USVI claim CAZOVA bronze

KRALENDIJK, Bonaire, June 24, 2018 – United States Virgin Islands (USVI) captured the bronze medal in the inaugural CAZOVA (Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association) Under-23 Women’s Championship here tonight at the Jorge Nicholas Sports Hall, Bonaire.

However they struggled with the inexperienced Arubans before finally prevailing 25-13, 24-26, 25-16, 25-22 in 86 minutes.

The underdogs should have actually forced a decider but they got “tight” with a 22-19 lead in the fourth set and were not able to win another point.

The same thing had happened in the second when they lost four straight points with a 23-20 lead, but managed to still battle back and win it with a little help from the opposition.

Despite the victory, USVI assistant coach Desiree Miranda stated: “I did not like the way we played”, wondering aloud if the departure of coach Isaac Raphael because of an emergency had anything to do with the disappointing performance.

“This was by far the best match we played in the tournament since USVI are definitely at a higher level” said Daan Kleinbussini.

The Aruban coach also pointed out that the performance proved to his team that they could compete against the likes of Curacao, Suriname and USVI.

Although the USVI were not as impressive as they wanted to be, Danielle Christian and Adjuwa Osborne produced one of the most impressive scoring displays by a pair in the tournament.

Christian notched 20 points, comprised of 15 kills, three blocked shots and two service winners, while 17 of Osborne’s 18 were in spikes.

Aruba star player Shaira MacKay had all kills in her 15 points, but did not take a shot when they were losing the last six points of the match.

They only beat the winless Bonaire and finished fourth in the straight round-robin competition.