ST JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda, October 26, 2024: St Lucia formalized their semi-final place with a disciplined win versus St Maarten in the final preliminary round match of the 2024 Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Senior Men’s Championships here at the YMCA Sports Complex,
Despite some stumbles along the way, and rear -guard action from St Maarten, St Lucia prevailed 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-23).
As the scores reflected, St Lucia had to dig deep in the third set to prevent the match being extended, as St Maarten was their own undoing, committing several unforced errors.
It meant that St Lucia finished the preliminaries with three wins and one defeat, whilst St Maarten had two wins and the same number of losses.
With a crack at the title, St Lucia’s Head Coach – Harven Brown projected that their loss to Dominica will be the lone hiccup, thus, they are focused on winning their next two matches.
“Let me just say that last night versus Dominica, we had our one bad game for the tournament. We tweaked a few things, we strategized and came out with a different approach tonight, so it feels good to be in the semi-finals and we are going all the way”, Brown advanced.
St Lucia plays Pool A winners – Antigua and Barbuda in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, St Maarten’s Head Coach- Clayton Holiday, gave an average mark to his team’s output overall in the four matches.
“With the juniors in the team, I would say that they gave it a good effort, it is just that they fell short of their focus and concentration in crucial times, but the principles what I find they could have done, just that they were not consistent enough”, Holiday assessed.
Holiday a deep evaluation will be made of the team’s performance, and the necessary programmes be put in place in the St Maarten Volleyball setup.
