Antigua and Barbuda stay alive with rebound win

LA CLERY, St Lucia, August 13, 2016:  Antigua and Barbuda bounced back from their loss to St Lucia earlier in the day to oust St Vincent and the Grenadines in the inaugural Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Under-23 women’s Tournament, at the Vide Boutielle Secondary School’s court.

In both teams’ second match of the day, Antigua and Barbuda won 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-13).

After matching their opponents stride for stride in the first two sets, which could have gone either way, St Vincent and the Grenadines succumbed to the series of unanswered spiking from the Antigua and Barbuda hitters.

Antigua and Barbuda was unstoppable in the first part of the third set, rushing to an 11-0 lead, an ascendancy which they never surrendered.

Outside Hitter, Josanne Lewis – 11 points and Setter- Allisha Jno Baptiste- 10 points, bulked the scoring for Antigua and Barbuda.

For St Vincent and the Grenadines, Opposite - Alicia Glasgow was the topscorer with 9 points.

Antigua and Barbuda dominated the spikes 26-6, with St Vincent and the Grenadines bossing the Blocks, 5-1.

Triumphant captain- Josanne Lewis thumbed better communication as being critical in her team’s win.

Lewis praised the St Vincent and the Grenadines team for giving them in “good fight” in the first two sets, but dropped their heads after trailing.

Lewis, said they are looking forward to their next match against the British Virgin Islands, where they plan to pull out all the stops and stay in the winning vein.

St Vincent and the Grenadines’ captain- Mikhallia Matthias opined that her team played better against Antigua and Barbuda that when they met the British Virgin Islands.

“I think we played better, there was better co-ordination and better communication”, Matthias assessed.

She revealed that two keys players suffered injuries going into the third set which affected their mobility and subsequently their momentum.

The next match in the tournament pits St Lucia versus the British Virgin Islands.