Suriname to play for first place at Cayman Islands

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, October 7, 2012 – Suriname subdued a relentless Aruba after a five-set battle by prevailing 25-19, 25-22, 22-25, 20-25, 15-9 to secure a spot against Barbados in the match for first place at the NORCECA-E First Round Tournament of the 2014 FIVB Men’s World Championship.

The winners held an overwhelming advantage of 19-7 in the blocking department and edged the defeated side 7-6 in the service aces category.

Keven Sporkslede had a match-high 22 points, including six blocks and three aces, for Suriname (2-1) while Roberto Frits Joval and Antoine Verny Vliet contributed 16 and 13 points respectively. Mitchel Daniel finished with 20 points for Aruba (1-2) followed by Frank Meermans and Fransua Angela with 18 and 17.

Roberto Joval showed his excitement to be in the final match not before congratulating Aruba “they did a good game but after the first two sets we thought we have won already, from there on we played like a team focusing on doing things right. From now until tonight’s match we must maintain our concentration”.

“As the team leader I was always motivating them and I believe that was the key to extend it to five sets even if I have I’m not a hundred percent because of a minor injury, in the end it was a good match” said Eargenell De Cuba for Aruba.

“I want to congratulate Aruba for a very tight match, in these short competitions you never know which team will step up to the challenge. We have had to adapt the team constantly do to small injuries” expressed Jerry Slijngard who added to be pleased because they are already qualified for the second round of the World Championship Qualification.

John Van Der Lee is satisfied with his teams’ performance “after each match we have shown improvement, everyone has had a chance to play and their attitude has been a spirited one”.