Antigua Barbuda edge St. Kitts/Nevis in 5 set thriller

St. Johns, Antigua, August 16, 2018 – Antigua Barbuda emerged as winners by a very narrow margin in game 2 of the ECVA Senior females competition.

It was a rollercoaster type game that saw St. Kitts/Nevis coming from 2 games down to draw level then in an extremely tight decider losing by 2 points. The epic 5 setter went to the host much to the relief of the home crowd 25-15,25-18, 19-25, 22-25 and 17 -15.

Mali Peters Middle Blocker from Antigua was the most dominant player on the night chalking up a whopping 27 points made up of 17 spikes, 6 blocks and 4 points from the service line.

Opposite Sharon Payne chipped in with 12 points while Outside Hitters Joelle Thomas and Naheemah Wilson contributed 11 and 10 respectively.

The St. Kitts Nevis effort was led by their two most experience players Captain Antoinette Henry (Outside Hitter) and Shanicia Dyer (Middle Blocker) who had 13 points each.

On the team level, Antigua/ Barbuda led in Spikes 52 - 20; Blocks 12 – 9; Aces 7 -6 but gave up 63 points due to errors while collecting 38.

Coach Dan Girleanu looked like a man who just had a weight lifted off his shoulder. ”The evolution of the score and the development of the game showed that it was truly an up and down encounter. We took the first two sets comfortable and I think that the girls relaxed at the wrong time. In the end it was a sweet victory having it pulled it off at 17-15. In the same vein it must have been bitter for our rivals who could have taken the game at 14-13 serving at match point but made a service error. So generally I am relieved”, he intimated.

Despite the loss coach Shawn Seabrookes of St. Kitts/Nevis had a smile on his face. “The way my charges played tonight made me feel very proud. We were able to change the game when we made a critical technical adjustment that proved very productive. The result motivated the girls and with the momentum gained even at the end of second game pushed us to level the scores. The final set in my opinion came down to lack of top physical condition and that cost us dearly”, he surmised.

At the end of the match one of the St. Kitts/Nevis players had to receive medical treatment for what was reported as an asthma related condition.

St. Kitts/Nevis who competes in group B will next meet St. Martin on the 17^th while Antigua/Barbuda meets the same team later on the same day.