St Lucia steers course to win ECVA female Youth Championships

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, April  20, 2014 - St Lucia extended their undisturbed stretch of wins by taking the  title match in the female segment of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Youth Championships.

St Lucia outpointed French St Martin 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-21), to register their fourth win.

French St Martin offered resistance throughout the match, keeping in touching distance of their opponents but never found the push necessary to over haul St Lucia.

It was another satisfied effort by the St Lucians as evaluated by their coach- Keam Charlery.

“Tonight we met a tough French St Martin side who had some tall blockers, but our defence was  better,  our blocking was a little better and our service was on point, even though our attack was not always great at times, we were able to pull it off”, Charlery said with evident joy in his voice.

Charlery said it was for these factors that his team did not give up easy points to French St Martin.

 By virtue of winning the championships, earned St Lucia the right to be ECVA’s representative at the Inter Continental tournament in July in Mexico, an achievement welcomed by Charlery.

“From now it would be rigourous training for us as we are getting ready for it … We are going to show the world that St Lucia is  a Volleyball force to reckon with”, a forward looking Charlery commented.

Meanwhile, Jean Luc Lezin- coach of French St Martin was not satisfied with his team’s efforts on the night.

“The girls can play much better, but were not focussed always on their play and St Lucia was the superior team on the night”, Lezin contended.

He however is taking the positives from the championships as youth is much on their side.

“They are inexperienced and are very young and there are other tournaments which we would use to help them develop and next competition we would be better”, the St Martin head coach projected.

In the third place play off, Antigua and Barbuda registered their first win in the championships, nipping St Vincent and the Grenadines 3-2 (25-17, 21-25, 25-21, 20-25, 16-14) in a nervy encounter.

Both Antigua and Barbuda finished with one win each.

Final positions: 1. St Lucia, 2. French St Martin, 3. Antigua and Barbuda, 4. St Vincent and the Grenadines.