St. Lucia takes the easy path the finals
St. Johns Antigua, August 31, 2019 - St. Lucia had an easy
passage into the finals of the ECVA Male U21 championship
when they dismissed 4th place St. Kitts/Nevis in
straight sets (25- 11, 25 -18, 25 - 5) in the first of the
two semifinals.
The script was very similar to the first time these two
teams met in the regular pool play. The St. Lucia offense
had their way while the opponents struggled to keep pace.
This was true of this semifinal except for the second game
where the St. Kitts/Nevis team poured out their best effort.
They led at 3 times different periods in the before St.
Lucia was able to draw level then pull away.
St. Lucia’s Outside Hitter in Joshua Florent (10 points) and
Middle Blocker Daniel Zid (9 points) did the bulk of the
scoring on the individual level. The St Kitts /Nevis team
aided and abetted St. Lucia’s effort by giving up 37 errors
while benefitting from only 22.
Overall St. Lucia led in Spikes 23 to 9, they had the
advantage in Blocks 9 to 3 and reeled off 6 Service aces
while St. Kitts/Nevis did not muster any. However their
efforts did not go unnoticed as Outside Hitters Zedan Clarke
and Zendai Richards combined equally for 10 points 8 of them
coming from spikes.
Coach Terry Verdant of St. Lucia:
The game was still not to my liking it was very clear that
this is a weaker team and I wanted the guys to go through
the game as if it was a final, to get accustomed to a
particular rhythm. Only one guy was doing exactly what we
wanted the rest seem to have lost that killer instinct.
St. Lucia’s Captain Remy Kernel:
We do have a killer instinct but it goes to show that
whenever you are playing a weaker team it is very difficult
to maintain a high standard, so it happens, we tend to get
complacent. The good thing about this was that we were able
to come out of it and get a more convincing victory in the 3rd
set.
Coach Shawn Seabrooks of St. Kitts/Nevis
was still wearing a smile.
St. Lucia did not beat us because of a potent offense, it
was due to our own faults
These came about as they were given the task of neutralizing
the outside hitting of St. Lucia. The guys focused so hard
on that they missed the simple things. This game allowed me
to see some extended glimpses of the potential that the guys
have and apart from the third set they gave a good account
of themselves improving in every game. I feel confident that
they can do even better in the battle for 3 rd
place”, he reported.
