Tag: Volleyball

USVI claims first Girls Under-19 CAZOVA crown

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 11, 2022: US Virgin Islands captured their first-ever Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Youth Girls (Under-19) Championship title following a polished 3-0 (25-22, 25-20,25-14) win over Martinique in their finals showdown at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena (SRISA).

With the victory, which added to their triumph in the Under-21 Women’s competition less than 24 hours earlier, at the same venue, the US Virgin Islands booked their ticket as CAZOVA’s representative to the NORCECA Continental Championship to be staged in Puerto Rico from February 5 to 13, 2023 and will serve as a qualifier to the FIVB World Championship also to be played next year.

It was also the fourth win from as many matches for US Virgin Islands to end 4-0 while Martinique took home the bronze, and ended 2-2 after losing to USVI as well in the round-robin group stage.

With the two divisional titles won, USVI joined Trinidad and Tobago female teams of 20007 and 2012 to have completed the sweep at the same tournament while Barbados has done so among the male, in 2013 and 2019.

Speaking after his team’s first loss in two matches, Martinique coach Wilham Lebel said it was very difficult for his team to play without their best player, and captain Marie Marajo-Breton against a very solid team like US Virgin Islands.

“Our captain got injured in our previous match and it was difficult for our girls today without her. But, I’m still proud of my players because they did well and this is just a result of four months of  preparation and training.

Lebel also congratulated US Virgin Islands for the win saying, “I think they had a good game plan and their attackers were very good.”,

An elated Isaac Raphael, coach of all the US Virgin Islands at the championship was full of praise for his players who he said showed great physical fitness and commitment.

“Some of our girls have doubled up in this tournament by playing in both age-groups and going into the match some of them were expectedly tired, but they were still able to come out and give off their best.

“It was also difficult to bring them down from the high of winning the Under-21 title, so overall for us to be among teams like Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago in winning the two gender titles at the same tournament is really very special, and says a lot for our program.”

Haiti’s Beauvoir spikes Under-21 “MVP” award

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 11, 2022: Estakend Beauvoir of Haiti capped off a memorable tournament for his team by being named as the “Most Valuable Player” in the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Men’s Under-211(Junio Championship) at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena (SRISA).

Beauvoir was very influential throughout the five-team round-robin tournament as Haiti finished with perfect 4-0 record to claim their first ever men’s age-group title, while he also picked up the “Best Scorer” accolade.

Haiti captain Dieulengy Relis who enjoyed a very productive tournament to lead his team to the historic crown copped the “Middle Blocker 1” award.

Tournament runners-up Suriname who also enjoyed their best finish at this age-group had two awardees in Jonovan Wijngaarde (Outside Hitter 1), and Jason Lesperans (Best Digger) while US Virgin Islands’ had four award recipients in captain Gabriel Rosa (Best Setter), De Andrae Tylor (Middle Blocker 2), and Taj Bales (Best Receiver and Best Libero), and Jamaica, the trio of Damion Smith (Best Server and Best Opposite Player), Kenneth-Roy Clarke 9Outside Hitter 2), and bronze medal winners captured 

CAZOVA Under-21 Men Honour Roll:

Best Server:#7 – Damion Smith (Jamaica)

Best Setter: # 3 – Gabriel Rosa (USVI)

Best Opposite Player:#7 – Damion Smith (Jamaica)

Outside Hitter 1: #13 -Jonovan Wijngaarde (Suriname)

Outside Hitter 2:#9 – Kenneth-Roy Clarke (Jamaica)

Middle Blocker 1:#8 – Dieulengy Relis (Haiti)

Middle Blocker 2: #10 – De Andrae Taylor (USVI)

Best Digger: #17 – Jason Lesperans (Suriname)

Best Receiver: #5 – Taj  Bates (USVI)

Best Libero: # 5 – Taj Bates (USVI)

Best Scorer: #11 – Estakend Beauvoir (Haiti)

Most Valuable Player (MVP): #11 – Estakend Beauvoir (Haiti)

Haiti cruises to maiden CAZOVA Under-21 Men’s title

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 11, 2022: Haiti strolled to their first title at the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Junior Men’s Championship after cruising past host Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-15) at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena.

With the win in the final match of the tournament, the Junior Siecle-coached Haitians, who ended in second spot in 2017/2018 and fourth in 2015, ended with a perfect 4-0 win-loss round-robin record  and 18 points, two ahead of runner-up Suriname (3-1) while Jamaica took the bronze medal with a 2-2 record and 11 points with Trinidad and Tobago (1-3) fourth with three points, and winless US Virgin Islands, firth with a 0-4 record and two points.

The victory for Haiti put them on par with their 2015 Under-21 women’s team who won their maiden title in Barbados, and also secured their ticket to the NORCECA Under-21 Men’s Continental Championship to be hosted by Cuba from May 7 to 15, 2023.

Speaking afterwards a relaxed but very elated Siecle, said it was the objective of the team from the onset to come to Trinidad to win the tournament and he was proud they had done exactly that.

“The boys trained very hard back home and we were well prepared coming here to play and match by match we stayed focus and tonight we are all very proud to be champions.

Dieulengy Relis, captain of the Haitian said he too was elated and proud of his achievement as a player, captain and Haitian.

“We know it was not going to be easy but to come here and win each game and to be crowned champions is a great feeling.

Coaches expect a very competitive tournament

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Belize City, July 11, 2022 – With great enthusiasm to return to the courts after three years of inactivity in this category. This is how the teams of the five countries that will compete for the gold medal in the XIX Central American U-21 Women’s Volleyball Championship, in Belize City, were shown. 

Honduras was the champion at home in 2019, with Guatemala and El Salvador accompanying them on the podium, but Belize has had good performances in recent years in the minor and major categories. 

The national coaches foresee a very even tournament, where the mental part will be essential to be among the first places. 

William Fernández Pizat, Coach of Guatemala: “We haven’t played for quite some time, some almost three years, but the team is prepared from a physical, tactical and mental point of view, so we aspire to be in the fight for the title.” 

“The levels of the teams are very even and make the tournament very competitive. We have three athletes who participated in the Senior National Team last year and some in the Honduran Sub 20. We have a good attack, very powerful, we’ll see how it goes with that mix of anxiety and joy to play again that they all have”. 

Claudia Noguera, coach of Nicaragua: “Many players have had almost four years of inactivity, there is anxiety and we must recover the rhythm on the court of these Central American Championships. We have been working for a long time with very young people, but they are very committed and have a lot of responsibility to represent their country”. 

“It will be an even tournament and that is the good thing, that in our region there is equality in the performance of the teams and the competition becomes more attractive.” 

Noé Fabián Aguilar, coach of El Salvador: “We have a very excited team to start the tournament, there are a couple of experienced players, but above all we have a lot of youth and there is unity in the team, something that helps us do things well. We are confident that if one fails, there is another player to do the job better and they are all very united”. 

“All the teams have quality, there is a lot of parity in these categories and no team is a favourite. The girls are very excited and we believe we can have a good tournament”. 

Marvin Ulloa, coach of Honduras: “Honduras has just played the Pan American Cup of the category in Mexico and 10 players repeat, we also have the setter who could not travel to Mexico and our libero who had to do the job of passer. We also brought back one of our tallest players, Rocio Durón, and that strengthens us as a team to try to defend the title”. 

“We hope that the girls are prepared, we have worked, although we have only been here for a few months, but we believe that we have a good group. We hope it will be an even competition, we all have the same opportunities, where mental work is very important”. 

José Ramón Fontés, coach of Belize: “The locality also represents some pressure, we have several under 19s, but also some experienced under 23s and older. We have a great preparation, we haven’t competed for a long time, but the team is going to meet expectations and above all give a good show ” 

“I think it will be a very even competition, with many emotions, the one that can best face the psychological part due to the pressure… We worked about two months in preparation with games against older players, men and even in a tournament outside the country and the team has increased their competitive level. 

The tournament begins this Tuesday, July 12 at 4:30 p.m. with the match between El Salvador and Honduras, followed by the inauguration and at 7:30 p.m. Belize debuts against Nicaragua. 

Suriname whips TTO for Under-19 Girls bronze medals

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 11, 2022 – Former champions Suriname secured a bronze medal finish in the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Youth Girls (Under-19) Championship after whipping host Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 (25-14, 25-8, 25-) in their third place playoff at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena (SRISA).

This was only the second time in the six editions of the competition, Suriname had secured a top three finish, following their title win in 2019 in Jamaica while Trinidad and Tobago, winners of the first three tournaments in 2007, 2012 and 2013 had to settle for fourth spot for the second consecutive time.

Commenting on the performance of his team, Trinidad and Tobago coach Saleem Ali was quick to admit that the service game of Suriname proved too difficult for his team to have a chance.

“Suriname served very well, and we never settled into our passing game, which resulted in the defeat. But, credit to our girls because I think they came out and did the best they could providing the difficult circumstance we had in terms of lack of preparation time needed for a competition of this magnitude.”

“We also have a very young team and they lacked that experience to compete at this level, and this will only come with time and the more matches they can play at the international level.”

Richardo Soerodikromo, assistant coach of Suriname said he was pleased that his team was able to overcome the disappointment of not repeating as champions by at least taking the bronze medals.

“As you saw with our performance today, we tried to give all of the girls some playing time, but it was clear that some had played more than the others, and our concentration levels was very sporadic.”

Suriname downs Jamaica Under-21 men for silver

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 11, 2022 – Suriname secured a surprisingly comfortable 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-18) triumph over Jamaica in a battle of teams with 2-1 win-loss records for the second spot in the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Men (Under-21) Championship at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena.

With the win, the Antoine Vliet-coached Suriname, ended their four-match round-robin schedule in the five-team winner-take-all competition with a 3-1 record and 16 points to earn their best ever finish in the tournament history.

Haiti has a perfect record of 3-0 and 13 points ahead of their final match while Jamaica finished with a 2-2 record and 11 points in third spot followed Trinidad and Tobago (1-2) with three points, and winless US Virgin Islands, who completed their four-match campaign with two points.

In the final match in the pool, Haiti faces Trinidad and Tobago and barring a shocking defeat will take home the gold medals.

Despite the loss, Steve Davis, coach of Jamaica said he was very proud of his players because he knew that they worked very hard in the limited time they had to prepare.

“Today, I have no blame for the boys even though I think that we contributed to our defeat by not having a good serving, passing or attacking game.”

“Those errors happens when their is a lack of preparation and that is what happened with us, so to come away with a medal, our first since 1999 is still a positive and something for us to work with.”

Furgil Ong A Fat, Suriname’s assistant coach was pleased with the outcome, saying the boys’ executed the game plan very well.”

“Our aim was to win the gold medal, but for us to have our best finish in the competition, since a fourth placed finish in 2017/2018 gives us encouragement for the future.”

Government of Nayarit Welcomes NORCECA Final Six

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TEPIC, Nayarit, Mexico, July 10, 2022.- The Government of the State of Nayarit held a Welcoming Ceremony for the NORCECA Men’s Final Six Pan American Cup in a colorful ceremony on the eve of the competition that starts on Monday at the Amado Nervo Auditorium.

The players enjoyed folk dances and traditions of Nayarit in a pleasant coexistence at the teams’ hotel.

The General Secretary of the State of Nayarit Juan Antonio Echegaray Becerra, representing the Governor Miguel Ángel Navarro Quintero, alongside Carolina Guadalupe Lugo Robles, General Director of the Institute of Sports and Culture of Nayarit and the Secretary of Tourism of Nayarit Juan Enrique Suárez welcomed the six participating delegations and the members of the Control Committee of the event.

Welcoming ceremony at Tepic, Nayarit

NORCECA President Cristóbal Marte Hoffiz thanked the authorities of the State of Nayarit for their hospitality, their efforts in bringing the best teams of America and being the center of attention of thousands of volleyball followers.

“Thank you, Nayarit, for working for sports, the best tool to recover our principles as a society, our family and battle all the difficulties we are currently facing”.

The sports authorities of Nayarit expressed their interest in hosting the 2023 Women’s NORCECA Continental Championship.

Antigua and Barbuda withstand pressure to take Gold

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St. JOHN’s  ANTIGUA , July  10,  2022 – Antigua and Barbuda did not wilt under the pressure and  came from two sets down to win 3-2(23-25, 23-25, 25-18, 26-24, 15-11)  over St Lucia, and  emerge as champions of the 2022 Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships.

It was an eruption of joy by players and spectators when the final point was attained for Antigua and Barbuda, at the YMCA Indoor Facility.

But, the eventual winners looked dead and buried after being down two sets to nil, but some tactical adjustments, saw them surging back from the third set, whilst St Lucia began to mount their errors.

Antigua and Barbuda’s scoring was led by Adrian Constant who hit 20 points. Aiding him were Jamarie James and Cairon Davis, who both scored 15 points.

For St Lucia, Tevin St Jean scored 20; Sheldon Descartes- 17 and Anfernee Ferdinand  had 12.

On the night, Antigua and Barbuda were proficient on Blocks, winning 22-9. St Lucia though won on Attacks 46-43 and Serve aces 6-2.

Winning the title, was welcomed by Antigua and Barbuda’s Head Coach- Fitzroy  Benjamin.

With a smile from ear to ear, Benjamin disclosed the formula used to subdue the St Lucians.

“ We changed the line- up, by taking our number seven (Cairon Davis), our tallest player and putting him in the middle… He was able to get some good blocks from the second set onwards and that helped us”. Benjamin related.

He also listed apparent fatigue amongst the St Lucians as well as the vociferous Antigua home support, which contributed to them rebounding from the third set.

“ They were looking tired and began dinking the ball low so our defence stepped … We had the home crowd behind us and that helped us big time”, Benjamin added.

For the St Lucia Head Coach- Terry Verdant, it was a case of his team did not get their game together on the big occasion.

“They were not blocking and were rushing the game and even when they went to the front court, they did not focus on the position of their opponents and that would have worked against us”, Verdant analysed.

He however praised his players for their efforts in spite of not crossing the final.

Final standings: 1. Antigua and Barbuda 2. St Lucia  3. St Maarten 4. Grenada 5. St Vincent and the Grenadines 6. Bermuda 7. St Kitts and Nevis 8. Dominica 9. Anguilla.

Adrian Constant takes MVP accolade

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St. JOHN’s  ANTIGUA , July  10,  2022:  Antigua and Barbuda’s Adrian Constant was named the Most Valuable Player in the 2022 Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships.

The left handed Constant, who plays in the Opposite position, was also named Best Opposite and Best Scorer.

Speaking soon after receiving the awards, Constant said that he does not set out to gain personal accolades, as he is more focused on the team’s accomplishments.

“ I only set goals to be consistent and help my team”, Constant admitted.

He however embraced the awards.

“But it feels really good, as it just shows all the work that I have put in, with coaches, without coaches is paying off”, the MVP commented.

Individual Awards 022 Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships

Other awardees

Best Setter

Jahmal Small – St Vincent and the Grenadines

Best Outside Hitters

Jamarie James – Antigua and Barbuda

Sheldon Descartes- St Lucia

Best Middle Blockers

Tevin St Jean – St Lucia

Ethan Bolan – Dominica

Best Server

Yahn Florent- Dominica

Best Spiker

Ethan Bolan – Dominica

Best Receiver

Yashid Auguiste – Dominica

Best Libero

Shevon Gludd – Grenada

USVI’s Gillens spikes Under-21 MVP honours

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 10, 2022: Anna Gillens of the US Virgin Islands was named as the  ‘Most Valuable Player’ after leading her team to a first-ever Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association(CAZOVA) Junior Women (Under-21) Championship title at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena (SRISA).

With team captain Alek-Wek Raphael going down injured in their penultimate match, Gillens showed great leadership on the way to helping her team take home the title by beating Suriname in straight sets and was also named as one of two “Outside Hitter” awardees.

Her team-mates Ayanna Pharoah (Best Setter), Tyannah Lake (Middle Blocker #2 & Best Opposite Player) award recipient  along with Trinidad and Tobago’s Adalia Badroe (Best Libero) were the other players to pick up awards alongside Suriname’s Shaniva Balkaran who collected four, and her countrywomen Angeni Cheuk-Alam and Charis Peroti,

Best Server: # 6 – Angeni Cheuk-Alam (Suriname)

Best Setter: # 1 – Ayanna Pharoah (USVI) 

Best Opposite Player: # 7 – Tyannah Lake (USVI) 

Outside Hitter #1: # 9 – Anna Gillens (USVI) 

Outside Hitter #2: # 2 – Shaniva Balkaran (Suriname)

Middle Blocker #1: # 17 –  Charis Peroti (Suriname)

Middle Blocker #2: # 7 – Tyannah Lake (USVI)

Best Digger: # 2 – Shaniva Balkrana (Suriname)

Best Receiver: # 2 – Shaniva Balkaran (Suriname)

Best Libero: # 5 – Adalia Badroe (TTO)

Best Scorer: # 2 – Shaniva Balkaran (Suriname)

Most Valuable Player (MVP): # 9 – Anna Gillens (USVI) 

Suriname’s Meson is Under-19 Boys CAZOVA MVP

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 10, 2022:  Suriname’s Anakaba Meson captured the ‘Most Valuable Player’ award among his three individual honours after  helping his country to a 2-0 win over host Trinidad and Tobago in the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association(CAZOVA) Youth Men (Under-19) Championship at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena (SRISA).

In addition to the most prestigious individual award, ,Meson also walked away with the “Best Scorer” and “Best Opposite Player” accolades as his team secured a spot at the NORCECA Continental Championships next year.

The individual awards were dominated by Suriname with nine of the 12 going the visitors way.

For Suriname Rowensly Sibendi captured two awards, the “Best Server” and “Middle Blocker #2” awards while Brendan Hiwat (Best Setter), Nalam Bruce (Outside Hitter #1), Anfernee Lee A Leong (Outside Hitter #2), and Robert Benschop (Best LIbero) also picked up accolades.

The trio of Dejaun Williams (Middle Blocker #1), Mikael Ash (Best Digger) and Jedaiah Sanoir (Best Receiver) were the Trinidad and Tobago players taking home individual honours.

Best Server: # 12 – Rowensly Sibendi (Suriname)

Best Setter: #6 – Brendan Hiwat (Suriname)

Best Opposite Player: #18 – Anakaba Meson (Suriname)

Outside Hitter #1: #15 – Nalam Bruce (Suriname)

Outside Hitter #2: #16 – Anfernee Lee A Leong (Suriname)

Middle Blocker #1: #6 – Dejaun Williams (TTO)

Middle Blocker #2: #12 – Rowensly Sibendi (Suriname)

Best Digger: #16 – Mikael ash (TTO)

Best Receiver: #10 – Jedaiah Sanoir (TTO)

Best Libero: #12 – Robert Benschop (Suriname)

Best Scorer: #18 – Anakaba Meson (Suriname)

Most Valuable Player (MVP): #18 – Anakaba Meson (Suriname)

USVI overcomes Raphael absence to spike first Under-21 women’s title

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 10, 2022: US Virgin Islands overcame the absence of injured captain Alek-Wek Raphael to beat  Suriname 3-0 (25-22, 25-9, 25-19) to secure their first ever title in the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association(CAZOVA) Junior Women (Under-21) Championship at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena (SRISA). 

With Raphael picking up a torn left-knee tournament ending injury when both teams met in their final round-robin encounter on Saturday, which also ended in a 3-0 win for USVI, all eyes were on the round-robin table-toppers to see how they would cope without their inspirational level. 

However, despite some early resistance from Suriname, the US Virgin Islanders who previous best finish came in 2011/2012 as runner-up to Trinidad and Tobago used a well balanced team effort to come away with the win which earned them the  spot at the NORCECA Under-21 Women’s Continental Championship from April 16 to 24, 2023 in the USA. 

An emotional Isaac Raphael, coach of the new champions said it was an amazing feeling to climb the ladder as champions. 

He added, “I have been champions with so many teams before, but this is the first time I have reached these heights with my country and the feeling is just amazing.” 

Raphael added, “Throughout the tournament the girls have been amazing and even when their captain (Alek-Wek) went down with the injury they never buckled but instead lifted their game to another level, and I’m very proud of them.” 

Team captain, Alek-Wek who watched on from the sidelines said never for one moment she doubted the capabilities of her teammates despite her absence. 

“Even though I was not part of the action today, I’m just as excited because I know we have worked hard and to see that we have been finally able to win the title is an incredible feeling.” 

St Maarten takes bronze over Grenada

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July  10,  2022 –  St Maarten conjured up skills and determination, to record a straightforward 3-0 (25- 23, 25-14, 25-20)  win over Grenada and take the bronze medal in the 2022 Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships here at the YMCA Indoor Facility.

Thus, St Maarten put the disappointment of losing to Antigua and Barbuda in the semi-final, to be sharper and more efficient in all components of the game, while , who lost to St Lucia in the other semi-final, never found any momentum.

Leonardo Jeffers led St Maarten’s scoring with 12 points. For Grenada , Jerron Phillip had 13 points.

St Maarten finished with a 4:2 win/ loss ratio, while Grenada secured three wins and the same number of losses.

Head Coach of the St Maarten outfit, Clayton Holiday, was happy that his team was able to finish on a high.

Satisfied, that his charges were able to rebound after their loss in the semi -final, Holiday quipped,” Coaches lose games, players win games”.

Looking back on his team’s triumph over the Grenadians, Holiday stated: “ I really wanted to play against them in the semi- finals, but I am happy that the guys closed off  the championships, the way they did”.

Evaluating his team’s performance in the championships, Holiday summed up, “Overall, considered we are not seen as one of the top brass and look at what we have done  going through the preliminaries and clinching the third place 3-0;  I am very proud”.

Martinique humbles TTO to reach Under-19 Girls final 

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 10, 2022 – Debutants Martinique cemented their spot in the final of the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Youth Girls (Under-19) Championship thanks to a 3-0 defeat of host Trinidad and Tobago at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena (SRISA). 

They improved to a 2-1 win-loss record and 11 points to end the four-team round-robin pool competition, three points behind US Virgin Islands whom they will meet in the gold medal as the top two finishers on Monday, July 11 from 2 pm. 

Despite their third straight sets loss from as many matches, Trinidad and Tobago will meet third place finisher and 2019 winner Suriname for the bronze medal in the penultimate match in the group on Monday from 12 noon. 

In the final, US Virgin Islands will start as favourites having defeated Martinique 20-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-23 when they met in the round-robin stage while Suriname defeated Trinidad and Tobago, 25-12, 25-4, 25-23. 

Speaking ahead of his team’s meeting with US Virgin Islands, Martinique coach, Wilham Lebel said  he was very happy for his players because it’s their first time in the competition and they have managed to reach the final. 

Looking ahead to the final, Lebel said he expects it to be a very difficult one for his team, but one that they can win. 

“It will be difficult because we know the quality of the opposition, but I think if we try our best and make minimum errors we will have a chance to be champions.

Suriname beats TTO to stay in Under-21 men title hunt

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 10, 2022 – Suriname kept their slim hopes of claiming the gold medal in the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Men (Under-21) Championship alive with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-15) victory against host Trinidad and Tobago at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena. 

With the straight sets win, Suriname, seeking a first title at this level  improved their win-loss record to 2-1 and 11 points, the same as Jamaica (2-1) and two points behind unbeaten leaders Haiti (3-0) as the trio will enter the final day of the five-team round-robin series all in contention for their first title.

Host Trinidad and Tobago, who needed a win to keep alive their medal hopes dropped to a 1-2 record and three points, just ahead of winless US Virgin Islands, who completed their four-match campaign with two points. 

Despite the loss Trinidad and Tobago still has a slim chance at a medal, but will need to pull off a shock win over title-favourites Haiti. 

On, Monday, July 11, in the final round of matches, Jamaica meets Suriname from 10 am, and Haiti meets Trinidad and Tobago from  4 pm, at the end of which, the top team will be declared champions.

NORCECA Men’s Final Six Pan American to get underway 

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TEPIC, Nayarit, Mexico, July 10, 2022.- Head Coaches of the teams at the NORCECA Men’s Final Six Pan American Cup gave their first statements on the eve of the competition that gets underway on Monday at the Amado Nervo Auditorium of Tepic, Nayarit.

As teams officially registered during the preliminary inquiry, Cristobal Marte Hoffiz NORCECA President confirmed that the winner of the event qualifies to the 2023 NORCECA Continental Championship. He also added that teams will earn ranking points in route to qualify for the 2023 Pan American Games of Santiago and the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games.

Dan Ota, Head Coach of Canada: “We have a young squad, we don’t have a lot of international experience, but we are really excited about this group because they have physical talent and great potential for international play. We had a couple of scrimmage matches against our host Mexico and it looks promising so far that maybe our team could have a great result here. If we stay healthy, keep performing and improving every day we’ll have a very good result”.

Nicolás Vives, Head Coach of Cuba: “Our intentions are to give our best, prepare well for the FIVB World Challenger Cup which is our next most important immediate competition (end of the month), we are gearing up. We are also preparing for the Pan American Cup and the World Championship. Cuba’s major objective is always to win the competition”.

Alexander Gutierrez, Head Coach of Dominican Republic: “Our team has grown, it’s very young with an average of 21 years old; there is more youth than experience, but the experienced players contribute a lot to our youngsters. This competition has different characteristics from the final four, with Mexico and Puerto Rico having other figures, while we have the same base because we are in the process of our young players’ growth thinking of their future, in addition to the enrichment of having the United States and Canada. For us it’s an addition to our experience”.

Jorge Azair, Head Coach of Mexico: “It’s an interesting competition, with high quality teams, Cuba is bringing their first team and we know that United States and Canada always have competitive squads. Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and us always battle strong. It will be a nice competition, and the best of it is that it is in my country”.

Owald Antonetti, Head Coach of Puerto Rico: “We are taking this summer as a big step in establishing several players that are moving up; after last summer’s success, we want to strengthen our teams’ success with new guys, and we want them to understand the importance of volleyball in Puerto Rico. This tournament is one step towards competing in the World Championship, we are testing players”.

Andy Read, Head Coach of United States: “I think my team is very well prepared, the competition will be excellent, all six teams are very strong here and the host city is also well prepared, they are excited to have the competition here. We will hopefully have great crowds and supportive for everyone and the USA will play very well”.

USA finish men’s prelims with 10-2 record

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OSAKA, Japan, July 10, 2022 – United States finished with a win-loss record of 10-2 at the preliminary round of the 2022 FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League following victories over Canada and Argentina.

The Americans scored an easy victory over Canada 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-19) and followed with a 3-2 (29-27, 22-25, 20-25, 25-13, 17-15) hard fought battle against Argentina.

Torey Defalco led the scoring in both victories with 18 against Canada and 28 in the duel against Argentina.

In the match with their North-American neighbors, the winners held advantage in blocks 5-1 and serving aces 5-2. They also dominated both categories in the clash with the Argentineans 13-7 and 3-2, respectively.

The Canadians finished the event with a 2-10 record.

Haiti moves within sight of maiden CAZOVA Under-21 men’s crown 

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 10, 2022 – Haiti moved within sight of claiming a maiden title in the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Men (Under-21) Championship after easing past US Virgin Islands 3-0 (25-14, 25-7, 25-17) at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena. 

The win lifted Haiti to a perfect 3-0 record and 13 points in the five-team round-robin series, two points ahead of Jamaica (2-1) while Suriname (1-1) is third with six points, followed by followed by T&T (1-1) with three points and the winless US Virgin Islands, fifth with two points and a 0-4 record. 

Speaking after yet another impressive win by his team whose previous best finish at this age level was second in 2017/2018 behind Barbados, who opted not to defend their title after four straight triumphs, Dieulengy Relis, captain of the victorious Haitian said he was pleased with the performance of the team, but warned that they could still play a lot better. 

“I am happy with the win today, but I know we can play a lot better than we have  so tomorrow we will hope to continue to improve and get another win to complete our objective, which is to win the title. 

Coach Junior Siecle added, “We are happy for the win as we have the same objective for each match which is to win as we want to take the title back home. 

“We have one more match left to play and we intend to play with the same focus and energy and hopefully we can get a win.” 

On, Monday, July 11, in the final round of matches, Jamaica meets Suriname from 10 am, and Haiti meets Trinidad and Tobago from 4 pm, at the end of which, the top team will be declared champions. 

USVI sweeps past Suriname to reach first U-19 Girls final since 2007

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 10, 2022 – US Virgin Islands swept aside 2019 winners Suriname 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-17) to book a spot in  the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA)  Youth Girls (Under-19) Championship match with a perfect round-robin record of 3-0  at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena (SRISA).

With the victory, the US Virgin Islands ended top of the  four-team round-robin table with 14 points, eight ahead of Martinique (1-1) who have one match left to play against winless Trinidad and Tobago (0-2) while dethroned champion  Suriname who ended with a 1-2 record and five points.

At the end of the four-team round-robin series, the top two teams will play for the gold medal and third and fourth will contest the bronze playoff.

Following the win which secured a first finals’ appearance  since falling to host Trinidad and Tobago in the decider in 2007 , US Virgin Islands coach Isaac Raphael said he was very elated and proud of his team, and extremely delighted as well to be from the Virgin Islands.

“Credit must be given to our volleyball federation and President Lucille Hobson for setting up our program and the pathway for this team to be where it is, in with a chance to win a gold medal,” stated Raphael.

“This journey started since 2019 with most of these players and to see the work that has been put in bear fruit is very refreshing, but we know its not the end of the road as we still have the final to play and hope to complete the job of securing our first ever title at this level.

Claudius Straal, coach of the Suriname girls said his team had a good start but then their performance level dropped.

“We have a very slim chance now to get to the final because I expect Martinique to get the better of Trinidad and Tobago, so now our focus is to finish in the top three after being the champions in 2019.”

St Lucia head to the final unbeaten

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JOHN’S, Antigua, July 9, 2022 – St Lucia kept the unbeaten run in the 2022 Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships, with a 3-2 ( 26-28, 25-22, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12) win over Grenada in the semi -final the YMCA Indoor Facility.

St Lucia’s win though was punctuated with some nervy moments, as the pugnacious Grenada team did not let up on the well drilled unit.

Sheldon Descartes and Anfernee Ferdinand, both registered 17 points each for St Lucia and Tevin St Jean added 16.

For Grenada, Darron Oxford had 19 points; Dwane Walcott – 15 and Akim Andrews- 14.

Despite losing, Grenada was more clinical in Attacks, making good 62 of 150, while St Lucia had 49 of their 133 counted.

St Lucia though was outstanding in Blocks, as they registered 16 to Grenada’s 8. It was Grenada the won the Serve aces, 6-4.

But St Lucia’s Head Coach- Terry Verdant, while happy for the win, was not entirely convinced with the output of his charges on the court.

“ We won but we did not do what we suppose to be doing, but I am confident going into the final, but we have to play to win and lessen some of the mistakes that we made here in the semi- finals against Grenada”, Verdant underscored.

In the case of Grenada’s Coach- Raphael Braithwaite, he believed his players were good on the night, but fell short.

“ My boys, their heads may be down, but I am really satisfied that we came out of the semi-finals as winners, despite not reaching the final and I personally, am not disappointed coming in third or fourth”, Braithwaite assessed.

He thought that experience carried St Lucia over the line.

“They came out and played a good game as you can see they are more experienced that we are…Congratulations to St Lucia”, Braithwaite submitted.

Suriname brushes aside TTO to keep Under-19 Girls hopes alive 

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 9, 2022: Defending champion Suriname kept their hopes of retaining their title  in the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA)  Youth Girls (Under-19) Championship alive when they outplayed Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 (25-12, 25-4, 25-23) in a clash of winless teams at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena (SRISA). 

With the victory, Suriname who were swept aside by debutants Martinique on the opening day moved their record to 1-1 and five points in third spot, behind unbeaten US Virgin Islands (2-0) with nine points, and Martinique (1-1) with six points while T&T stayed fourth without a point after two straight sets losses. 

In the final  round of pool round-robin matches, US Virgin Islands plays Suriname from 9 am on Sunday, July 10 while Trinidad and Tobago comes up against Martinique from 5 pm. 

At the end of the four-team round-robin series, the top two teams will play for the gold medal and third and fourth will contest the bronze playoff on Monday, July 11. 

Jamaica eases past USVI to increase Under-21 men title hopes 

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 9, 2022  – Jamaica eased past the challenge of US Virgin Islands 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-17) to improve to a 2-1 record in their five-team round-robin series and stayed in the hunt for the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Men (Under-21) Championship crown at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena.  

The win lifted Jamaica to 11 points and top spot on the table followed by Suriname (1-0) with five points, Haiti (1-0) with four points, T&T (1-1) with three points and the winless US Virgin Islands, fifth with two points and a 0-3 record. 

Speaking after his team’s impressive win, Jamaican’s coach Steve Davis said he was pleased with his team’s effort which resulted in the win. 

He said, “I know the boys worked very hard in the short space of time we had to prepare and in each game we play we have seen a drastic improvement as we have gotten better and better as the matches comes along.” 

Team captain, Andrae Robb, “We stuck to our game plane given by our coach and we executed very well which helped us to get the win. Overall, we are happy with the outcome and will now rest ahead of our final match on Monday against Suriname. 

US Virgin Islands’ coach Isaac Raphael was quick to point out his youthful team lacked the experienced to put up a better showing. 

“We know we have a very young team and you can see that the capabilities of the players are right there. But our  inexperience continues to bite us as we have been guilty of making too many careless errors when we seem to be closing the gap, and its has been hurting us in each game.”  

Team captain Gabriel Rosa added, “I believes my team needs to put more energy into our  game from the start.” 

“We have been getting off to slow starts and for us to be competitive we need to have more concentration and focus for our passing and serving game to be effective.” 

Antigua and Barbuda go for gold

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 9, 2022 –  Antigua and Barbuda advanced to the gold medal match of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships, with a 3-1 ( 22-25, 25- 21, 25-22 , 27-25)  hard fought battle against  St Maarten, here at the YMCA Indoor Facility.

Going into the semi- final as the first place in Pool A, Antigua and Barbuda was put on the back foot in the first set by a St Maarten team that drew on all their experiences.

However, the home team rallied back in the other three sets to finally cross the line and a place in the final.

Again, Antigua and Barbuda’s Captain- Adrian Constant was almost unstoppable, as he poured in 30 points. He was ably assisted by Jamarie James, who contributed 22 points.

For St Maarten, Reigmar Vallies had 18 points, Rajheem  Muelens– 14 and Leonardo Jeffers- 13 points.

Antigua and Barbuda was more proficient on Attacks, winning 61 of their 117, while St Maarten made good 44 of their 115.

Likewise, the Antiguans were better on Blocks 10-5, however, St Maarten aced 7 serves to Antigua and Barbuda’s -2.

Antigua and Barbuda’s Constant who led from the front in many aspects of the semi- finals,  remarked in a post -match interview, “  It was a roller coaster game for us emotionally, because at times the other team was completely out of it and we were on top and there were times they were on top of us and we were out of it”.

Constant thus praised the home crowd’s response in his team’s time of need.

“ The crowd kept us 70/80% and we just needed to find the other 20”, Constant related.

Looking forward to the final versus St Lucia, Constant quipped: “ When you are in the final, you are expected to win”.

Joining Constant in lauding the performance of the Antigua and Barbuda team was Rosemarie Simon, the Assistant Coach.

A happy Simon said:” My players came into the semi- final with a mission and that was to leave and go to the final and we did that”.

“ There were times when we were down and we had to pull the guys back together, but overall they played a splendid game”, the female Assistant Coach commented.

Anticipating that Antigua and Barbuda will trump St Lucia, Simon projected that her team has what it takes to go all the way and take gold.

And, in spite of losing the match, St Maarten Head Coach- Clayton Holiday, was high in praise for his team.

Holiday assessed: “ I  am proud of the way they played… My guys did well … It is regrettable that they ran short of courage to press on when we took the lead, but I must give them credit from rebounding from the previous match against St Lucia… We made some changes which panned out well”.

St Vincent and St Kitts grab minor places in ECVA Senior Men

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 9, 2022 – St Vincent and the Grenadines  and  St Kitts and Nevis took the minor places  in the 2022 Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships Facility.

St Vincent and the Grenadines dismissed Bermuda 3-0 ( 25-20, 25-10, 25-20) to gain the fifth spot.

Daryl Franklyn scored 15 points and Ronaldo Franklyn registered 14 for St Vincent and the Grenadines, with Tyler Hurdle scoring 9 for Bermuda.

Meanwhile while St Kitts and Nevis edged out Dominica  3-2 (25-17, 19-25, 25-13, 17-25, 22-20), to cop the seventh place in the nine team championships.

For St Kitts and Nevis, the joint leading scorers were Nage Hendrickson and Zendai Richards, who both had 16 points. Dominica’s Yahn Florent had 21 points for his team.

Daryl Franklyn- SVG’s Captain

Reviewing their final match, Franklyn said: “ All we needed was some adequate rest as you in the beginning of the competition, we played basically three matches in the less than 24 hours and that took a toll us”.

“ Placing fifth was not the position we expected, because we were the defending champions, but I see great things in the future for the team, as most are under 25 , so just have to regroup and come back stronger”, Frankly proffered.

St Kitts and Nevis Head Coach- Richard Swan

“ It has been a learning experience for many of these young guys that we have and they have learnt… They have learnt how to take better care of their bodies… They had two games in one day and playing four matches  in less than 36 hours , but they fought had and we were able to gain two wins from our five matches and that is commendable for our team”, Swan reflected.

Bermuda’s Head Coach- Robert Saraiva

“ I think we put it all on the court… My guys went out there and gave it their all and I am proud of all of them”, Saraiva said.

Dominica’s Head Coach- Ericson LeBlanc

“ I am not disappointed in my team… We have not played competitive Volleyball as a country in about four years and we are basically building back a brand of Volleyball over the years with  youths because the youths are the future … We are building back… Throughout the region, there is a rebranding of Volleyball as almost every team is starting over with fresh players and those who are hungrier will take it”, LeBlanc commented.

St Vincent and the Grenadines had 2 win and 2 losses; Bermuda registered three wins and two losses, while St Kitts and Nevis won two matches and lost three. Dominica did not register a win from their four matches. 

Suriname holds off TTO to claim U-19 Boys title and NORCECA ticket

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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.” 

Suriname brushes aside TTO to keep Under-19 Girls hopes alive

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 9, 2022: Defending champion Suriname kept their hopes of retaining their title  in the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA)  Youth Girls (Under-19) Championship alive when they outplayed Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 (25-12, 25-4, 25-23) in a clash of winless teams at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena (SRISA). 

With the victory, Suriname who were swept aside by debutants Martinique on the opening day moved their record to 1-1 and five points in third spot, behind unbeaten US Virgin Islands (2-0) with nine points, and Martinique (1-1) with six points while T&T stayed fourth without a point after two straight sets losses. 

In the final  round of pool round-robin matches, US Virgin Islands plays Suriname from 9 am on Sunday, July 10 while Trinidad and Tobago comes up against Martinique from 5 pm. 

At the end of the four-team round-robin series, the top two teams will play for the gold medal and third and fourth will contest the bronze playoff on Monday, July 11. 

Antigua and Barbuda confirm Pool A semi- final spot

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 9, 2022:   Antigua and Barbuda to close out the preliminary phase of the 2022 Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships, with a 3-1 ( 22-25, 25- 11, 25-20 , 25-11) trumping over St Kitts and Nevis at the YMCA Indoor Facility.

The win gave Antigua and Barbuda a semi- final berth from Pool A.

Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda and Bermuda, all finished with a 3:1 win/loss ratio, however,  Antigua and Barbuda topped Pool A, with Grenada – second and Bermuda – third.

Antigua  and Barbuda’s Captain- Adrian Constant ensured there was no letting up, as he led from the from pouring in 23 points. He was assisted by Jamarie James, who had 11 points.

For St Kitts and Nevis, Nage Hendrickson contributed 12 points.

Reacting to his team’s win Constant said in a post -match interview: “ We have achieved what we had set out to do and that was to reach the semi- finals and getting to the semi- finals, means that you are one of the good teams”.

Constant said that his team is mentally prepared for the semi- final challenge.

Meanwhile, Rosemarie Simon, Antigua and Barbuda’s Assistant Coach, said that her team came with one mission to dominate St  Kitts and Nevis, hoping to win 3-0.

According to Simon: “ The guys got a little flustered, but pulled ourselves together and win the game and into the semi- finals”.

Simon underscored that the players generally rise to the big occasions and she foresees no exception in the semi- finals.

Antigua and Barbuda  will play second place in Pool B, St Maarten, while Pool B winner- St Lucia takes on Grenada, in the semi- final match ups.

In the case of St Kitts and Nevis, who ended Pool A with a solitary win and three losses, their Captain- James Matthew commended his players for their output.

“ I am impressed with the guys because it is a young and inexperienced team, and we are prepared to develop the talents we possess and come stronger next time”, Matthew commented.

The next  match is the championships, is the play off fixture for the seventh and eighth places, featuring St Kitts and Nevis and Dominica. St Kitts and Nevis ended fourth in Pool A, likewise Dominica in Pool B.

Haiti defeats Suriname to remain unbeaten in Under-21 men 

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 9, 2022: Haiti maintained their winning record in the five-team round-robin series of the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Men (Under-21) Championship with a combative 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-19, 25-17) win over Suriname at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena. 

With their second four-sets victory on the trot, Haiti improved to a 2-0 record, and eight points, three points behind Jamaica (2-1) who has played a match more while Suriname (1-1) is third with six points, followed by T&T (1-1) with three points and the winless US Virgin Islands, fifth with two points and a 0-3 record. 

An elated Dieulengy Relis, captain of the victorious Haitian team said his team came to the tournament with one objective. 

“We know that all teams will be a challenge, but we came with the objective to win each match we play and take the trophy back to Haiti. 

Coach Junior Siecle added, “We are going to take each match as they come and like my captain said our one aim and focus in this competition is to take the winning trophy back home.” 

Antoine Vliet, coach of the Suriname team said his team lacked the focus to challenge Haiti for the win. 

“We were not as focused as we should have been and I must also credit the two Haitian outside attackers because I believe they made a big difference in the outcome while we did not play our best match as well.” 

Duncan Hiwat, Suriname’s captain said his team were beaten by a better team on the day while admitting that they also made too many errors. 

“Haiti had a really good game and their defence was superb against us as well as their attacks, but we will regroup and hope to come back better in our next match.” 

Men’s Final Six Pan American Cup to be held in Tepic

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TEPIC, Nayarit, Mexico, July 8, 2022.- Teams from Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, United States and defending champion, as well as host Mexico, will be competing in the Men’s Final Six Pan American Cup to be held at the Amado Nervo Auditorium of Tepic, Nayarit, from July 11 to 17.

The Pan American Cup Final Six is a competition in route to qualify for the 2023 NORCECA Continental Championship, the 2023 Pan American Games of Santiago and the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games.

The current Pan Am Cup champion Mexico and Dominican Republic are already qualified to Santiago 2023.

Members of the Control Committee held a joint meeting with the organizing committee presided by Carolina Lugo, general director of the Sports Institute of Nayarit on Friday to evaluate and carry out a first inspection at the Amado Nervo Auditorium.

Manuel Calderon of the Mexican Volleyball National Federation presented a report of all the facilities prepared for the competition, to which Ariel Saiz, competition director said to be satisfied pointing out the positive disposition of the sports authorities of Nayarit and of the Mexican Volleyball National Federation.

The competition starts on Monday with a preliminary round robin to determine the four teams moving into semifinals. The fifth and sixth seeded teams will meet for the decision of the last two places before the semifinals between the first seeded facing the fourth seeded and the third against the second. The winners will play for the gold medal and the losers for the bronze medal.

NORCECA Men’s Final Six venue Amado Nervo Auditorium of Tepic, Nayarit

Monday July 11

16:00 Cuba v Dominican Republic

18:00 United States v Canada

20:00 Mexico v Puerto Rico

Tuesday July 12

16:00 Puerto Rico v Dominican Republic

18:00 United States v Cuba

20:00 Mexico v Canada

Wednesday July 13

16:00 United States v Puerto Rico

18:00 Canada v Cuba

20:00 Mexico v Dominican Republic

Thursday July 14

16:00 Canada v Dominican Republic

18:00 Cuba v Puerto Rico

20:00 Mexico v United States

Friday July 15

16:00 Puerto Rico v Canada

18:00 United States v Dominican Republic

20:00 Mexico v Cuba

Saturday July 16

16:00 Fifth v Sixth

18:00 Second v Third

20:00 First v Fourth

Sunday July 17

17:00 Bronze Medal

19:00 Gold Medal

Suriname Under-19 Men beat TTO to inch close to NORCECA spot

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 8, 2022 –  Suriname took a giant step towards qualification to the Continental playoffs when they overcame host Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-21) to take a 1-0 lead in best-of-three series for the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Youth (Under-19) Championships title at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena. 

With only two teams involved, the gold medal will be decided via a best-of-three series and the visitors will now go into the second match on Saturday, July 9 from 6 pm knowing that a win will sea 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. 

Commenting on the win Suriname captain Brendan Hiwat said his team did what they had to do.

“We know it will tough for both teams and we were able to follow the instructions of our coach and execute our game plan to come away with the win and we are hoping to do the same in the next match.

Suriname coach, Antoine Vliet expressed his satisfaction with his team’s effort saying, “There guys did a great job. Training for us for this competition was very limited and for us to come away with a straight sets win was great.”     

Jadaiah Sanoir, captain of the Trinidad and Tobago team said his team did a great job but what was lacking was a bit more energy and self belief. 

Coach Peer Nasseir said his team failed to deal with the attack from the Suriname Opposite and going into a must-win game on Saturday, they will need to devise a plan to nullify his impact.” 

Suriname brushes aside TTO U-19 girls in straight sets

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 8, 2022 – US Virgin Islands sounded a warning to their rivals at the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA)  Youth Girls (Under-19) Championship with a commanding 3-0 (25-17, 25-10, 25-5) beating of host Trinidad and Tobago at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena (SRISA). 

The win moved US Virgin Islands into a two-way lead with debutants Martinique on five points each after the latter stunned defending champion Suriname in the pool opener on Thursday, also in straight sets, ahead of their meeting on Saturday, July 9 from 4 pm, with Trinidad and Tobago facing Suriname from 8 pm. 

At the end of the four-team round-robin series, the top two teams will play for the gold medal and third and fourth will contest the bronze playoff. 

Trinidad and Tobago coach Saleem Ali was humble in defeat and admitted that his team is a very young one and lack any sort of experience to compete against quality opposition. 

“We prepared as best as we can considering all the distractions that are happening around the team and the girls will continue to give off their best effort. Team captain, Gabrielle Mc Kenzie said her team came into the match under a lot of stress and together with the slow start in the first set, they just fell apart from there.” 

“Our mood coming into the game was not all that good due some administrative issues, but we have to pick up our game and come out and do better in our next match.” 

Isaac Raphael, coach of the winning US Virgin Islands was pleased with the win by his relatively young group of players. 

“We have been working back home to develop the women’s program and this is just the start, so it was nice to get a win in our first match. 

“Trinidad and Tobago was not at their best and we were able to take advantage of the opportunities presented to us to get the victory.” 

Team captain Jahyra Thomas said it was nice to get a win as captain and in their first match as a team at international level. 

She added, “Our energy level to start te match was very good and we played very well together as unit, which was key to our win. 

Grenada makes it three from three in Pool A 

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 8, 2022 – Grenada beat the previously undefeated Bermuda 3-0 ( 25-20, 25-22, 25-17) to remain perfect in Pool A of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships at the YMCA Indoor Facility. 

Darron Oxford continued his rich vein of scoring form with 11 points for Grenada. For Bermuda, Tyler Hurdle scored 10 points. 

Bermuda won the Blocks segment, 7-5, with Grenada trumping the serve aces, 9-7. 

For Grenada’s Head Coach- Raphael Braithwaite, it is seldom that his team is able to put together three wins on the trot. 

“ This is not normal for us to start that well, but I welcome it puts us basically in the semi-finals”, Braithwaite remarked. 

Whilst lauding the efforts of his players, Braithwaite that Bermuda brought the game to them, but they were able to respond in like manner. 

Braithwaite is looking forward to his team’s match up versus home team Antigua and Barbuda which he plans to use as a rehearsal for the semi- finals. 

His opposite number- Robert Saraiva believe that the defeat was a “ humble pie”, taken them down from the ecstatic feelings from their two previous winning outings. 

“ It cannot all go well, but we have to keep our heads up and prepare for our next match against St Kitts and Nevis and hopefully we can get maximum points and bid strongly for s semi- final place”, Saraiva commented.  

St Lucia books semi- final berth in style

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 8, 2022 – St Lucia registered a 3-1( 25- 20, 25-18, 28-30, 25-17) triumph over St Maarten to book the top place in Pool B of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships at the YMCA Indoor Facility.

St Lucia took one hour and 53 minutes to complete the win, thus ended the Pool flawless, trumping all three matches.

There were four players who were double figures contributors for St Lucia.

Sheldon Descartes scored 18 points; Tevin St Jean- 16, Anfernee Ferdinand- 13 and 10 came from Darnel Eudoxie.

Scoring the bulk of the points for St Maarten were Rajheem Meulens with 17 and 13 were scored by Riegmar Valies.

St Lucia’s Head Coach- Terry Verdant, despite the margin of victory, was not satisfied with the various passages of play.

“ We struggled a lot in the reception in the third set and although we were able to make amends in the fourth set, overall we have to improve in this area in our semi- final match”, Verdant emphasised.

Clayton Holiday, Head Coach of St Maarten  after the match stated: “ We were unable to put it together in this the last preliminary match… We had a break in between the matches and that did not work for us … We start again in the semi-finals and I believe the guys have what it takes

Holiday said he, his coaching staff and players are ready and raring for whosoever are their semi- final opponents.

St Kitts and Nevis gets off the mark

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 8, 2022 –   St Kitts and Nevis got off the mark with a 3-1(25-27, 25-16, 25-18, 25-11)  win over Anguilla in Pool A of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships at the YMCA Indoor Facility. 

Anguilla jumped out at the Kittians, to win the first set, but lost their way in the other three sets that followed. 

Accounting for St Kitts and Nevis’ scoring were Zendai Richards and Aziel Belle, who registered 22 and 21 points, respectively. 

For Anguilla, the lead scorer was Captain Calvin Samuel, who recorded 13 points. 

St Kitts and Nevis led on Blocks 5-4 and service aces, 7-5. 

It was a win that was welcomed by St Kitts and Nevis’ Head Coach- Richard Swan, who was delighted in the efforts on the court by his charges. 

“ I was excited to see our players knowing how to compete… We struggled and got frustrated a little bit in set one, but stayed composed in the other sets and at the same time gained greater confidence”,  Swan analysed.  

Swan was also happy that the players were bettering their skills during the match. 

“During the match, we got better, the players learnt as they went along and that is what I want to see… They learn and improve and do so rapidly”, Swan advanced. 

Likewise pleased with his team’s efforts, was Anguilla’s Head Coach- Jason Liburd. 

“ We were able to take a set and that was commendable and all along there was evident improvements among the players and that is what I am pleased for coming out to a competitive tournament like this”, Liburd related. 

He assessed that from the four matches played by Anguilla, it was all about “upward movement”. 

Antigua and Barbuda blanks Grenada 3-0 

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 8, 2022 – Antigua and Barbuda inflicted a 3-0 ( 25-21, 25-18, 25-21) defeat on the high -flying Grenada in match 15 of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships at the YMCA Indoor Facility. 

The decisive match in Pool A, saw the home team never allowing Grenada a foot hold in the match. Antigua and Barbuda, buoyed by home support pressed gas from the get go, and never looked back. 

Led by the left -handed Adrian Constant, with 17 points and Jamarie James- 14 points, Antigua and Barbuda, won an additional 11 points on Blocks. 

For Grenada, Darron Oxford, came away with 15 points. 

The win though set up Antigua and Barbuda’s final match against St Kitts and Nevis, is critical to the two teams that will advance to the semi- finals from the Pool. 

Head Coach of the Antigua and Barbuda team, Fitzroy Benjamin heaped praises on his charges for the execution of the game plan. 

“The guys did well with proper execution of the game plan”, Benjamin lauded.  

Going into some technicalities, Benjamin informed, “ We tried not to go into the centre line and hit the back court , but we had some difficulties in stopping their middle blocker”.  

On the downside, Benjamin lamented, “We have some serving errors which we must correct going forward”. 

But for Head Coach of Grenada- Raphael Braithwaite, the intensity of the championships, affected them.  

“Not to make any excuses, but we had a very hard game against Bermuda and that took a toll on the players as the tiredness showed up in this match”, Braithwaite explained.  

On the other side, according to Braithwaite, “ Antigua and Barbuda came out and had a very good game… I must say it is the best they have played in the championships so far and they caught us struggling to find consistency”.  

Bermuda returns to winning ways

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 8, 2022 –   Bermuda ensured that there were no more hiccups, as they pushed for a semi- final berth, by stopping St Kitts and Nevis 3-0 ( 25-21, 25-12, 25-14) in Pool A  of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships at the YMCA Indoor Facility. 

Bermuda thus ended the preliminary phase with a 3:1 win/loss ratio, while St Kitts and Nevis, with a game in hand, has one win and two losses.  

The pair of Tyler Hurdle and Eron Woods, each registered 14 points for the Bermudans, while for St Kitts and Nevis, the topscorer was Aziel Belle, with 11 points.  

Putting his team’s efforts into perspective, Head Coach of Bermuda, Robert Saraiva, stated, “It was a slow start… We had to get the engine warm before start kicking off”. 

Saraiva accepted that at times, St Kitts and Nevis caused them a few anxious moments, but “give it away at some crucial moments”.  

Meanwhile, Kyle Hamilton, the Bermuda team’s  Captain remarked, “It is an incredible feeling… We started off a little bit slowly, but we told one another we can go forward and win this match with a 3-0…We want to get the medal round and that is what we are playing for”.  

In review of his team’s efforts, Head Coach of St Kitts and Nevis- Richard Swan, apportioned defeat on the strengths of the Bermuda team, as well as his team’s deficiencies. 

“ Bermuda was a solid team; They practically served us off the court  and we never found a rhythm and struggled badly with our ball control and it was always trying to battle back”. Swan summed up. 

“We gave then easy opportunities to score and we did not keep the pressure on them”, Swam added. 

Despite the loss, Swan is hopeful for a better showing in their final match up against Antigua and Barbuda. 

Mohammed salutes commitment of CAZOVA participants  

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 8, 2022 – Mushtaque Mohammed, President of the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) praised the efforts of the participating teams’ federations at the CAZOVA Youth and Junior Championships which served off at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena.

Speaking at the official opening ceremony for the teams on Thursday, July 7, Mohammed, a former T&T Volleyball Federation (T&TVF) said. “We are happy to see the sport of volleyball not just back on the calendar in CAZOVA but also make a welcome return to the playing courts and for me, their is no better age-groups to take that step with, than with the Youth and Junior events, as they are the future of the sport.”

“I also would like to make a say a big and special thank you for the leaders of the federations of the teams who are present at this tournament and the big commitment and effort they have made to make certain that their teams participate in this edition, just coming on the heels of the covic-19 pandemic which grounded the sport for more than two years.” 

Mohammed also praised the efforts of the T&TVF led by President Daymian Stewart for putting on the tournament without much outside help.

He said, “I would like to thank the T&TVF to taking up the opportunity to put on the first CAZOVA event post-Covid and doing son with very little resources and as I understand they are doing so without any funding for the tournament coming from government.

And finally, Mohammed was also high in recognition of North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) President, Cristobal Marte-Hoffiz for the financial support given by the federation to make certain the staging and success of the tournament.

Stewart in his brief address welcomed the participating and while admitting that his federation faced a few challenges in hosting the event, they were committed to putting on the event and helping to get the sport jump started in the CAZOVA region once again.

USVI rallies past Martinique to stay unbeaten in Under-19 Girls 

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 8, 2022 – US Virgin Islands made it two wins from as many matches in the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA)  Youth Girls (Under-19) Championship when they came-from-behind to rally past Martinique 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-23) in a clash of unbeaten teams  at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports aArena (SRISA). 

With the victory, the US Virgin Islands moved into sole possession of top spot on the four-team round-robin table with nine points, three ahead of Martinique (1-1), who after stunning defending champion Suriname in the pool opener on Thursday was brought back down to earth while Trinidad and Tobago are winless and without a point from one match each. 

At the end of the four-team round-robin series, the top two teams will play for the gold medal and third and fourth will contest the bronze playoff. 

Speaking after his team’s first loss in two matches, Martinique coach Wilham Lebel said his team played a very inconsistent match which resulted in their defeat. 

“We had a good beginning, but after the first set we fell apart in our passing and receiving which was the main reason for our defeat. 

Team captain, Marie Marajo-Breton added, “I feel very bad for my team because I know we can play much better than we did today. But we still have one more match to play before the final day and I know we will come back stronger.” 

Isaac Raphael, coach of the US Virgin Islands said he was very proud of the effort from his players considering that the captain of the senior Alek-Wek Raphael suffered a tournament-ending injury in the Under-21 match against Suriname earlier in the day. 

“Our group is a small close-knit group and while she may not be part of this team they all looked up to her, so I think came out with the mindset to win this one for her, 

“The positive thing about this group as well is that they are now in the developmental stage and I know that they will get better as time goes one.” 

Team captain Jahyra Thomas added, “We had a rough start but as the game went along our performance improved.  

Suriname makes winning Under-21 men start 

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 8 , 2022: Suriname registered an impressive 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-17) win over a jaded US Virgin Islands in their 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Men (Under-21) Championship round-robin opener at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena.  

The win was the the first for Suriname to move to the top of the five-team round-robin winner-take-all table with a five points, followed by Haiti with four points and host Trinidad and Tobago with three after their wins over Jamaica (3-1) and US Virgin Islands (3-2) respectively on Thursday’s first day of competition. 

Leading the way for Suriname as they hunt a first-ever crown was Shemar Jameson with 16 points and Jonovan Wijngaarde who added 12 points while for US Virgin Islands, Ajani Henley had a team best 12, and Jomari Jacobs, who chipped in with ten while Jared Brown got six in the loss.  

Speaking after the loss US Virgin Islands coach Isaac Raphael said he did not want to make the quick turn-around in his team matches from playing the last night on the opening day to first match on the second day a major talking point, but instead pointed towards the inexperience of his team. 

“We have a very young group of players and and when our starters did not not get off to a good start we had to go to the younger guys, but credit to Suriname as well as they have a very good team and played a well.” 

US Virgin Islands captain, Gabriel Rosa said it was tough for his team to play back-to-back matches in less than 24 hours against quality teams like Trinidad and Tobago, and then Suriname. 

“We put out a big effort last night and we just could not find that same energy again today, but our mentality is to come out to each match and push as hard as we can and play to the best we can, no matter the circumstances.” 

Suriname coach Antoine Vliet was delighted with his team’s display saying, “It was a very good game for us.” 

“The guys were well prepared for this match even though we had a delayed start and it showed in our performance.” 

Team captain, Duncan Hiwat echoed the views of his coach and said he was very happy with how his team played. 

“We played really well at the beginning of the match, but then we had a dip in the second and third sets, but I was very happy to see how we rebounded in those sets to take the victory in straight sets.”  

Suriname to meet USVI for NORCECA U21s ticket 

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 8, 2022:  Suriname dashed the hopes of host Trinidad and Tobago while booking their own spot in the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Junior Women (Under-21) final with a 3-0 (25-18, 28-26, 25-20 triumph at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena. 

With the win, Suriname joined US Virgin Islands, who also defeated Trinidad and Tobago in straight sets, in the gold medal match of the CAZOVA  Under-21 Women’s Championship. 

This after both teams are locked on five points and 1-0 records ahead of their round-robin clash on Saturday, July 9, a prelude to Sunday’s all-important final which will earn the victors the lone spot available to the USA will host the NORCECA Under-21 Women’s Continental Championship from April 16 to 24, 2023 with the world event set for September in a country yet to be named while Trinidad and Tobago got bronze with a 0-2 record in the three-team pool. 

Japan defeats Canada in Men’s VNL

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OSAKA, Japan, July 8, 2022 – Japan defeated Canada 3-1 (25-20, 25-16, 22-25, 25-20) while improving to 8-2 win-loss record at the FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League.

Yuki Ishikawa was the top scorer for Japan with 19 points, including 4 aces, followed by Yuji Nishida with 18. Taishi Onodera added 10 points in the victory.

Canada’s Stephen Timothy Maar registered 20 points in the losing cause while Brodie Hofer and Mathias Elser each had 10 points.

Japan took advantage of 31 unforced errors by Canada. In the other scoring categories, the stats were very similar with Japan leading in blocks 5-4 and Canada in serves 8-7.

Official presentation Japan vs Canada week 3 VNL in Osaka, Japan

SVG rebounds to beat Dominica in straight sets 

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 7, 2022 – St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), ended the preliminary round of Pool B with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-20 ) triumph over Dominica of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships at the YMCA Indoor Facility.

The best scoreR for St Vincent and the Grenadines was Ronaldo Franklyn who had 20 points and for Dominica, Keaun Reefe had 6 points.

SVG thus ended the Group stage with a 2-1 win-loss ratio.

Coach of the St Vincent and the Grenadines team – Eardley Martin said that it was good for the team to deliver a win, amidst the travails.

“ We ended it with a win in our preliminary round, and to do so 3-0 against Dominica gives us an outside chance still for a  fight semi- final place”, Martin reasoned.

He said that they will await the outcome of the St Lucia versus St Maarten match, as it can go down to points and sets, depending on the margin among the teams.

Martin noted that should St Lucia beat St Maarten in straight sets, will set up the application of the permutations.

Losing Dominica Head Coach, was evidently disappointed that his charges did not execute his plans.

“We came in with a game plan, which was to go through the middle because, I have noticed that St Vincent and the Grenadines does not defend well through the middle, but unfortunately my team did not carry out that plan and there is where we lost the match

LeBlanc  further disclosed that  he insisted that the St Vincent and the Grenadines team was tired, hence called on his players to capitalize on this.

“I told them that the St Vincent and the Grenadines team was tired as they had little sleep and had had already played two matches, whilst we only played one, but the guys got excited, did not capitalize on this… They lost focus and lost the match”, LeBlanc recalled with disappointment.

Grenada takes down St Kitts and Nevis 3-0

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ST JOHN’S,  Antigua, July 7, 2022 – Grenada took down a youthful St Kitts and Nevis 3-0 ( 25-21, 25-22, 25-16), as the two got their Pool A campaign going, in the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships, here at the YMCA Indoor Facility. 

Darron Oxford scored a game high 12 points for Grenada and for St Kitts and Nevis, Aziel Belle scored 9 for his team. 

Grenada outdid St Kitts and Nevis in Blocks, 7-3 and had 37 successful attacks,  as against St Kitts and Nevis’ 10. 

Oxford, speaking on behalf of his team said that it was good to get a win under their belt from the start. 

“ It is a good feeling to get this first win… We had the right energy coming into this game… We realise also that we were a bit more experienced than the Kittians, which seem to be a young team”, Oxford related.  

He however, said that his team is bracing for the anticipated “opposition” from the other teams in Pool A.  

Accepting that his team lacks experience at this level, St Kitts and Nevis Coach- Ricard Swan said:  “  We have a bunch of young players who are getting their first exposure at this level and for me they did a good job… They came out hard, but there are a lot of things we need to work on”. 

Rating his team’s performance versus Grenada, Swan stated: “ I will put it down the middle, about 5 or 6 out of 10, but as I said, we are here to develop the young talent that we have…. Get them to look at the other teams and gain the experience”. 

St Kitts and Nevis Captain- James Matthew sees playing alongside the bunch of new players as “ inspirational”. 

Despite the youthfulness of the team, Matthew is hoping that they learn fast, and at leave an impression on the tournament. 

Bermuda beats Antigua in humdinger   

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 7, 2022 – Bermuda came from  two sets down to beat Antigua and Barbuda  3-2 in a Pool B humdinger of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships at the YMCA Indoor Facility. 

The host, bolstered by partisan home support, won the first two sets, 25-22, 25-20, but Bermuda took the third 27-25 and the fourth 28-26, to set up a grand stand finish. 

Bermuda took the early lead in the decisive fifth set, and held their nerve to win 15-11.

The top scorers for Bermuda were  Kyle Hamilton who had 18 points; Eron Woods- 16 points and Ryan Davies – 13 points. 

For Antigua and Barbuda, Adrian Constant scored 28 points and Jamanie James had 21 points.  

A delighted Bermuda Head Coach- Robert Saraiva in assessment of the match, related: “ The Antiguans did not let up on us and with the crowd behind them it put a lot of pressure on us… But we just fought back, we did not have anything lose… We came here to do the best we can and we proved that in this match, especially in the last three sets”.  

Equally elated for the come from behind win was Bermuda’s Captain- Kyle Hamilton, who gave his piece. 

“We were a little nervous with the home support, so we came out in the third set and said we were going to give it our all… We were able to take it to five sets and eventually won”, Hamilton beamed with joy. 

A dejected Head Coach of Antigua Barbuda- Fitzroy Benjamin, thumbed the loss of momentum on his team’s defeat. 

“We started off well, but the players lapsed with their passing and at times were flat footed and allowed Bermuda to get back into the game”, Benjamin noted. 

Meanwhile, Constant- Antigua and Barbuda’s team, believed that his team mates paid too much attention on things which did not go their way, hence lost focus during the last three sets. 

Constant though wants to see his team refocus for the other matches.

Bermuda opens account against Anguilla

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 7, 2022- Bermuda stuck to the basics, to register a 3-0 ( 25-15, 25-22, 27-25) win over Anguilla in match four of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships at the YMCA Indoor Facility.

Leading Bermuda’s scoring was their captain- Kyle Hamilton, who registered 11 points, while Hamilton’s opposite number – Calvin Samuel, had 8 points for his team.

Team wise, Bermuda led in Attacks, 30-14, but registered 41 errors, in contrast to Anguilla’s 40.

For coach of the Bermuda team- Robert Saraiva, it was simply getting the job done.

“ We came here to play our basic game… We did not try anything fancy  we stuck to what we know just the fundamentals, hence we try to build on everyone focusing on the basics “, Saraiva assessed.

Noting that it was good to be back in the fray, Saraiva added, “ We have not been to one of these tournaments for quite a while, so we will be making the best of the experience and obviously, like the other teams, we are here to win”.

Team leader- Hamilton in assessing the win said: “It was a good victory for us a  team I was pleased with our services and our passing… We will be looking to build on this victory in our other matches”.

Meanwhile, Anguilla’s Coach- Jason Liburd: “ I must say that we played a lot better than in our first match versus Antigua and I felt we should have won the last two sets but some unforced errors cost us the match”.

“ This is what we came here for and we are achieving our goal, that is to get better and better with every match”, Liburd indicated.

Match five of the tournament pits St Maarten against St Vincent and the Grenadines in Pool B.

TTO battles past USVI in Under-21 men five-set thriller

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 7, 2022: Host Trinidad and Tobago began their campaign with a five-set entertaining win (3-2) 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 10-25, 15-9 over a stubborn US Virgin Islands in their 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Men (Under-21) Championship round-robin opener at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena. 

Commenting after the win in the see-saw battle that had the spectators on the edge of their seats from the first serve, Trinidad and Tobago coach Peer Nasseir said his team had a nervous start and made too many errors.

“Our mistakes on our passing and serving almost cost us the match and I believe we were very lucky to come away with the win.

Isaac Raphael, coach of the US Virgin Islands team said he was very proud of his team despite the loss.

“Our preparation for this tournament was not all that good, and it was shown in our serving which I felt was weak, but overall I’m happy with the effort and very excited for what the future holds for this team because we have many young players among this group.

Gabriel Rosa, captain of the US Virgin Islands team said his team were able to do a lot of good things despite the defeat.

“We know we have some basics to work on and we know there is great potential among this group to do well, but we just need to work out the kinks.”

Grenada adds Anguilla to their winning list  

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 7, 2022 – Grenada saw off Anguilla 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-20) in Pool A of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships, here at the YMCA Indoor Facility. 

The win put the Grenadians 2:0 in their win/ loss ratio, having defeated St Kitts and Nevis in their opening match. 

For Grenada, Darren Oxford and  Nikel John, both scored 7 points each, while for Anguilla, the lead scorer was Calvin Samuel with 16 points. 

Raphael Braithwaite, Head Coach of the Grenada outfit,  was complimentary on his players’ execution of their duties in the match. 

“ We made it simple… We did not allow the Anguillans to get into the match… All in all,  it was a good win for the team, and hopefully we can continue in this vein”, Braithwaite related after the encounter. 

The Grenada Head Coach though anticipates stiffer competition in his team’s upcoming matches. 

“ We have to continue to prepare as we expect more challenges in the matches to come”, Braithwaite projected. 

Meanwhile, sticking to his mantra of “ improving”, Head Coach of the Anguilla team- Jason Liburd, believed his script continues to stay true to form. 

“ As I said from the start, we are here to improve and that is taking place and this is evident from the improved score line in each match”, Liburd supported. 

Martinique stuns champs Suriname in CAZOVA Girls U-19 Opener

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 7, 2022 – Martinique made a stunning debut at the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA)  Youth Girls (Under-19) Championship with a polished 3-0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-22) win over defending champion Suriname in the competition’s curtain-raiser at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena (SRISA).

Three years ago, when the competition was last held in Jamaica, Suriname dethroned Barbados in the final, but today apart from going point-for-point in the early exchanges of all three sets, and holding 15-10 and 20-16 leads in the third set, Suriname could not cope with the well balanced display from the Wilham Lebel-coached Martiniquans who proved a class above the title-holders.

Speaking after the loss, Suriname coach Claudius Straal admitted his team did not play their best.

.He said, “We didn’t play well most of the match, and we surely have to improve for the next game because we trained and prepared hard to get to the final.

Team captain, Chontelle Lisse echoed the views of her coach saying “We didn’t do our best and I don’t think we give our all, but we will work on our mistakes for the next game. Our energy level was not consistent enough to match Martinique who played a good match, so I know we can play better.”

An elated Lebel said, “I think we played with a good energy.. We served well and our players were very positive and aggressive in the blocks. Our concentration level was very good for most of the match and this was key to us getting the result we got.”

Captain Marie Marajo-Breton added, “It was very good for us to get a win and against a team like Suriname as well. We are all happy and we are hoping we can win the next match.”

Haiti subdues Jamaica in Under-21 Men CAZOVA opener

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 7, 2022: Haiti made a winning start to its bid to claim the title left vacant by six-time winners Barbados when they came-from-behind to subdue Jamaica 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-21) in their 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Men (Under-21) Championship round-robin opener at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena. 

Commenting on his team’s win after the closely fought contest against the Jamaicans who were the last to arrive in the country on Wednesday night and had an extended stay in immigration, Haitian coach Junior Siecle said he was satisfied with the win.

“I’m very pleased with the win but going forward we still have to to make some corrections as I’m not satisfied with our blocking.”

Captain, Dieulengy Relis added, “We started off a bit slow but then we found our momentum and played much better as the match went along. We are very happy to start with the win, and now we must continue to improve to win our other matches as well.

Steve Davis, coach of Jamaica said his team was affected by jet lag and a lack of rest.

“We are not ones to make excuses but we had a very travelling schedule where we reached in late and also had a long stay in immigration.Apart from that we also had little preparation time at home due to exams and we know that our players can improve their level of play and will improve in the next match.”

Andrae Robb captain of Jamaica also said he felt his team was badly affected by their travelling scheduled in addition to lacking in confidence.

“We know where we fell short in this match and we need to improve for our next encounter.”

USA improve record to 8-2 at VNL

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OSAKA, Japan, July 7, 2022 – The United States outplayed France 3-2 (15-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-14, 15-8) improving its win-loss record to 8-2 at the FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League.

Aaron Russell and Torey Defalco scored 18 and 15 points, respectively, for the United States, and Kyle Ensing added 12 in the victory.

USA team captain David Smith spikes avoiding France block

Earvin Ngapeth led France with 19 points, followed by Stephen Boyer and Barthelemy Chinanyese with 14 and 12.

Also in Osaka, Brazil swept Canada 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-16) behind Yoandy Leal’s 15 points followed by Darlan Ferreira with 12.

Canada’s Brodie Hofer and Eric Loeppky finished with 13 and 11 points.

Canada vs Brazil week 3 VNL in Osaka, Japan

Five Coaches comment about potential of Men’s U-21

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 6, 2022 –  Barbados, the perennial  kings and six-time winners, including the last four editions will not be present to defend their title at the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Men (Under-21) Championship which serves off  at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena on Thursday, meaning a first time champion will be crowned from the five competing teams.

Host, T&T who ended in third spot at the last edition in 2019 in Martinique and have a best finish of silver in 2015 will be keen to stamp their authority on home soil, but will be hard pressed to do so against the quartet of formidable opponents in 2017/2018 runner-up Haiti, US Virgin Islands and Suriname, the latter two yet to make their at this age-group level.

The five competing men’s teams will contest a straight round-robin series due to the late withdrawal of Martinique, champions in 1999, and their respective coaches while worried by their team’s preparations all expressed hope that once they play to their true potential, capturing the title wont be beyond their charges, 

Under-21 Men:

ISAAC RAPHAEL (US Virgin Islands): “The boys got to train for only about two days so our preparation has not been that ideal.At the same time, we have some older players returning to the team, but the core of the team is mainly a young one as we are in a developmental stage. So during the tournament I really looking forward to seeing them grow, compete and fight as hard as they can as a team and hopefully it will be good enough for us to have some success as I do believe we will be able to hold our own.”

PEER NASSEIR (Trinidad and Tobago):“We are the underdogs in this category and we will surely be using the approach on the cautious and optimistic side since each of these teams are unknowns and will also be eager to take home the crown.”

ANTOINE VLIET (Suriname): “I expect that this age-group will be much more competitive as there are more teams firstly and with the older players you tend to get a higher level of play as well.

“We are looking forward to playing as much as possible and we are aiming to win the title as we have the believe we have the best possible group of players that we could have selected.

DERISIER SARTRE (Haiti assistant): “We had one month to prepare the team and our problem is that we don’t know the level of the other teams in the competition to give a proper prediction on our chances. However, we are very confident in our chances and we are confident of doing our best and we will see if it is good enough for us to win.”

STEVE DAVIS (Jamaica): “Our chances of winning this tournament is as good as any team we believe. Even though we have been hampered by some students and their school examinations and a short preparation time, we intend to give off our best and we are expecting great things from this group of players.”

St Lucia stops St Vincent in five -setter

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ST JOHN ‘S, Antigua, July 6, 2022 – St Lucia and arch rivals St Vincent traded points and sets, but St Lucia finally trumped 25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 15-13, in an epic battle of the Saints, as Pool B  of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships heated up at the YMCA Indoor Facility.

With no quarter given and none asked, Asmond Franklyn made good of 28 points for the Vincentians, while his team mates Jahmal Small and Jamaar Cropper each registered 14 points.

Tevin St Jean had 11 points for St Lucia, to be his team’s top scorer.

St Vincent and the Grenadines outdid St Lucia in Blocks 11-8 and Serves 5-2. But it was St Lucia who conceded fewer errors- 38 to St Vincent and the Grenadines’ 47.

A beaming St Lucia Head Coach Terry  Verdant was bubbling for the win.  

“ I am feeling great, because in our last two outings, St Vincent and the Grenadines had beaten St Lucia and for me that was not normal so I had to take revenge tonight”, Verdant said.

Stating that his team made some adjustments during the match, Verdant commented: “We tried to play an easier game, because at the beginning we were trying to rush the game… In addition,  we noticed that they wanted the ball cross court, so began to block them inside”.

Verdant’s opposite number – Eardley Martin was gracious in defeat.  

According to Martin, “The guys played their hearts out … Playing St Lucia is never always easy… We know each other and there will always be that type of intensity between the two”.

Martin believed that despite the loss , he is confident of his players resetting and coming back stronger in their remaining matches.

“We started the competition and we are going to end it”, Martin projected of a St Vincent and the Grenadines versus St Lucia final.

Match four in the tournament features Anguilla and Bermuda in Pool A.

Coaches optimistic about women’s U21 chances

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 6, 2022 –  With reigning champions Barbados who lifted the title in 2019 in Martinique opting not to defend their titles the coaches of the participating teams at the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Women (Under-21) Championship which gets underway at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena on Thursday say they are all optimistic of claiming the crown.

In the absence of Barbados, host T&T who ended as runner-up in 2019 and have won the title six times, the last of which was in 2011/2012 will be keen to repeat on home soil their triumph of 205.

However, Suriname with a best finish of third in 2007, and US Virgin Islands with a best placing of second on home soil in 20211/2012 will also fancy their chances of claiming the coveted title in the three-team round-robin series at the end of which the top two will contest the gold medal match.

Speaking on the eve of the competition, the three coaches, Suriname’s Claudius Straal, Trinidad and Tobago’s Gideon Dickson and US Virgin Islands Isaac Raphael all expressed their views on their team’s chances.

Under-21 Women:

CLAUDIUS STRAAL (Suriname):  “Some members of the Under-19 team will be stepping up to play in the Under-21 competition as well so it will give the players some form of continuity and momentum as the tournament goes along.”

“We are basically looking forward to playing as much matches as we possibly can as during our competition at home we had the girls playing back-to-back matches and we believe we have selected the best possible group for us to have a good tournament.”

GIDEON DICKSON (Trinidad and Tobago): “It’s been basically two-and-a-half years for the players to be inactive and it has been unfortunate due to the pandemic. “At the same time fortunately we had the Development Festival which I believed served its purpose to resume the sport of volleyball and provide a based for the national teams selections as we have the talent.


“We intend to go into the tournament and focus on each match as they come as our intention is to win the competition and even though we had been inactive for such a long time, we are confident of putting our best foot forward and doing ourselves proud.”

ISAAC RAPHAEL (US Virgin Islands): “We had a very small preparation of two weeks with most of the sessions being held together with the Under-19 girls team, training twice per day and I am also excited to see what they can produce on the court.

“What I love about this group of players is that they are much more experienced than the Under-19s  and should be much better able to execute their game plans.I’m hoping that we can get to the gold medal match and take the top prize as we were third the last time the competition was held, but we are hungry for the title.”

Suriname intends to keep Girls’ U19 title

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 6, 2022 – Still basking in their success of 2019, Suriname has made it no secret that they intend to put up a very good defence of their title when the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Youth Girls (Under-19) Championship begins at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena on Thursday  say their are all optimistic of claiming the crown.

Three years ago when the competition (formerly Under-18) was last held in Jamaica, Suriname overcame Barbados in the final to dethrone the latter while T&T, previous winners in 2007 on home soil, 2012 in US Virgin Islands and again in 2013 on home soil once more had to settle for fourth spot behind ISV.

However, T&T will be on home soil once more and will be keen to make it three championship wins as host and will no doubt pose a serious challenge along with first-time competitors at this age level Martinique, and US Virgin Islands in the four-team round-robin competition at the end of which the top two teams will compete for gold, while the third and fourth placed teams battle for the bronze. 

Speaking ahead of the tournament, the four coaches while cautious about their approach to the series hinted that their teams were capable of going all the way to the title.

Under-19 Girls:

ISAAC RAPHAEL (US Virgin Islands): We have been preparing for the past two weeks with training sessions twice per day and we are ready as can be. I’m excited about the potential the team has as the players have really gel together as a unit and of course I would like to have more time to prepare, but we are here to compete and do our best:”

SALEEM ALI (Trinidad and Tobago): “Basically we have been in preparation as a team for the past three weeks following the completion of the T&T Volleyball Federation Developmental Festival, and apart from two players we basically have a brand new team.

“The players are prepared as much as they can be, but we lack experience without a doubt and will go into the competition taking one match at a time.”

CLAUDIUS STRAAL (Suriname): “We started to prepare two months ago with about 35 players and recently made our final selection of 12 players for the tournament. Two years ago we were the winners of this competition at the Under-18 level, so we basically have a core of players who were part of that winning team here with us again. We want to repeat as the champions but first we have to take it match by match and try and finish among the top two teams in the round-robin so we can play in the final.”

WILHAM LEBEL (Martinique): “This is going to be our first time presenting a team in this category of the Championship and for us it’s a huge honour for us to participate coming after the pandemic which made it very difficult for our team to prepare and I am sure for the other teams as well in the competition.I expect that al four teams will be a good level of play and I do expect my team to play good against each team as well because know that  Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and USVI are all good teams and we will try to compete as best as we can.”

TTO and Suriname to battle for Boys’ U19 crown

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PLEASANTVILLE, San Fernando, Trinidad, July 6, 2022 – With only host Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname registered to compete, history will be made when one of the two teams capture their first ever title in the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Youth Boys (Under-19) Championship.

The tournament will begin at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena on Thursday and both coaches were cautious in their words, with Peer Nasseir, the coach of TTO even hinted at Suriname being favourites to the title in their best-of-three finals.

Once again, Barbados, which captured the title for a third time in 2019 in Jamaica will not be here to defend their title leaving the door open for Suriname, the runner-up back then and TTO, who ended fourth to fight it out for the coveted crown. 

Under-19 Boys:

ANTOINE VLIET (Suriname): “We had a good preparation of one month and we focused on playing a lot of matches so they guys can gain some kind of momentum as we only had one competition at home before training for the tournament. “Our competition is only between us and Trinidad and Tobago and having not played for sol long due to the pandemic we would have liked to have more matches, but we still hope to win our series against them as we don’t intend to underestimate any team and above all, we want to win.”

PEER NASSEIR (Trinidad and Tobago): We have a three game series with Suriname because of a lack of teams. The positive thing out of this is that we have never made it to a final in this age-group before since its inception in 2007 when we won bronze and three years later again we got bronze. “To be honest, Suriname is practically unbeatable, but I am hoping that with the three-game series we should be able to scout them, adapt to them and overcome them. However, that will all depend on the gap between both teams and if we can close this gap in the short space of time, coming out of a pandemic and not much competition or preparation done over any long period of time.

Nine teams battle for ECVA Senior Men’s Title

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 6, 2022 – Nine teams divided into two Pools  will battle for honours in the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships here at the YMCA Indoor Facility. 

In Pool A are St Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda,  Grenada, and Bermuda, with St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Dominica and St Martin stashed in Pool B. 

The robin format serves off today, Wednesday July 6, with three matches.  

Serving off the Championships will be the Pool B fixture between Dominica and St Martin from 1800hours today. The encounter between Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts and Nevis follows from 2000hours, with St Vincent and the Grenadines meeting St Lucia from 2200hours.  

The intense championships the host six matches on Thursday July 7  and Friday, July 8. 

On Saturday, July 9, the last Pool A match is carded, along with the two semi-finals featuring the two top place finishers from each Pool., along with the play offs for the minor places- 5th/6th places as well as the 7th/8th.  

Sunday hosts the grand finale involving the two semi- finals winners . The play off for the 3rd/4th spots, precede the Final. 

The Championships will be played under strict covid- 19 guidelines , inclusive of no shaking of hands among players; regular sanitizing of all match balls and minimal physical interaction of teams.  

It is the first time since 2019, that the ECVA  is hosting any of its championships. 

St Maarten edge past Dominica in Pool B

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 6, 2022 –  St Maarten dug deep to beat Dominica  3-2, as Pool B  of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships got going here at the YMCA Indoor Facility.

St Maarten thus defeated Dominica 25-23, 22-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-9, in a ding- dong tussle for early honours.

Leading the scoring for St Maarten was Riegmar Valies with 18 points and Lenoard Jeffers recorded 17 points.

Dominica’s Captain- Yahn Florent was the leading scorer for his team with 25 points,

In  a post -match interview St Maarten Head Coach – Clayton Holiday assessed: “My guys started off well, but lost a little focus, eventually they walked back into their game and they did what was necessary …It was a case about mind over matter, as we had the will power to win”.

The St Maarten Head Coach said that he detected a flaw in the Dominica’s play, in which they had difficulty in dealing with balls in position one, and his team exploited this to good effect

Meanwhile, St Maarten Captain- Leonard  Jeffers stated, “  It was a wonderful game… We came up with a well- balanced team, having experienced players and new ones and the coaches did a phenomenal job by bringing in the right players at the right time, causing the team to mesh perfectly… I cannot complain”.

Looking forward to the rest of the tournament,  Jeffers said “ We can only get better.

For Dominica , Florent said, “ I thought we had it but our service and passing let us down”.

Facing their next opponents, Florent is cognisant of the abilities of the St Vincent and the Grenadines team, but said that they will be looking to correct their flaws in order to stay in contention for a semi- final berth.

Joining Florent in reviewing his team’ first match, Head Coach- Ericson Le Blanc reported : “ It is always disappointing when you lose, but on the night the other team wanted it more than we did … We have to go back to the drawing board ad take some decisions so going forward in the next game we can do better”.

Match two in the tournament is in Pool A, pitting Antigua and Barbuda versus Anguilla.

XIX U21 Women’s AFECAVOL Central American Championship in Belize

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BELIZE CITY, Belize, July 6, 2022.- The City of Belize will host the XIX U21 Women’s AFECAVOL Central American Championship, previously U20, from July 10 to 17 at the Belize City Civic Center.

With the sudden withdrawal of Costa Rica, the tournament will only have five teams from the region competing, Panama had declined to participate with anticipation.

The national teams of Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua will battle for the AFECAVOL title and qualify to the 2023 age-group NORCECA Continental Championship, in a round-robin competition.

The current champion is Honduras, who were crowned for the first time in the history of the event in 2019 while hosting the competition; Guatemala won the silver medal and El Salvador the bronze.

Costa Rica has won the title in nine occasions, Guatemala in five and Panama has won two titles. Costa Rica and Panama will be absent in this edition.

Check out the Rankings here: PALMARES U21 FEMENINO DE VOLEIBOL

The event will be livestreamed on The National Channel 10  in Facebook and on their YouTube channel.

The teams’ arrival is scheduled on Sunday July 10, the preliminary enquiries will take place on Munday 11 and the competition starts on Tuesday 12.

Belize City Civic Center

Competition Schedule:

Tuesday July/12

4:30pm El Salvador vs Honduras

7:00pm Opening Ceremony

7:30pm Belize vs Nicaragua

Wednesday July/13

5:00pm Honduras vs Guatemala

7:30pm Nicaragua vs El Salvador

Thursday July/14

5:00pm Guatemala vs Nicaragua

7:30pm El Salvador vs Belize

Friday July/15

5:00pm Guatemala vs El Salvador

7:30pm Honduras vs Belize

Saturday July/16

5:00pm Nicaragua vs Honduras

7:30pm Belize vs Guatemala

St Maarten edge past Dominica in Pool B

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua, July 6, 2022 –  St Maarten dug deep to beat Dominica  3-2, as Pool B  of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships got going here at the YMCA Indoor Facility.

St Maarten thus defeated Dominica 25-23, 22-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-9, in a ding- dong tussle for early honours.

Leading the scoring for St Maarten was Riegmar Valies with 18 points and Lenoard Jeffers recorded 17 points.

Dominica’s Captain- Yahn Florent was the leading scorer for his team with 25 points,

In  a post -match interview St Maarten Head Coach – Clayton Holiday assessed: “My guys started off well, but lost a little focus, eventually they walked back into their game and they did what was necessary …It was a case about mind over matter, as we had the will power to win”.

The St Maarten Head Coach said that he detected a flaw in the Dominica’s play, in which they had difficulty in dealing with balls in position one, and his team exploited this to good effect

Meanwhile, St Maarten Captain- Leonard  Jeffers stated, “  It was a wonderful game… We came up with a well- balanced team, having experienced players and new ones and the coaches did a phenomenal job by bringing in the right players at the right time, causing the team to mesh perfectly… I cannot complain”.

Looking forward to the rest of the tournament,  Jeffers said “ We can only get better.

For Dominica , Florent said, “ I thought we had it but our service and passing let us down”.

Facing their next opponents, Florent is cognisant of the abilities of the St Vincent and the Grenadines team, but said that they will be looking to correct their flaws in order to stay in contention for a semi- final berth.

Joining Florent in reviewing his team’ first match, Head Coach- Ericson Le Blanc reported : “ It is always disappointing when you lose, but on the night the other team wanted it more than we did … We have to go back to the drawing board ad take some decisions so going forward in the next game we can do better”.

Match two in the tournament is in Pool A, pitting Antigua and Barbuda versus Anguilla.

USA beat Germany, Canada lost to Argentina

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OSAKA, Japan, July 6, 2022 – The United States improved its record to 7-2 at the FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League after defeating Germany 3-1 (25-21, 25-19, 22-25, 25-18) to start the third and final week of the preliminary round.

Aaron Russell, Kyle Ensing and Torey Defalco led the American offense with 23, 13 and 12 points, respectively. Lukas Maase and Tobias Brand finished with 15 and 12 for Germany.

In the second match of Tuesday, Argentina beat Canada 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23) improving to 3-6 with the Canadians descending to 2-7.

Action between Canada and Argentina in week 3 VNL

Ezequiel Palacios was the best scorer for the South American side with 18 points, followed by Agustin Loser and Luciano Palonsky who tallied 15 and 11 points.

Erick Loeppky had a match-high 20 points for Canada, followed by Ryan Sclater and Stephen Timothy Maar with 16 and 12, respectively.

St Lucia stops St Vincent in five -setter

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ST JOHN ‘S, Antigua, July 6, 2022 – St Lucia and arch rivals St Vincent traded points and sets, but St Lucia finally trumped 25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 15-13, in an epic battle of the Saints, as Pool B  of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association( ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships heated up at the YMCA Indoor Facility.

With no quarter given and none asked, Asmond Franklyn made good of 28 points for the Vincentians, while his team mates Jahmal Small and Jamaar Cropper each registered 14 points.

Tevin St Jean had 11 points for St Lucia, to be his team’s top scorer.

St Vincent and the Grenadines outdid St Lucia in Blocks 11-8 and Serves 5-2. But it was St Lucia who conceded fewer errors- 38 to St Vincent and the Grenadines’ 47.

A beaming St Lucia Head Coach Terry  Verdant was bubbling for the win.  

“ I am feeling great, because in our last two outings, St Vincent and the Grenadines had beaten St Lucia and for me that was not normal so I had to take revenge tonight”, Verdant said.

Stating that his team made some adjustments during the match, Verdant commented: “We tried to play an easier game, because at the beginning we were trying to rush the game… In addition,  we noticed that they wanted the ball cross court, so began to block them inside”.

Verdant’s opposite number – Eardley Martin was gracious in defeat.  

According to Martin, “The guys played their hearts out … Playing St Lucia is never always easy… We know each other and there will always be that type of intensity between the two”.

Martin believed that despite the loss , he is confident of his players resetting and coming back stronger in their remaining matches.

“We started the competition and we are going to end it”, Martin projected of a St Vincent and the Grenadines versus St Lucia final.

Match four in the tournament features Anguilla and Bermuda in Pool A.

Colombia wins the gold medal of Juegos Bolivarianos

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VALLEDUPAR, Colombia, July 5, 2022 – Colombia defeated Dominican Republic in a thrilling five-setter 3-2 (17-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-21, 15-12) to claim the women’s volleyball gold medal at the Juegos Bolivarianos.

Both teams reached the title’s match undefeated in three outings and their performance did not disappoint the crowd at Coliseo Municipal Julio Monsalvo Castilla

Ana Karina Olaya was the top scorer for the Colombian squad with 19 points, including one ace and four blocks. Darlevis Mosquera also had one ace and four blocks among her 11 points and Laura Pascua contributed 14 points.

Madeline Guillen and Alondra Tapia stood out for the Dominican side with 27 and 18 points, respectively. Estefany Rabit and Natalia Martinez added 11 and 10.

Ariana Rodriguez (DOM) spikes against Colombia

The bronze medal match went to the hands of Peru who defeated Venezuela in straight sets 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-22).

The Peruvians easily dominated in the first two sets with excellent serves and general defense. It was a close battle in the third set that saw the score tied at 22-22 before the winners took final command.

Mohammed excited to see volleyball return to CAZOVA

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PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, July 4, 2022 – Mushtaque Mohammed, president of the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) says the regional sporting body is very excited about the restart of volleyball after two and a half years in the Caribbean.

Mohammed made this admission in confirming the staging of the CAZOVA Under-19 and 21 Championships at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena in Pleasantville, San Fernando from July 5 to 12.

Mohammed, said, “We decided to start in the youth and junior categories because those are the easier categories in terms of teams readiness while the senior tournaments will be held next year hopefully, and we are also hoping to have the Under-23s in December.”

The trio of the US Virgin Islands, Suriname, and T&T will contest the Under-21 Women’s Championship while the five-team Men’s Under-21 competition will feature T&T, Haiti, Suriname, US Virgin Islands, and Jamaica.

In the Under-19 age group, T&T, Suriname, Martinique, and US Virgin Islands women will face off while T&T and Suriname will contest the men.

The CAZOVA teams are competing to qualify for their respective NORCECA Continental Championship in 2023 which will serve as qualifiers for their FIVB Age Group Championship.

For the Under-19 category, the Under-19 Women’s Continental Championship is carded for February 5-13, 2023 in Puerto Rico with the World Championship set for July 2023 while the Under-19 Men’s Continental Championship comes off in Mexico from March 5-13, 2023 with the World Championship to be staged in August with the host country still to be determined.

In the Under-21 Division, the USA will host the NORCECA Under-21 Women’s Continental Championship from April 16 to 24, 2023 with the world event set for September in a country yet to be finalized while the Under-21 Men’s Continental competition comes off in Cuba from May 7-15 and the World Championship in September also at a venue yet to be named.

With regards to the small number of countries committing to the tournament, Mohammed noted that all the teams who are able to participate are really excited to come to T&T to play these events, but at the same time noted that some of the major powerhouses in the sport won’t be present.

“However, Barbados, who are among the defending champions in the youth and junior categories are not here,  and that has been a challenge as the Bahamas will not be here as well, and Jamaica will only have their Under-21 boys here.”  

A member of the T&T Olympic Committee Mohammed explained, “The challenges are not only limited to finances or readiness in terms of preparation and venue availability but also some of the countries cannot get flights to come to Trinidad because not all of the flights or airlines are operational at present so when we had more flights coming into Trinidad in the past, not all of these have started back operation since the lifting of restrictions brought about by the pandemic.”

“But, with what we have we are going to restart volleyball in CAZOVA and we are really excited that this tournament is going to take place and hopefully be something that we will all be proud of and be something that will re-stimulate volleyball in the Caribbean.”

“Additionally we are hoping to host for the first time in the region beach volleyball and so we are hoping that beach volleyball will also make a positive restart by the end of August, also right here in Trinidad, stated Mohammed, who is also an Executive vice president of the North, Central America and the Caribbean Volleyball Association (NORCECA).

With regard to the preparations for the double-gender tournament which will be the first to be staged by CAZOVA since the coronavirus pandemic in 2019, Daymian Stewart, president of the T&T Volleyball Federation (T&TVF) said they have been forced into a venue change.  

Stewart said, “Initially the T&TVF had hoped to have the tournament at the National Cycling Centre in Balmain, Couva, however, those plans had to be shelved due to the unavailability of the venue as repairs to the air-conditioning system at the Couva facility will not be completed in time to host the tournament.

Stewart added, “Basically we are just working on confirming the venue at Pleasantville as most of the other logistics are in place as well as finalising our transportation for the teams and officials and all personnel involved.

“The only challenge with Pleasantville is that janitorial services on the weekend and we have offered to make our own arrangements where that is concerned so that we can have a smooth flow of the competition,” stated Stewart.

The T&TVF boss added, “We need to do our part to provide positive activities for young people. It’s very hard but it’s worth it when young  Trinbagonians and Caribbean youth get opportunities via sport and this CAZOVA Youth and Junior event could not come at a better time coming out of the pandemic, “ended Stewart.

Participating Teams:

Under-21 Men: TTO, Haiti, Suriname, US Virgin Islands, Jamaica.

Under-21 Women: TTO, US Virgin Islands, Suriname

Under-19 Men: TTO, Suriname

Under-19 Women: TTO, Suriname, Martinique, US Virgin Islands

Dominicans play text-book volleyball to stay undefeated

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VALLEDUPAR, Colombia, July 4, 2022 – The Dominican Republic women’s team played volleyball by the book in defeating Bolivia in straight sets (25-12, 25-13, 25-14) to stay undefeated after three outings at the Juegos Bolivarianos.

The Dominicans showed their depth as the coach Cristian Cruz used his three setters – Camila de la Rosa, Mia Liberato and Adriana Rodriguez- and the effectiveness was the same.

Natalia Martinez led the winners with 13 points, including 4 aces, while reserve players Rodriguez and Seliann Concepción added 11 and 10, respectively. Middle blockers Estefany Rabit (8) and Alondra Tapia (7) also contributed to the balanced attack.

The Dominicans put their opponents against the ropes with their strong serves as they totaled 17 winners from the service lines, including six by Concepción and four by Rodríguez.

The Caribbean squad will be looking for the gold medal when they meet the also undefeated Colombia on Tuesday. The Colombians defeated Peru 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-23) in the second match of the day. 

Van Ryk led in aces, Marte third best setter

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SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, July 4, 2022 – Two women’s teams from NORCECA Confederation – United States and Dominican Republic- are among the Top-10 in the most recent ranking published by FIVB on July 2.

The Americans continue to maintain the top position among the best female teams of the world while the Dominicans occupy the ninth place following the conclusion of the preliminary round of the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.

The USA Team finished the preliminary phase with an 11-1 win-loss record while the Dominicans had a 5-7 mark after losing their first four matches when they could not count with their star player Brayelin Martinez due to a slight injury.

Canada who finished with a 4-8 record stayed in 16th position while Puerto Rico and Mexico are in 18th and 24th positions.

Individually, Canadian Kiera Van Ryk was the best server of the preliminary round where each team played one total 12 matches as she landed 20 aces, double than Dominican Yonkaira Peña who was seventh with 10.

Kiera Van Ryk (Canada) serves

Dominican Niverka Marte was the third best setter of this part of the annual competition with 298 successful sets and only 7 errors.

In the scoring department, Van Ryk was the fifth best with 213 points while their fellow Canadian Alexa Gray was in tenth place with 181 and Dominican Peña followed with 180.

Guillén scores 24 in Dominicans second win

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VALLEDUPAR, Colombia, July 3, 2022 – Madeline Guillen scored 24 points, including two aces and three blocks, leading Dominican Republic to its second victory in as many outings in the women’s volleyball tournament of the Juegos Bolivarianos on Sunday.

The Dominicans beat Peru in consecutive frames 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-17) with a stellar performance by their setter Camila de la Rosa who made an excellent job throughout the match.

Natalia Martinez was the second best scorer for the winners with two aces and one block among her 9 points. Middle blockers Estefany Rabit and Alondra Tapia added 7 and 4 points, respectively.

The Dominicans led in aces (4-3) and blocks (9-3) as well as in attacks (37-26).

In the other match of Sunday between winless teams, Venezuela defeated Bolivia 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 25-21).

USA finish VNL with 11-1 record, Canada 4-6

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CALGARY, Canada, July 3, 2022 – United States finished the preliminary round of the FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League with an 11-1 record after defeating Germany 3-1 (25-17, 25-13, 13-25, 25-22) on Sunday night.

Sarah Wilhite had 24 points as the best American scorer, followed by Jordan Thompson and Kathryn Plummer with 14 and 10, respectively.

In the last match of the evening, the Netherlands won a close contest with Canada 3-1 (22-25, 27-25, 26-24, 25-23). The Canadians finished with a 4-6 record.

Celeste Plak led Netherlands with 19 points, followed by Fleur Savelkoel and Anne Buijs with 14 and 11, respectively.

Kiera Van Ryk and Alexa Gray each scored 22 points for Canada. Emily Maglio added 12 points.

Germany edges Canada, both have 4-7 records

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CALGARY, Canada, July 2, 2022 – Germany won a close match against host Canada 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 27-25, 25-23) in the penultimate day of the third and last week of the preliminary round of the FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League on Saturday night.

Both teams have 4-7 win-loss records.

Canada killed its chances of a victory by committing an astonishing 32 errors to only 14 by the Germans. The Canadians led in attacks (64-53) and blocks (11-4) and the Germans led in serves I7-3).

Hanna Orthmann led Germany with 21 points, and Ivana Vankak and Camila Weitzel contributed 15 and 12 points to the victory.

Alexa Gray and Kiera Van Ryk finished with 26 and 22 points, respectively, for Canada. Jennifer Cross added 12 in the loss.

Libero- Arielle Palermo of Canada in action against Germany

Three Americans score over 20 points

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CALGARY, Canada, July 2, 2022 – Three players scored over 20 points as United States edged Turkey 3-2 (25-22, 18-25, 27-25, 23-25, 18-16) for its tenth victory against one loss at the FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League on Saturday.

Kara Bajema, Andrea Drews and Kelsey Robinson finished with 25, 24 and 21 points, respectively, for the American side. Haleigh Washington added 11 in the victory.

Ebrar Karakurt had a match-high 27 points for Turkey and next was Zehra Gunes with 19. Saliha Sahin and Eda Ederm finished with 17 and 14 points, respectively.

Turkey held the advantage in blocks (12-5) while the Americans led in service winners (9-2).

United States beats Turkey for a 10-1 record

Colombia and Peru claim victories in Valledupar

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VALLEDUPAR, Colombia, July 2, 2022 – Colombia claimed its second victory in as many tries at the women-s volleyball tournament of the Juegos Bolivarianos following a straight-set win over Venezuela 3-0 (25-6, 25-16, 25-19) on Saturday night.

Laura Pascua paced the offense of the home girls by scoring 8 points in the lopsided first set.

The Venezuelans reacted and played solid volleyball after the disaster of the opening set when they could not rival with the Colombians.

In the first match of Saturday, Peru used its strong service game to trounce Bolivia 3-0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-11) with Alondra Alarcon as the most outstanding player for the Peruvians.

Peru was playing for the first time in the five-team tournament. Bolivia suffered its second loss after falling to Colombia on Friday night.

Brayelin and Gaila lead Dominican victory

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SOFIA, Bulgaria, July 2, 2022 – Brayelin Martinez and Gaila Gonzalez each scored 23 points leading the Dominican Republic to a 3-2 (20-25, 38-36, 25-20, 13-25, 15-9) emotional farewell victory at the 2022 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League on Saturday.

Yonkaira Peña and Jineiry Martínez added 15 and 12 points, respectively, in the victory for the Dominican side that concluded its participation in the preliminary phase with a 5-7 win-loss record after a 0-4 start.

Brayelin Martinez ready to attack against Poland

Poland’s Martyna Czyrnianska led all the players in the match with 27 points just ahead of Olivia Rozanski who finished with 21.

The Polish held a 17-12 advantage in blocks led by Agnieszka Kakolewska who had 8 blocks among her 17 points. Dominican Angelica Hinojosa had 4 blocks for the winners.

Serbia defeated Canada 3-1

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CALGARY, Canada, July 2, 2022 – Reigning world champions Serbia defeated Canada 3-1 (25-20, 25-14, 20-25, 25-22) in a match of the FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League at 7 Chiefs Sportsplex.

The Serbians started strong, and raced out to a two-sets-to-none lead, before Canada found its game and showed its fighting spirit extending the match with a third set victory and a close fourth.

Kiera Van Ryk led red-and-white with 19 points, just ahead of Emily Maglio who posted a 2022 VNL personal-best 16 points.

The Canadian women’s team is now 4-6. With four wins, and two games to go, Canada is one victory back of eighth-place Thailand who currently hold the last berth in the Final Round.

Next up for the Canadians is a showdown with Germany Saturday at 8 pm.

Action Canada vs Poland in Calgary, Alberta – Week 3 VNL

Dominicans with impressive debut in Valledupar

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VALLEDUPAR, Colombia, July 1, 2022 – Madeline Guillen and Natalia Martinez led a powerful offense as Dominican Republic trounced Venezuela 3-0 (25-11, 25-8, 25-13) to start the women’s volleyball tournament of the Juegos Bolivarianos Valledupar 2022.

While Guillen stood out as the main attacker in the first set, it was Martinez in the second who dominated with her potent serves and spikes.

Venezuela took an early lead in the third set only to see the Dominicans coming back behind the spikes down the center by middle blockers Estefany Rabit and Alondra Tapia.

In the other match of day one, Colombia blanked Bolivia 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-9).

China sweeps Dominican Republic

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SOFIA, Bulgaria, July 1, 2022 – China swept Dominican Republic in straight sets 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-15) in a volleyball match of the FIVB Women’s Nations League on Friday.

The Chinese are in fourth place with a 7-4 win-loss record while Dominican Republic descended to 4-7 in tenth position.

The Dominicans finish their participation in this year’s VNL playing against Poland (4-6).

The Chinese team played almost perfect volleyball while committing only 7 unforced errors throughout the match compared to 21 by the Dominicans.

Li Yingying led China with 15 points followed by Xinyue Yuan and Xiangyu Gong with 10 points apiece. Yonkaira Peña was the top scorer for the Dominican Republic with 15 points and Gaila Gonzalez added 10 tallies.

USA Women improve to 9-1 at VNL

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CALGARY, Canada, June 30, 2022 – The United States’ female national team defeated Serbia in straight sets 3-0 (25-17, 33-31, 25-16) improving its league leading record to 9-1 at the FIVB Volleyball Nations League on Thursday.

Kathryn Plummer finished the contest with 18 points for the winners. Jordan Thompson was next with 15 and Sarah Wilwhite added 12.

Bienka Busa and Ana Bjelica had 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Serbian team that dropped its record to 6-4.

The Americans finished with eight blocks as a team, including three by middle blocker Haleigh Washington who also had one ace and 8 points.

United States leads the VNL with 9-1 record

Dominicans beat Thailand in VNL

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SOFIA, Bulgaria, June 30, 2022 – Brayelin Martinez, Yonkaira Peña and Gaila González formed an attacking trio that gave the Dominican Republic a 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-21) victory over Thailand in the Nations League FIVB Women’s Volleyball.

Martínez and Peña each contributed 19 points and González came close with 18 for the Dominican squad’s fourth win against 6 losses. Jineiry Martínez added 14 points. Pimpichaya Kokram led Thailand with 30 points and Ajcharaporn Kongyot had 15 in the loss.

Galia Gonzalez (23) of Dominican Republic in action against Thailand, week 3 of Women’s Volleyball Nations League

The Dominican Republic concludes its participation in the preliminary phase playing Friday and Saturday against China and Poland, respectively.

Colombia wins men’s gold at Juegos Bolivarianos

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VALLEDUPAR, Colombia, June 29, 2022 – Colombia swept Chile 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-19) to claim the men’s gold medal of the volleyball tournament of Juegos Bolivarianos on Tuesday night.

On their path to the title, the Colombian squad won 12 sets and lost only one set to Dominican Republic in the semifinal contest.

They began their campaign with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-18) victory over Venezuela in Pool A and followed with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-10, 25-23) over Peru.

In the crossed semifinal match against Dominican Republic, the “home boys” prevailed in a tough clash 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-18, 26-24).

Final positions: 1. Colombia, 2. Chile, 3. Peru, 4. Dominican Republic, 5. Venezuela, 6. Bolivia.

Canada upsets Turkey in Women’s NL

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CALGARY, Canada, June 29, 2022 – Canada scored an upset victory over Turkey to start at home the third and final week of the FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League.

Despite giving away 31 points via unforced errors, the home girls took the victory in four sets 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 25-23). Canada improved to 4-5 in the standings while Turkey fell to 5-4.

The Canadians held a slight advantage in attacks 54-51 and serves 6-5 but overwhelmed their opponents in blocks 14-4.

Alexa Gray and Kiera Van Ryk led Canada with 22 and 20 points while Hillary Howe added 14 in the victory.

Ebrar Karakurt led all the players in the match with 23 points for the losers. Zehra Gunes also reached double figures with 15 points.

Canada celebrates huge win over Turkey at Women’s VNL

USA women lead VNL

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CALGARY, Canada, June 29, 2022 – The United States women’s team swept Belgium 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-19) to begin the third and last week of the preliminary round of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League.

The Americans are atop of the standings of the VNL with an 8-1 win-loss record that is the same as Japan, but separated by a better set-ratio of USA.

Kara Bajema led USA with 20 points, followed by Andrea Drews and Kelsey Robinson with 15 and 12 points, respectively.

Jordan Thompson of United States against Belgium, week 3 Women’s VNL

Belgium’s Britt Herbots, the leading scorer of the competition, elevated her total to 212 points with her output of 18 against the Americans.

Belgium’s record is now 3-6.

Five teams to play under round-robin at Valledupar

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VALLEDUPAR, Colombia, June 29, 2022 – The Julio Monsalvo Castilla Municipal Coliseum will host the women’s volleyball tournament of the Bolivarian Games that will start on Friday, July 1-5.

Five teams composed of players under 23 years-old – Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Peru and Venezuela – will play under the round-robin system to determine the three best positions.

There will be two daily matches starting with the Dominican Republic versus Venezuela and Colombia versus Bolivia.

The full schedule is as follows:

July 1

17:00 Dominican Republic v Venezuela

19:00 Colombia v Bolivia

July 2

17:00 Peru v Bolivia

19:00 Colombia v Venezuela

July 3

17:00 Dominican Republic v Peru

19:00 Venezuela v Bolivia

July 4

17:00 Dominican Republic v Bolivia

19:00 Colombia v Peru

July 5

11:00 Peru v Venezuela

13:00 Colombia v Dominican Republic

Colombia outduels Dominican Republic in semifinals

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VALLEDUPAR, Colombia, June 28, 2022 – Colombia outdueled Dominican Republic advancing to the gold medal match of the men’s volleyball tournament of the Juegos Bolivarianos.

The Colombians who had not lost one single set in their previous matches edged the resilient Dominicans 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-18, 26-24) before a full house at Julio Monsalvo Castilla Municipal Coliseum.

Now the Colombians will play Chile for the gold medal. The Chileans edged Peru 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 23-25, 25-13, 16-14).

The bronze medal will be decided in a contest between Peru and the Dominican Republic this Tuesday.

In the match for fifth place, Venezuela came out winners over Bolivia in a five-set duel 3-2 (31-33, 25-18, 24-26, 25-22, 15-11).

Peru wins bronze in five sets against Dominican Republic

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VALLEDUPAR, Colombia, June 28, 2022 – Angel Fabricio Cerpa scored 8 points in the tie-breaker to lead Peru to the men’s volleyball bronze medal at the Bolivarian Games with a thrilling victory over the Dominican Republic.

The Peruvians won the first two sets and seemed headed for a comfortable victory, but were hit by a backlash from the Dominicans who forced a decisive fifth set that was tied at 6-6 as the South Americans broke away and found their way to success.

The final score was 3-2 (25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 19-25, 15-11) for a Peruvian team that had succumbed in five sets against Chile in the semifinal phase.

The Dominicans concluded their participation with a 1-3 record, defeating Bolivia 3-2 and losing to Chile also in five sets. In the semifinals they lost to Colombia 3-1.

Bulgaria outclass Dominican Republic in VNL

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SOFIA, Bulgaria, June 28, 2022 – Host Bulgaria defeated Dominican Republic in straight sets to start the third and last week of the FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League in Sofía. Both teams have 3-6 win-loss records.

The Bulgarian team dominated from start to finish and only in the third set the Dominican side was able to show its best weapons. The score was 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-21).

Maria Yordanova led Bulgaria with 22 points, including two blocks and one ace. Nasya Dimitrova and Miroslava Paskova each contributed 10 points in the victory. Gaila Gonzalez led Dominican Republic with 10 points and Jeiniry Martinez finished with nine.

Dominican Republic celebrates during the match against Bulgaria in week 3 of VNL

Bulgaria led in all the scoring categories, including a huge advantage in attacks (43-29). They also had the upper hand in blocks (9-4) and aces (5-0).

Guillén and Martínez lead Dominican squad to Valledupar

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SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, June 28, 2022- Outside hitters Madeline Guillén and Natalia Martínez lead the Dominican women’s volleyball team that will participate in the Bolivarian Games to be held in the Colombian city of Valledupar from July 1-5 .

Standing out in the team are middle blockers Estevanie Rabit and Alondra Tapia, setter Camila de la Rosa, opposite hitter Ariana Rodriguez Fung and libero Yaneiris Rodríguez.

Completing the squad are Seliann Concepción, Romina Cornelio, Alanae Margaritha, Iliana Rodríguez Fung and Mia Liberato.

The team will be coached by Dominican Cristian Cruz, alongside Brazilians assitant coaches quien Marcos Macedo and Alexandre Ceccato.

Team delegate is ex captain of the National Team, Milagros Cabral, who is executive of the Women’s National Team Project, presided by Cristóbal Marte Hoffiz.

Dominicana beat Mexico and secured second place in the Challenger

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PINAR DEL RÍO, Cuba, June 5, 2022.- The Dominican Republic was more impetuous and defeated Mexico 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-9) to claim the second place of the Norceca Challenger Final Four, which concludes this Sunday in Sala 19 de Noviembre.

The Dominicans finished with a record of two wins, both extended to five sets, and a setback against the powerful team from Cuba, champion of the tournament. Mexico concluded with a balance of 1-2.

The Dominican team was led by its two figures with the longest time in the sport, Wilfrido Hernández, top scorer with 25, and Henry Omar Tapia, who contributed 20, followed by Henry Antonio López with 18.

For their rivals, the opposite Diego González was the most productive with 24, while Josué Lopez with 14, and Axel Téllez and Mauro Fuentes, with 11 each, were the ones who achieved double figures.

Dominicans celebrate defeating Mexico

José Alexander Gutiérrez, Venezuelan coach of the Dominican Republic: “We have just tried to mix experience and youth. We won the game, but we have to keep working, gaining experience and keep growing. In this match the fundamental thing was our serve, Mexico has good attackers and when you press them in reception they lose control. In the end we risked and won”

“This result joins the qualification for two junior world championships that the Dominican Republic had not achieved for more than 28 years and the 2023 Pan American Games that have never been done in a qualifying way, but we still have a long way to go.”

Wilfrido Hernández, top scorer of the game: “I think it was a game well played by both teams, Mexico has always been brave, fighting until the end. I think we won because we made fewer mistakes in the last set, we focused on serving strong, having a good complex one ourselves and forcing them to lower the pressure on their serve”.

Jorge Miguel Azair, Coach of Mexico: “We knew that this game was going to be long, we are teams that know each other very well, I think we have the same characteristics, in the end they were much more aggressive than us, in the fifth we gave away balls and took the bombs. They have to learn to improve their tactical work, they have to learn from this and emphasize this. We have to take the good from this tournament and discard the bad.”

Axel Téllez, central player: “Dominicana is not an easy team, every year we are always head to head, but honestly today their players were better in this game. But this does not end here, we have many competitions ahead of us and in the end they all serve us for our participation in the World Championship next August”.

Cuba defeated Mexico to secure first place and ticket to the 2023 World Final

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PINAR DEL RÍO, Cuba, June 5, 2022.- The Cuban team beat Mexico 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-17) and added 10 points, unattainable for their rivals, and secured victory in the Norceca Challenger Final Four, as well as the quota for a similar world qualifying tournament for the League of Nations 2023.

This Sunday the hosts will say goodbye to Puerto Rico and even if they lose, they take the cup, because in the other duel, whether Mexico or the Dominican Republic wins, the team in question will achieve two successes just like the Cubans, but they would only obtain eight points, which allows them only a second place.

On Saturday against the Mexicans, the home opposite Miguel David Gutiérrez with 15 points and the corner player Marlon Yant in his debut with 14 points were the only ones with double figures, while the other leading attacker, Miguel Ángel López, contributed 9, and central defenders Roamy Alonso and Javier Concepción 6 each.

Adrian Goide (14CUB) from Cuba Setting

Nicolás Vives, Coach of Cuba: “Today I maintained a more stable lineup, we have to build up the team work and Mexico required a little more level than the Dominican Republic yesterday, I still require the setter Adrián Goide to work more with the fundamental attackers and introduce to Marlon Yant for communication with the setter. That’s why I kept the first four players on the court. Mexico has always been an opponent that you have to play against and the games are very good, they know how to play and they are a good team.

Roamy Alonso, Cuban middle blocker: “I see the team in good shape, today we got the victory and I’m super happy with the team and the coaching staff. Individually I feel just as good, a little tired because I’ve only been training for a week and I’m trying to take things easy, but doing my bit to contribute to the victory. In these rainy days we have been taking care of ourselves, despite giving our best”.

“With that great player that is Robertlandy Simón I am going to learn a lot, I will be like a sponge absorbing all the knowledge I can acquire to continue improving my career and what better than having a Cuban who can teach me everything”.

Jorge Miguel Azair, Coach of Mexico: “Cuba had years that they did not see the level they show again, they forced us a lot, we could not dominate our game with speed, we tried, we could not and that is what we need to do to play with these teams. There were times when we did, we complicated them; We got them aggressively, we complicated them, but the Cuban power, their service and their very powerful attack dominated us. I tell the boys that this is learning, as they say you win by losing, they have to learn to discipline themselves tactically”.

Axel Téllez, central player: “I saw my team with many ups and downs and a bit of anxiety, but it is a very new generation that we are starting from the bottom, honestly, with everything to gain and nothing to lose. My team is calm, I don’t see it sad, I don’t even want it to stay with something, but learning, because from defeats you learn much more, in the end that’s the sport, there are always victories and setbacks, the question here is only move forward without looking back and yes to what is coming”.

On the last date in the room on November 19 of this city to the west of the Island, Mexico-Dominican Republic (4:00 p.m.) and Cuba-Puerto Rico (6:00 p.m.) will face each other.

Dominican Republic wins emotional match against Bolivia

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VALLEDUPAR, Colombia, June 26, 2022 – The Dominican Republic edged Bolivia 3-2 (25-19, 21-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-12) in an exciting Pool B men’s volleyball match at the Bolivarian Games.

The match was tied 12-12 when the Dominican block increased and allowed them to win the last three points of the tie-breaker.

In a Group A match, Colombia blanked Venezuela 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-18).

Both Bolivia and Venezuela fell to 0-2 records.

A day before, Chile beat Bolivia 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-16) and Peru beat Venezuela 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 26-24, 25-20).

USA Men’s Team lost to Poland

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SOFIA, Bulgaria, June 26, 2022 – United States lost to Poland 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-22) to conclude the second week of actions at the FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League on Sunday.

It was the second defeat for the USA side who also lost to Iran as they fell down to fifth place with a win-loss record of 6-2. Poland is at 7-1 in second place behind France with the same record but separated by set-ratio

Poland’s Captain Bartosz Kurek finished the match with 23 points, followed by Kamil Semeniuk and Aleksander Sliwka with 15 and 13, respectively, in the victory.

Aaron Russell had 16 points as the top American scorer, followed by Torey Defalco with 14.

Argentina Ung named MVP at NORCECA Women’s Final Four

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NOGALES, Sonora, June 19, 2022.- Mexican setter Argentina Ung was named the Most Valuable Player MVP after her team won the NORCECA Women’s Final Four Qualification Tournament on Sunday in Nogales, Sonora.

By winning the NORCECA Final Four, Mexico qualified to the 2023 FIVB Challenger Cup that grants a berth to the International Volleyball Nations League.

Argentina Ung also received the award for Best Setter, along with other teammates that were recognized for their individual performances; with Samantha Bricio as second Best Spiker, Karina Flores and Jocelyn Urias as first and second blockers respectively. Joseline Landeros was handed the award for Best Receiver.

Cuba’s Dezirett Madan was named the Best Opposite Hitter, Thainalien Castillo the first Best Spiker and Claudia Tarin the Best Server.

Victoria Sofía was the Best Scorer and Paula Cerame was granted the awards for Best Libero and Best Digger; both from Puerto Rico.

Individual Awards Women’s NORCECA Final Four Qualification Tournament

Mexico qualifies to FIVB Challenger Cup winning NORCECA Final Four

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NOGALES, Sonora, June 19, 2022.- Mexico qualified to the 2023 FIVB Challenger Cup winning the NORCECA Women’s Final Four defeating Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-22) on Sunday at Nogales, Sonora.

Mexico concluded the event with a perfect 3-0 record and 15 points, Cuba (2-1) finished in second place with 10 points and Puerto Rico (1-2) third place with 5 points.

Mexico held a 38-33 advantage in kills, a 9-7 margin in blocks and a slim 2-1 in serves. Mexico scored on 26 errors of Puerto Rico and handed out 19.

Middle blocker Karina Flores led Mexico’s offensive with 14 points, leading with 6 blocks, followed by outside hitter Samantha Bricio with 10 points and outside hitter Sofía Maldonado added 9 points.

Two players scored double-digits for Puerto Rico, outside hitter and team captain Sofía Victoria with 14 points and outside hitter Valeria Vazquez with 11 points. 

Match action Mexico vs Puerto Rico

Karina Flores, Top scorer of Mexico: “At the beginning we were measuring the ground, on hold and that’s why it was a bit slow. We adjusted, started the race and won. Our coach has a clear objective and has coached us well in winning. The Challenger Cup is a great challenge and we will be committed to prepare ourselves. Mexico’s strength was team work”.

Rafael Petry, Head Coach of Mexico: “The team reached the objective, they are starting to compete at a higher level and not only participating. They worked under pressure because it was practically a final, it’s good for them to do so and reach the result. We will continue with serious work to compete at the Challenger Cup and not go only to participate”.

Cuba tops Costa Rica in straight sets at NORCECA Final Four

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NOGALES, Sonora, June 19, 2022.- Cuba topped Costa Rica in straight sets 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-15) at the NORCECA Women’s Final Four Qualification Tournament on Sunday in Nogales, Sonora.

Cuba finished the event with 2-1 record and 10 points and will have to wait for their final position after the result between Mexico and Puerto Rico. Costa Rica finished 0-3.

Cuba outnumbered Costa Rica by a huge 14-2 margin in blocks, 38-29 in attacks, as well as a 5-1 margin in serves. Cuba committed fewer unforced errors (13-18) than Costa Rica.

Cuban captain Thainalien Castillo Leyva produced 11 points on 8 kills, one block and two aces, accompanied by opposite hitter Dezirett Madain with 10 points on 7 kills, two blocks and one ace, and outside hitter Claudia Tarin with 9 points.

Outside hitter Tamara Espinoza led Costa Rica with 7 points all on kills, opposite hitter Ana Victoria Rojas and outside hitter Maria Sofia Arroyo contributed with 6 points each.

Cuba match protocol

Odaimis Leliebre, Setter of Cuba: “We could have done better because Costa Rica is a team with less strength than ours. With the variations in line-up, we felt good, we have practiced for that, and our objective is to contribute to the development of each player”.

Mónica Picado, Setter of Costa Rica: “We came the entire tournament from less to more, we learned a lot for Central American championships, and we love to play against power houses like Cuba, all for our improvement. We are practicing well, we had good matches and we are looking for our less experienced players to play more, we want to improve Costa Rica’s level of play”.  

Joel Olazabal, Head Coach of Cuba: “We changed some players of position because we were aware that Costa Rica’s level was lower than the other teams, to observe all the players. We are satisfied with closing with a victory. We weren’t coming for the berth for the Challenger but to prepare the team and with the incorporation of other players we can have a good result for the Central American Games”.

Pablo Acuña, Head Coach of Costa Rica: “All the players had a chance to perform, this is a tournament for evaluations, preparation, to see what works and to learn. Despite the difficult opponent, the girls were confident, and we managed to hurt them with our weapons. We grew in confidence and the tactical planning, in defense and blocking; there are players that couldn’t travel here and that continue to be important for our process”.

Legendary Regla Torres honored at NORCECA Final Four

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NOGALES, Sonora, June 19, 2022.- Legendary Regla Torres received a recognition by the organizing committee of the NORCECA Women’s Final Four Qualification Tournament in Nogales, Sonora.

Members of the Sonora Volleyball Association, the Nogales Government, the Municipal Sports Institute of Nogales and the Mexican Volleyball Federation alongside members of the NORCECA control committee presented Cuban Regla Torres a tribute for her successful Volleyball career.

“It is an honor for the City of Nogales to have such a distinguished volleyball legend taking part in this important international tournament, inspiring a new generation of players and contributing to the development of our beloved sport” said Rodolfo Alberti Loyo Rivera, president of the Sonora Volleyball Association.

Regla Torres part of legendary “Las Morenas del Caribe”, the Best Player of the 20th Century, three-time Gold Olympic Medalist and Volleyball Hall of Famer, is part of the coaching staff traveling with the Cuban team competing at the NORCECA Women’s Final Four tournament that grants a spot for the 2023 FIVB Challenger Cup.

The recognition was handed to Regla Torres on Sunday, before the match between Cuba and Costa Rica.

Mexico remains undefeated at NORCECA Final Four

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NOGALES, Sonora, June 18, 2022.- Mexico remained undefeated at the Qualification Tournament NORCECA Women’s Final Four after winning in straight sets 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-22) to Cuba on Saturday night in Nogales, Sonora.

Mexico improved their record 2-0, the only undefeated team and is the favorite to qualify to the 2023 FIVB Final Challenger Cup.

The host prevailed 44-34 in attacks and held a slim 5-4 margin in serves; Cuba led 7-6 in blocks. Mexico committed 18 unforced errors and benefited from 20 Cuban errors.

Outside hitter Samantha Bricio topped Mexico with 13 points on 12 kills and one ace, joined by outside hitter Grecia Castro with 9 points on 7 kills and two aces, while middle blocker Jocelyn Urias tallied 7 points.

Cuban middle blocker Laura Suarez finished with 11 points on 8 kills, 2 blocks and one ace. Middle blocker Dayana Martinez chipped in with 9 points and outside hitter Claudia Tarin scored 7 points.

On day three, Cuba (1-1) faces Costa Rica (0-2) and Mexico (2-0) closes the event against Puerto Rico (1-1).

Flores (25) of Mexico against Cuba

Samantha Bricio, Top scorer of Mexico: “We have worked hard to play like we did today, and I believe all our supporters, technical staff are happy with how we performed today. Compared to Cuba, we were calm, we got out some tough obstacles; this team is a mix of experienced players and young ones that are giving a lot to the team. Tomorrow, we hope to do the same or better than today, we must close well, win and reach our short-term objective that is the Challenger Cup”.

Laura Suárez, Top scorer of Cuba: “We were aware that we were facing the host team and that they are coming for the Challenger Nations League; we should have battled more but sadly the victory wasn’t ours. We must learn, we needed more energy, yesterday was more emotional and today we didn’t do well”.

Rafael Petry, Head Coach of Mexico: “We were expecting to win because we have worked a lot for it, things worked well despite some aspects out of our control. The team was patient, they had the necessary calm to recover in reception and transition to reach victory. We hope for the same concentration, the same willingness, team effort and that they work for one another. We hope that added to our patience, we can have other strengths, with people that can give to the team”.

Joel Olazabal, Head Coach of Cuba: “We thought we could have won one set to Mexico, but we had deficiencies in passing, there is much to work on yet. The players got desperate because Mexico is more technical than us and defended a lot, watching that the ball couldn’t spike made them get confused and fall into errors. Mexico showed more experience. Tomorrow we must close strong, take advantage of our height against Costa Rica and play by the middle”.  

Puerto Rico downs Costa Rica in first win

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NOGALES, Sonora, June 18, 2022.- Puerto Rico earned their first win at the NORCECA Women’s Final Four Qualification Tournament by defeating Costa Rica 3-0 (28-26, 25-19, 25-20) on Saturday at Nogales, Sonora.

Puerto Rico won a dramatic first set after failing three set points and moving into the second set with strength to jump to an early six-point lead (14-8), finishing in three straight sets, dominating with a 47-32 advantage in kills and benefiting from 24 Costa Rican errors. Puerto Rico also led 6-2 in blocks, but Costa Rica held a slim 2-1 margin in serves.  

Three players scored double-figures in Puerto Rico’s offense, led by opposite hitter Elissa Alcantara with 17 points on 15 kills and 2 blocks, outside hitter Valeria Vazquez and team captain Sofia Victoria added 11 points each. 

Costa Rica was headed by outside hitters Tamara Espinoza with 11 points all on kills and Tania Carazo with 10 points also on kills. 

On the last day of competition, Puerto Rico (1-1) faces host Mexico (1-0) and Costa Rica (0-2) closes with Cuba (1-0). 

Puerto Rico during match protocol

Elissa Alcantara, Top Scorer of Puerto Rico: “Honestly, it was about time we won; as a team we’ve been waiting for this moment, so it’s nice. In the first set we had a lot of silly mistakes, we started tipping, serving hard and making aggressive attacks. For tomorrow we are excited to face Mexico and we really want to win”.  

Tania Carazo of Costa Rica: “In the first set we managed to press Puerto Rico with our serves, we took better risks with our defense despite them being offensively really good. We must work harder in defense, which is our best strength and be smarter over the net”.  

Fernando Morales, Head Coach of Puerto Rico: “Costa Rica played strong the whole match, we played better than yesterday, but still committed errors from our younger players that we must improve for tomorrow. It was a match with long rallies, Costa Rica did a great job in defense, and it was difficult, it was a hard match”.  

Pablo Acuña, Head Coach of Costa Rica: “Our serves were effective in the first set, tactically we executed our game plan, the energy of the girls was better than yesterday, and we were more aggressive in attacks, hitting high, looking for their hands and that helped us unbalance Puerto Rico. It was an exciting match and Puerto Rico had to work for the win. Tomorrow, we hope for fewer errors and be more aggressive in serves, go on improving”.   

Mexico storms by Costa Rica at NORCECA Final Four

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NOGALES, Sonora, June 17, 2022.- Mexico stormed by Costa Rica 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-14) on day one of the NORCECA Women’s Final Four Qualification Tournament on Friday in Nogales, Sonora.

Mexico overwhelmed Costa Rica leading with huge scores in all three sets, with every player having time on court.

The host enjoyed a 38-22 margin in attacks, while outblocking Costa Rica 8-1 and leading 3-0 in serves. Mexico committed 16 unforced errors and Costa Rica a total of 26.

Middle blocker and captain Jocelyn Urias led Mexico with 11 points on 7 kills and 3 blocks; middle blocker Karina Flores Gamez and outside hitter Grecia Castro contributed with 7 and 6 points respectively.

Costa Rica’s top scorer was outside hitter Tamara Espinoza with 8 points all on kills.

On day two of the event, Costa Rica (0-1) faces Puerto Rico (0-1) and Mexico (1-0) will play Cuba (1-0).

Match action between Costa Rica and Mexico

Jocelyn Urías, Captain of Mexico: “Everything worked well for us, our communication was perfect. Our team has players who are playing in the United States, and they are growing. We are very happy with today’s performance. We are prepared to face a strong Cuban team tomorrow; our goal is to win every match”.

Rafael Petry, Head Coach of Mexico: “It was a good debut; we are happy for the victory. Everyone had the opportunity to give the first step in the competition. I liked that my team was calm, with good transitions in the first two sets. We are going to study Cuba tonight because we need our eyes always looking ahead”.

Marcela Araya, Captain of Costa Rica: “We did a good effort against a great opponent. We lacked consistency, on occasions we put pressure and a first match is always difficult, we will improve our level with each match. For our next rival we must focus on our strengths, Puerto Rico is a young team”.  

Pablo Acuña, Head Coach of Costa Rica: “Some players were too shy and lacked confidence which affected us in the beginning; being down with such a huge margin in the scores is not the best beginning for any team. In some frames we showed we can compete, but our shyness forced us to commit errors which we usually don’t. To face Puerto Rico tomorrow we need to improve in confidence to have good defense and attacking, our serves will help us”.

Cuba beat Puerto Rico at Women’s Final Four opening

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NOGALES, Sonora, June 17, 2022.- Cuba beat Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-20) in the first match of the NORCECA Women’s Final Four Qualification Tournament on Friday at Nogales, Sonora.

Cuba held advantages in attacks (43-32), blocks (6-4) and serves (4-2). Cuba scored 22 points on Puerto Rico’s errors and handed out 17.

Middle blocker Dayana Martinez and outside hitter Claudia Tarin charted 11 points each in Cuba’s first victory; Martinez on 7 attacks, 3 blocks and one ace, while Tarin scored on 10 kills and one ace. Team captain Thainalien Castillo Leyva added 10 points.

Outside hitter and team captain Sofia Victoria led Puerto Rico with 10 points all on kills, joined by outside hitter Elaine Vazquez with 9 points.

On day two of competition, Cuba faces host Mexico and Puerto Rico goes up against Costa Rica.

Suarez (4 CUB) attacks

Thainalien Castillo Leyva, Captain of Cuba: “We were strong, united, we battled as a team, and we hope to keep it up. We can’t loosen against any of our opponents, and we have practiced a lot to do so, we have physical condition and energy”.

Sofía Victoria, Captain of Puerto Rico: “Despite falling, we felt good, it’s our first time playing together. We are adjusting, we are the future of Puerto Rico. We hope to do better the next couple of days”.

Joel Olazabal, Head Coach of Cuba: “We believe our teams’ performance was good, it’s only the first match and despite knowing this isn’t Puerto Rico’s A team. Every player will compete. Tomorrow we’ll give a good spectacle against Mexico”.

Fernando Morales, Head Coach of Puerto Rico: “We are aware we’re bringing a team with little experience and the errors were because of our lack of experience. I believe we played well for moments, but not an entire set. We will improve with each match; they have never played together and our rhythm will improve as well”.

Teams are excited for the NORCECA Women’s Final Four to start

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NOGALES, Sonora, June 16, 2022.- Costa Rica, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Mexico are excited for the start of the NORCECA Women’s Final Four after the preliminary inquiries for the event that runs from June 17-19 in Nogales, Sonora.

The NORCECA Final Four, is a round-robin qualification tournament where the first place will compete at the FIVB Final Challenger Cup that advances one team to the 2023 International Volleyball Nations League.

Canada won the NORCECA Final Four in 2019 and then went on to win the FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup held in Lima to progress to the VNL.

Matches will be streamed on Facebook Live Instituto Municipal del Deporte Nogales and Gobierno de la Ciudad de Nogales

Preliminary Inquiry

Joel Olazabal, Head Coach of Cuba: “We want to evaluate the players we are bringing, some have been playing overseas and others training since February, depending on their performance here they can help us in the Final Six and the Pan American Cup for our NORCECA ranking to qualify for Central American Games. We aren’t aiming to win the berth to the World Final, because many players just finished their leagues and don’t have the training to be here”.

Pablo Acuña, Head Coach of Costa Rica: “We are excited to compete, our focus this year is the Central American Games at the end of the year in Guatemala. We are approaching this competition as three good preparation matches. We have prepared to give our best against Cuba, Puerto Rico and Mexico; our expectation is to compete with them well and continue our preparation for the end of the year”.

Rafael Petry, Head Coach of Mexico: “I see my girls motivated, well prepared and with their minds in reaching the objective of finishing first place in the event. All teams don’t have time for errors, because it’s a short competition and I consider my team capable of managing the pressure”.

Fernando Morales, Head Coach of Puerto Rico: “The team we’re here with is young but talented, mostly players that are playing in universities in the U.S. because our professional league in Puerto Rico is currently running (belated for Covid). We are eager to watch them compete at this level, it’s a short tournament which we’ll take out the best”.

Inspections carried out in Nogales for NORCECA Women’s Final Four

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NOGALES, Sonora, June 15, 2022.- Members of the control committee and the organizing committee of the NORCECA Women’s Challenger Final Four tournament, carried out several inspections at Carlos Hernandez Carrera Gym, the competition venue.

The joint meeting between NORCECA control committee, the Mexican Volleyball Federation and local sports authorities was conducted by Director of Competition Alberto Arreola, who followed a thorough checklist to complete all regulation requirements.

The qualifier event will grant one ticket to the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Nations League Challenger Cup, which offers the opportunity to qualify the top two teams replacing the two bottom teams to the VNL previous year.

Inspection Day

Wednesdays’ inspections included evaluating the schedule of competition for the first day, as an opening ceremony is set to take place before the match between Mexico and Costa Rica; therefore, the first match between Puerto Rico and Cuba will be moved thirty minutes earlier as scheduled.

Costa Rica, Cuba, Puerto Rico and host Mexico will go through the preliminary inquiry on Thursday for the three-day competition that starts on Friday.

Matches will be streamed on Facebook Live Instituto Municipal del Deporte Nogales and Gobierno de la Ciudad de Nogales

Merrit Beason elected MVP at Women’s U21 Pan American Cup

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LA PAZ, Baja California Sur, June 12, 2022.- Opposite hitter of the U.S. Merrit Beason was elected the Most Valuable Player “MVP” of the sixth edition of the Women’s U21 Pan American Cup that concluded on Sunday at La Paz Arena in Baja California Sur.

During the awarding ceremony, Merrit Beason was joined by other players who were recognized for their outstanding performance during the event, among them another gold medalist, Chloe Chicoine who was granted the 1st Best Spiker award.

From Argentina, runner up of the U21 Pan American Cup, Valentina Vaulet was awarded as the best opposite and best scorer, while Avril Garcia was selected as 1st best blocker.

Individual Awards Women’s U21 Pan American Cup

Cassandra Simental of Mexico, bronze medal winner, received three individual awards as best libero, receiver and digger. Also from Mexico, Regina Perez was granted the award for best setter.

The best 2nd blocker was Marcelle Baez of Puerto Rico and Canadian Madyson Saris was the 2nd best spiker and server.

Final Ranking: 1. United States; 2. Argentina; 3. Mexico; 4. Chile; 5. Cuba; 6. Puerto Rico; 7. Canada; 8. Dominican Republic; 9. Costa Rica; 10. Honduras.

United States claims Gold at Women’s U21 Pan American Cup

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LA PAZ, Baja California Sur, June 12, 2022.- United States claimed the gold medal of the sixth edition of the Women’s U21 Pan American Cup over Argentina 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 25-14) at La Paz Arena in Baja California Sur.

United States finished undefeated with a 5-0 record. This is the second title for the United States in the history of the event, also beating Argentina in the 2017 edition. United States also qualified to the 2023 FIVB World Championship as one of the two top finishers from NORCECA.

Argentina ended with a 4-2 record (both losses to USA), winning their third silver medal (2015, 2017).

United States led 53-42 in attacks while Argentina held advantages in blocks (12-9) and points from serves (6-5). United States committed 21 errors and Argentina 30.

USA Gold Medal, Argentina Silver Medal, Mexico Bronze Medal

Opposite hitter Merritt Beason topped the U.S. scorers with 17 points on 14 kills and three blocks, joined by middle blockers Rebekah Allick and Breanna Kelley with 14 and 10 points respectively.

Argentina’s leading attacker was outside hitter Milena Margaria with 17 points and opposite hitter Valentina Vaulet added 13 points.

Daniel Fisher, Head Coach of United States: “We are really happy for the win. I think the girls were feeling a little tense for a while, but we worked through it and settled down in our reception. We also got some nice energy from players coming off the bench and ended the fourth set playing good volleyball. Argentina is very good and put a lot of stress on us with their serves, but that’s what good teams do”.

Rebekah Allick, Middle blocker of United States: “Going into the third set after losing the second, our minds were set on working hard, focus on the controllable and loving hard on each other because we are all so competitive, independent strong women that uplift one another. When I’m given the opportunity, I always take advantage, everyone gets their moments, I’m on a great team”.

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