-16.

Six teams – the top two from each group – will advance to the 2018 World Championship, that will run from September 29 to October 20.