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Blake fires T&T past Bahamas in semis
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, August 9, 2014 - Simon Blake was on
top of his game with 29 points as host Trinidad and Tobago
outlasted defending champions Bahamas in five sets (27-29,
25-22, 25-21, 21-25, 15-8) in their semifinal of the 15th
Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Men’s
Championship at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo.
With the win, T&T set up a clash with record ten-time champions
and 12th time finalists, Barbados in Sunday’s decider
from 4pm. When both teams met in the round-robin, Barbados won
in four sets to hold the mental edge going into Sunday’s final.
It will be the third such time, T&T and Barbados will be locking
horns in the men’s final, with the host winning its maiden crown
in 2010 after losing out four years earlier to its bitter rival.
On Saturday, Blake had 24 kills and five service aces in his
tally as the host created some history in reaching its first
final on home soil after fourth placed finishes in the 1993 and
2002 editions, both won by the Barbadians.
European-based duo, Ryan Stewart and Marc-Anthony Honore added
13 points each for T&T while the captain Nolan Tash got 11 in
the encounter.
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Bahamian captain Prince’tanique Wilson ended with 17 points, 15
of which were kills while his team-mates Renaldo Knowles got 13,
Byron Ferguson 12 and Shedrick Forbes, ten.
Both teams produced a high quality contest with T&T holding the
edge on spikes, 62-57 while both teams were even on blocks, 9-9
and on service aces, at six each. T&T also committed fewer
errors than its opponent, 33 to 36. |
