BASSETTERE: St Kitts and Nevis, Sept, 1. 2024: Dominica completed its mission to win the Men’s segment of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Under-21 Championships here at the Marriot Beach, and booked a place to the FIVB Beach Volleyball Under-21 World Championships, set for Georgia, 2025.
The duo of Bill Frederick and Mervin Mingo, silenced the partisan support from the host country, thwarting everything that the pair of Julian Bristol and Vickash Sundar, representing St Kitts and Nevis Team, winning in straight sets, 21-19, 21-16.
This meant that Frederick and Mingo went through the championships, not conceding a set, beating all comers by 2-0 margins.
Dominica’s coach- Yahn Florent commenting after his team’s domination, said he was able to bring all his experience garnered from playing in the ECVA, Norceca and FIVB Qualifying tournaments, to bear on his charges.
“I basically shared my experience and knowledge about placements and positions when on the court, but the players themselves were hungry for that gold medal; we were not letting up on anything…We played everyone the same way, the same intensity”, Florent said.
The coach said that on return home, they will be back on training, because going to international tournaments requires a higher level of preparation.
“This is not the time to slack up…We have to prep some training drills to improve their sharpness and overall skills sets”, Florent projected.
En route to the final, Frederick and Mingo beat Antigua and Barbuda’s Khaliq Joseph and Miguel Lugo, 2-0 (21-11, 21-17), while Bristol and Sundar were taken the distance by Grenada’s Kibose Hamilton and Zerick Walcott, but prevailed 2-1(21-17, 17-21, 15-10)
Third Place
Joseph and Lugo earned Antigua and Barbuda a podium spot, when they defeated Hamilton and Walcott, 2-0 (21-17, 21-16), to take bronze.
Positions 5-8
St Kitts and Nevis Team Two: Jedediah Pencheon and Komarr Fraites had a 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) win over Bermuda’s Riley Morbey and Marcus Rodriques.
Meanwhile, the British Virgin Islands’ Jason Dunkley- Maduro and Alexander Wheatley had a walk over St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Tariq Duncan and Damari Frederick.
Positions 9 -12
In the minor places, the Anguilla outfit of Trevon Smith and Shaquoy Reid defeated St Kitts and Nevis’ Team Three of Joash Walters and Alex Lall 2-0 (21-19, 21-16).
And, St Lucia’s Daniel Joseph and Rayquan Francis beat St Eustacius’ Zjondre De Jesus and D’Jairo Hassel, 2-1(21-13, 13-21, 15-10)
