Tag: 2022 ECVA Women's Senior Championship

PHILLIPSBURG, St. Maarten October 14, 2022.- BVI had a comfortable 3-0 victory (25-17, 25-19, 25-14) over St. Eustatius to bring their Pool B action to a close. The victory propelled them into second place with one more match in Pool B remaining.

St. Lucia leads the pool having won their two games and hence their upcoming match is crucially important.

BVI benefitted from 44 errors from the opponents and had a high score in Pickering with 10 points (8 of them being spikes). BVI gave up just 25 errors while taking the lion share of the attacking points (18 to 13) as well as the service points (11 to 7); blocks remained even at 5 all.

Opposite Hitter for St. Eustatius Naihla Schmit gathered 8 points to lead all teammates but no one else contributed significantly.

Stephen Payne Coach of the BVI had these scenarios on his mind. “The outcome was what we were really concerned about, and we won in three sets. This gives us a chance to get an early night and get some much-needed rest. We are now hoping that St. Lucia stays true to form and defeat Antigua which will give us the chance to play the top team in Pool A”, he said.

Captain Henrietta Alexander was pleased with the outcome but had some concerns. “I think our energy tonight was a bit low we played very lackluster tonight. We did not play our game, but we are really happy for the victory. So, we can now rest, regroup, and come out tomorrow to play our game”, she stated.

Gordon Spanner head coach of St. Eustatius was somewhat disappointed but happy that they could have taken away some learning nuggets. “The energy of the girls was low when compared to the game against St. Lucia. We did not win a game, but we now know several areas that we have to work on. For the record fitness and our service game come to mind”.

Captain of St. Eustatius Sjahresia concurred with her coach. “Firstly, I am proud of my teammates. I would congratulate them then we go back to the drawing board to work harder and do better next time”, she promised.

St. Eustatius end in last place in Pool B without a victory to their name while BVI occupy the second spot for the time being.

PHILLIPSBURG, St. Maarten October 13, 2022. The home crowd screamed, stomped and pounded the stands as they spurred their team (St. Maarten) on to victory in a close 5 setter against Anguilla at the ECVA Senior Women’s Championship.

It was a second 5 set match of the night and the partisan home crowd did not move until victory was achieved after two and a half hours. In this case the scores (24-26, 25-20, 29-27, 27-25, 15-12) was a true reflection of the closeness of the game.

St. Maarten benefitted from a heavy error count from their opponents 66, as well as dominating in kills 52 -24 and leading in blocks 9 to 4. Anguilla on the other hand had the better service game winning 17- 14 and they picked up 44 points from St. Maarten’s errors.

St. Maarten had all round contributions as four players chipped in with double figure points. Middle blocker Natalie Johnson led with 17, outside hitter Angela Abente had 15, while the captain Akilah Meulens playing opposite contributed 14 alongside outside hitter Geraldo James who also offered 14 points.

Anguilla’s point leaders were Rikiesha Leveret with 15 points (including with 9 service aces and 6 kills) and Janai Gumbs with 11 points but all in a losing cause.

Dimitri Beauperthuy Coach of St. Maarten was relieved. “Anguilla played a spectacular game, their service, particularly from their captain Leveret gave us a lot of problems and correspondingly our service was poor and caused us to shoot ourselves in the foot. Fortunately, we came out on the winning side mainly because some younger players stepped up and filled the void when needed most” he said.

Omari Hamilton Coach of Anguilla was a loss for words. “We really wanted to win this game, but they came out on top of a very close game, the closest I have experienced so far.  There were some small adjustments needed that we missed that could have made a difference, but we can only fix those for the future and continue to play hard”, he surmised.

Captain was in tears. “This is a team we really wanted to defeat since they defeated us the last time we met. Unfortunately, they won this time, but we will come back stronger”, she promised.

Matches continue with the Grenada meeting St. Marteen with an all-important clash in pool play to determine final positions.

PHILLIPSBURG, St. Maarten October 13, 2022.- At the end of the game the scoreboard read 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-19) in favour of St. Lucia over St. Eustatius at the senior female ECVA championship.

However, the game was not as easy as it seems, the pundits were expecting a walk over with the defending champs going up against the underdogs St. Eustatius. Instead the defending champs got a run for their money.

St. Eustatius Captain Sjahnsia Hook from the outside hitting position led her team with 10 points gathered from 5 kills and 5 Aces. Unfortunately she got little help from the others.

St. Lucia leading scorers were Middle Blocker Tyna William with 18 points having recorded 10 Kills, 3 Blocks and 5 Aces and Kerin Neptune with 14 (10 Kills, 3 Blocks and 1 Ace).

St. Lucia led in all areas of the team score sheet, 31 to 13 Kills, 10 to 2 in Blocks and 15 to 7 Service Aces.

Coach Gordon Spanner of St. Eustatius was all smiles despite the loss, “we lost in straight sets but tonight we played a lot better than in our previous game. We had some adjustments to make that we could not make on the fly but besides that it was a good game”.

Captain Hooks chipped in as well. “I really enjoyed the game I realize that when I am fired up my team gets fired up as well so I gave it my all so that we could redeem ourselves tonight as our opening game was not the best”

Kendall Challery coach of St. Lucia had a forlorn look on his face after the victory. It was rather surprising to me that our level dropped. We may have underestimated our opponent but dropping our level is inexcusable. It as an all-round poor game as we did not execute in service, reception, and defense”, he lamented.

Captain Cindy Wilson added some more to the account. “The vibe that we had last night just was not there. I agree with the coach that we have to play much better, the other girls are disappointed as we all know that this is not St. Lucia’s game”, she said

Years of rivalry is expected to continue when St. Lucia meets Antigua & Barbuda in the final game of pool play.

PHILLIPSBURG, St. Maarten October 13, 2022.- It took 2 hours and 26 minutes before BVI and Antigua Barbuda could be separated in the first 5 setter of the ECVA senior female tournament with victory for BVI (23-25, 28-26, 16-25, 25-19, 15-12).

The match swung like a pendulum with numerous ties and lead changes in all the games and the tension in the stadium was palpable. In the 5^th and decisive set BVI jumped out to a six point lead but then Antigua & Barbuda roared back and took a slender lead. BVI broke the momentum and pick up one of their own and surged onto victory.

Middle blocker for BVI Shoranda Pickering proved to be a thorn in Antigua & Barbuda side as she picked up 6 kills, 6 blocks and 6 aces on her way to gathering 26 points to lead the BVI.

Nyota Peters, middle blocker on the other side carried the scoring responsibility for Antigua & Barbuda with a game high 33 points comprising 11 kills, 11 blocks and 11 Aces. She got assistance from Kwanisia Carr with 18 points. All that however was in vain.

Coach Fitzroy Benjamin of Antigua had a pensive look on his face when he gave this account “We had a lot of bad serves and a total loss of concentration when it mattered most and this resulted in a move away from the game plan. We will have to regroup and evaluate this game before we get ready for St. Lucia tomorrow”.

Captain Rosie Simon of Antigua agreed with her coach, “I am extremely disappointed I think we could have played better; we were confident coming into the game but as the coach said we had a poor service game, and we had a problem covering. We definitely have to regroup as the next game against St. Lucia is very important”.

Coach Stephen Payne was overjoyed, “I am extremely pleased with the way the girls performed tonight. Like I predicted yesterday we will defeat Antigua and we came out with the victory. There were times were service errors plagued us but that was fixed and the girls soldiered on. We will regroup once again and get ready for our next game”.

BVI next plays Statia while Antigua & Barbuda tangles with St. Lucia in a highly anticipated exciting match.

Phillipsburg, St. Maarten October 12, 2022. Anguilla got the better of Grenada in a four set match 3-1 (16 – 25. 25 – 22, 25 -21 and 25 – 14)

It was the closest match of opening night that first appeared to be a ding dong affair but Anguilla persevered for the victory.

Captain of the Anguilla team Rekiesha Leveret led all scorers with 13 points the vast majority being service aces while Outside Hitter for Grenada Thornia Mitchell led the Grenadian team with 10 points.

Anguilla controlled the team scoresheet as well outscoring Grenada 26—20 in Attacks, 18-9 in Serves while Blocks remain even at 4 each.

“I am not worried at our first defeat, this is just a small bump in the road. Probably the girls were tired and did not play to their true potential. We will fix this in our team meeting and will be ready for our next game”. Said Staciann Lake Head Coach of the Grenada team.

Coach Omari Hamilton was elated. “After a shaky stake our team got composure and went into their stride and brought home the victory. I told you we came here to show up and standout.” he beamed.

The next match in the ECVA senior Female competition features Antigua against BVI.

Phillipsburg, St. Maarten October 12, 2022. It took St. Lucia 1 hour and 27 minutes to defeat BVI in straight sets (25 -18, 25-17 and 25 -18) as ECVA action continued with match 2

St. Lucia dominated the score sheets in Attacks (30- 19) and Serves19-6 while Blocks were even at 4 all. St. Lucia’s opposite Chenoa Evans led all scores on the night with 15 points while middle blocker Tyna  William backed up with 11 points.

For BVI middle blocker Shoranda Pickering top scored with 7 points.

Coach of the BVI gave his version of what happened “The end result was not what we wanted but the players gave a good account of themselves in general. However there were a lot of unforced errors on our part particularly in the second and third set. We noted them and will correct them for our next game.” He said

Kendall Challery of St. Lucia had a different view. “We started a bit nervous while getting accustomed to the conditions. I was concerned over the reception which could be a lot better but we go the victory which is the most important thing.” He beamed.

Phillipsburg St. Maarten October 12 2022.- Antigua and Barbuda recorded  straight sets  victory ( 25 – 6 25- 8  and  25-  23)  over St. Eustatius in the opening encounter  of the ECVA senior female completion when the tournament got underway earlier today.

Antigua Barbuda depended heavily on Sharon Payne with 21 points for their victory while middle Blocker Spanner had 5 points for the losers. Antigua &Barbuda led in attacks (25-10) but St. Eustatius had the advantage in Blocks   (15-3) and Serves (37- 24)

Both coaches cited early jitters that accounted for the performance.

Coach of the St. Eustatius team Gordon Spanner felt disappointed but encouraged by the overall effort.

“The team started off rather  nervous and it showed in the score line in the first two set however we put up a much better effort in the third set. We intend to put up a much better fight in the coming games.” he promised.

Coach Fitzroy Benjamin of Antigua wasn’t perturb by the close margin of the third set. “We too started off nervous but the girls got quickly into their stride and stuck to the game plan. In the third se we rest all of our key player. Hence there isn’t much to worry about the plan is on target. “He stated.