ST JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda, October 19, 2024: On occasions, both teams drew level of points and exchanged leads; they alternated winning sets, but it was Antigua and Barbuda that trumped over Grenada in five- set cracker- jacker, in match six of 2024 Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Senior Women’s Tournament here at the YMCA Sports Complex.
In an edge of the seat encounter, Antigua and Barbuda prevailed 3-2(18-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-20, 15- 10).
Antigua and Barbuda was indebted to the crowd support that rallied around them when the chips were down, as Grenada clawed back ever so often in the contest.
However, the two teams were guilty of incurring errors at critical points of the match, gifting advantage to each other.
Antigua and Barbuda thus, after two matches is unbeaten, while Grenada remained winless, also after the same number of outings.
Following the nerve wracking, energy sapping match, Olsen Joseph, the triumphant coach on the night, said that nerves on the part of the younger players, allowed Grenada back in the match.
“The younger players that we have, the nerves got the better of them as they tried not to make any mistakes and that caused them to make mistakes”, Joseph opined.
Meanwhile, Rosemarie Simon, Captain and Libero of the Antigua and Barbuda team commented, “We did not expect to play five sets, but the mode of the game changed… I think we weren’t settled enough, then we (eventually) found our footing, and tried to work together as a team”.
Simon said that they will be drawing on the match as a fillip to condition themselves to go to five sets, so “we can know what the strengths and weaknesses are, with the combinations we have”.
Match number seven features Bermuda and Anguilla.
