U-21 volleyballers get fiery baptism

St Vincent and the Grenadines under-21 volleyballers found the going tough in their debut outing in the NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship, at the U.S. Olympic Training Centre in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America, over the past week.{{more}}

St Vincent and the Grenadines lost all five matches, and did not take a set from any of their opponents.

In the group stage, St Vincent and Grenadines lost all three matches by 3-0 margins.

First, they were beaten by Mexico 25-7, 25-10, 25-15; then the host USA defeated them 25-8, 25-8, 25-9.

St Vincent and the Grenadines had their best showing in the prelims, as they were defeated by Honduras 25-17, 25-11, 25-20.

In the play-offs for the minor places, Guatemala inflicted a similar 3-0 score line on the Vincentians, defeating them 25-12, 25-16, 25-16.

Then, in their final match, the Vincentians went under to Curacao, also by three sets ( 25-11, 25-16, 25-19).

This condemned St Vincent and the Grenadines to eighth place, and Curacao, seventh.

Ijahlon Butler, the captain of the St Vincent and the Grenadines team, was his team’s top scorer, with 44 points, with their next best being Jahmal Small, who scored 26.

Butler and Small are both members of the St Vincent and the Grenadines senior team, which would be in action this weekend in the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association finals in St Lucia.

Completing the other places in the Continental championship, the United States defeated Canada 26-24, 25-17, 23-25, 25-21 to take the gold, while Mexico saw off Puerto Rico 25-12, 25-21, 25-16 to take the bronze.

And, in the fifth and sixth places, Guatemala edged Honduras 25-18, 20-25, 25-20, 24-26, 15-9 in the five -setter. (RT)