Thompson serves up second win for T&T

ST AUGUSTINE, Trinidad, May 25, 2013:  Channon Thompson put on a serving exhibition  to lead host T&T to a second straight 3-0 win, this time over Honduras (25-15, 25-11, 25-15) in  their second match of the NORCECA Women’s Second Round  Group I qualifiers to the 2014 FIVB World Championship in Italy  at the University of the West Indies Sports and Physical Educational Centre, St Augustine on Saturday night.

Thompson ended with 26 points on the night, ten of which were service aces while Sinead Jack added nine, inclusive of three blocks  and captain, Krystle Esdelle, nine as well in the 62 minutes.

With the win, the seventh NORCECA ranked T&T  “Calypso Spikers”  improved to 2-0 at the top of the four-team pool with maximum ten points, five ahead of Barbados and Honduras.

On the other side of the net, the quartet of Mariajosse Diaz, Dariana Flores, Jennifer Maria Torres and Lesby Midence each got four points for the 18th NORCECA ranked Honduras, who fell to (1-1) in the group, the same as Barbados,  its final round-robin opponent on Sunday morning, with a place in the gold medal at stake.

Speaking after the loss, Tessa Michelle Flores, captain of Honduras  admitted her team entered the match  knowing T&T was superior in many ways, however  it was not prepared for the serving onslaught of Thompson.

“We began playing the match with good energy level, but  then T&T’s Thompson served so well it took us out of the match.

Looking ahead to a virtual battle for second spot in the group with Barbados for a spot in the Third Round and the group final, Flores said she thinks her team can play better.

“I know we will have a better game against Barbados than we had against T&T, because they are not as tall and powerful which makes their attacks and blocks harder to overcome.

 Esdelle was full of praise for  Thompson whom she says is well on her  way to being  a world class player.

“Channon (Thompson)  had  a superior service game tonight  and it is obvious that she brings a lot of power to the team which we are happy to have

Honduras coach, Marvin Ulloa was pleased with the performance as he said his team showed great improvement from its first match.

“Of course I am not satisfied because we did not win the match, but we showed great fight and we can look forward to a better match against Barbados in our final group match.

 Francisco Cruz, T&T’s Cuban-born coach first congratulated his opponents, Honduras for what he considered a great game.

Cruz added, “Tonight my team played at a good level than compared to our first match. We had a talk after the first match and came into the Honduras encounter with more expectations.

Asked a reason for the rise in level of his team’s play, Cruz said he believes it was because the level of the team’s opponent was also higher.

“We showed more because the other team showed more, it’s something that motivates us, “ ended Cruz.

 On Sunday, T&T meets Honduras in the first match of the day from 9am and two hours later, Barbados and Anguilla close out the round-robin group play , at the end of which the top two teams will qualify for the gold medal match on Sunday night from 8pm as well as the Third Round of NORCECA qualification to Italy.

The other two teams will play for third spot on Sunday from 6pm with the winner still in with a chance to qualify for Italy.

However, it will only do so as the best ranked third placed team of all the six Second Round groups on the NORCECA ranking on January 1, 2014.