TTO battles past Martinique for title repeat

COUVA, Trinidad, July 9, 2017 - Marlon Phillip led four players in double-figure scoring as host T&T retained its title  with a come-from-behind win over Martinique when the 16th Senior Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Men’s Championship ended at the National Cycling Centre, Couva.

Winners of the title for the first time in 2010 in Suriname and then again on home soil in 2014, T&T overcame a first set loss to triumph 23-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-23 for its third title in the last four editions of the competition.

Phillip ended with 16 points, while Stewart got 15, and the pair of Mikheil Hoyte and Brandon Legall ten each for T&T which outscored its opponents, the 2008 winners on spikes 41-38, blocks 17-7 and also committed less errors 33-37, a first in the competition. Both teams had three service aces each.

On the other side of the net, Stephane Alpha had a match-high, 26 points to lead Martinique which was inclusive of 25 spikes while Yoann Breleur was the next best scorer with six, and Gerald Hardy-Dessources, five in the loss.

David Le Faivre, the Martinique  captain, said it was  a tough match to lose.

“We did not play our best game today and that was the reason for our defeat.” 

Ryan Stewart, T&T captain was pleased with the win and said, “The game was a pretty good one for us. The first set was a mental lapse, but we stuck to the game plan of the coach and the overall effort from the team brought us the victory.”

Martinique coach Erialc Reddy said his team did not perform at its best in the most important match.

T&T's Sean Morrison was lost for words saying, it felt good as a coach to lift the title three years ago and now even better now as a coach.

"We had a game plan and even though we dropped the first set, the guys stuck to their task and played their best match of the tournament when it was needed to do.”