Volleyball Coach satisfied despite the downside

Coach of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Senior Female Volleyball team Marlon Williams is pleased that his players were able to qualify to the Second Round of the NORCECA grouping of the 2014 FIVB World Championships and the ECVA Finals.{{more}}

The St Vincent and the Grenadines team returned home last Sunday afternoon, after taking the runner-up spot in Group B of the qualifiers, which was contested on Friday and Saturday in Grenada.

Williams, in commenting on the team’s performance, said, “When we left here, the expectations were not that great, but they went out there and performed creditably well.

“We managed to get to the finals against the predictions of some people and qualify for the next stage and we hope to be prepared in a much better way than we were for these matches,” Williams added.

Williams, the Libero in the senior men’s team, revealed that he was basically the stand-in coach and hopes that whoever takes over the team will tap in on their strengths and consolidate.

Williams’ view was also shared by the team’s Captain Brenda Pinder.

“We performed well; we went there to complete something and we did just that to the best of our abilities, despite the lack of attention that Volleyball gets,” Pinder claimed.

She expects her players to continue to train harder, as they advance to the next stage of the qualifiers.

St Vincent and the Grenadines won two matches and lost two.

St Vincent was beaten by St Lucia 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-16) in their opening match at the Laborie Indoor Facility in Grenada last Friday morning.

The Vincentians rebounded to beat the host 3-2(20-25, 25-18, 25-19, 22-25, 15-8) to put their campaign back on track.

Needing maximum points to advance to the final, the Vincentians answered with a 3-0 drubbing on St Eustatius, winning 25-15, 25-17, 25-22 in straight sets, and a date with the St Lucia in Saturday night’s grand finale.

Again the Vincentians were no match for the St Lucians, as they lost once more by a 3-0 margin.

St Lucia made a clean sweep of the competition, not dropping a set as they whipped St Vincent and the Grenadines in the championship match, 25-21, 25-17, 25-15.

St Vincent and the Grenadines goes into the Second Round Group K four-team qualifiers with First Round Group C winner US Virgin Islands, Group F third placed team in the British Virgin Islands and the runner-up from First Round Group G play, featuring Panama, El Salvador, Belize, and Bonaire.

As Group B winners, St Lucia advances to the Second Round Group J four-team series, involving Curacao, Group C, third placed Antigua and Barbuda Group F runner-up and the third place team from the AFECAVOL Group Three qualifiers involving Panama, El Salvador, Belize and Bonaire.

Apart from qualifying for the Second Round of the World Championships, St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia also have qualified for the ECVA Finals, set for Antigua and Barbuda later this year. (RT)