St. Vincent and the Grenadines silences Antigua/Barbuda in straight sets

St. Johns Antigua, August 30, 2019- the usual noisy Antigua/Barbuda fans were rather quiet as they watched their team go down in straight sets to St. Vincent and the Grenadines (25-16, 25- 15, and 25- 13)

The much anticipated clash between the two rivals was an anti- climax as Team SVG bossed all the scoring categories. In Spikes they led 29 to 20. In blocks it was 6 to 2 and in Service Points it was 8 to2. Team SVG was also the beneficiary of 32 errors on Antigua/Barbuda’s behalf.

On an individual level SVG’s Outside Hitter Enrico Louraine top scored with 15 points. Three others (Shadron Delpesche, Jamaar  Cropper and Kyle Liverpool) helped out Enrico as they combined to provide 20 points.

For Antigua /Barbuda Miguel Bourne led all his teammates with 9 points. The next best contribution came from Tejari Harvey with 6 points.

Coach Vance Andrews of Team SVG indicated that he was expecting a stronger fight. “Looking at Antigua playing against St. Lucia I expected them to take a game or two from us but that did not happen. My guys came out fully motivated to do well and so they played at a higher level than Antigua throughout this game”, he reported.

His captain in Jamaar Cropper was quite jubilant. “I am saying thank you to the coaches and players and even the fans, we came out quite strong and kept them in their shell and we just continued from there”, he said.

Olsen Joseph of Antigua/Barbuda was quite exasperated. “We are still not getting it together. Our players are guilty of not carrying out the instructions and plan they have been given. I am not certain that it is a case of intimidation or the pressure of expectation from the crowd but we are still not where we want to be. For the upcoming Semifinals we will make some adjustments and urge the players to play hard for their country”, he concluded.

The competition now enters its knock out phase with semifinals match ups – St. Lucia versus St. Kitts/Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines versus Antigua Barbuda.