ST JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda, October 19, 2024: In a match that had all the elements of a true duel, Bermuda came from set down to register an epic win over pre – championship favourites St Lucia.
When the last ball dropped, it was Bermuda that had improved their status with a 3-2 (15-25, 25-19, 18-25, 25-21, 15-9) win in the 2024 Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Senior Women’s Championships here at the YMCA Sports Complex.
The win put the Bermudians to a 2: 0 win/ loss ratio in the six- team championships, whilst St Lucia goes 1:1.
The humdinger of a contest, saw both teams not giving much, neither asked for any benevolences, fighting tooth and nail, to gain ascendancy and supremacy.
Bermuda’s Head Coach- Shalae Rae, who was smiling from ear to ear, in a post- match remarked: “Nothing like a win that you really had to work for …We came in pretty blind, but watched the warm up and adjusted the game as we went along”.
Rae added, “We had a team that was really, really tired… St Lucia was giving us a run for our money, they had big blocks, strong attacks and we had to adjust and when they scored points they earned those points, so it was our job to clean up our mistakes, clean up our serves and we also had to make some strategic adjustments”.
Rae thought that the timely insertion of 15- year-old Olivia Gazzard, a setter, was one of the turning points of the match to their advantage.
Delighted with the historic win, Bermuda’s Captain- Kaylee Trott said of team mates, “They held their ground and were able to get back up out of our rot fast after that first set and am really proud of them …We plan to keep the same momentum for the rest of the championships”.
Contrarily, the countenance of St Lucia Head Coach- Kendell Charlery was glum.
A disappointed Charlery apportioned blame on the defeat to “a procession of errors” on his team’s part.
“Defensive errors cost us many points at crucial times in the game…The game exposed many areas that we need to tighten up on moving forward in the competition”.
Whilst congratulating Bermuda on a “job well done”, St Lucia’s Captain- Cindy Wilson “We played our game very slowly… At times we became very complacent but we look forward to doing a better job in our upcoming games”.
The championships continue with Grenada facing Antigua and Barbuda.
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