Ramdin, Mitchell win again in Finnish volleyball

T&T senior women’s volleyball team duo Darlene Ramdin and Delana Mitchell and their Pieksamaki club won for the third straight time—and fourth in five matches—in the Finnish Naisten Liiga, beating Pislaploki in straight sets on Sunday.

Pieksamaki won 25-21, 25-21, 25-23 to carry its points tally to 21 from 15 matches in fifth spot, one ahead of Liiga Eura which sits in the final Championship playoff spot on the nine-team table.

In the other matches, table leaders LP Salo spanked cellar-placed Viljandi Metall 25-17, 25-17, 25-19 while third on the table LP Kangasala battled past Liiga Eura 25-18, 25-18, 23-25, 20-25, 15-12.

LP Salo has 39 points, followed by HPK with 33 from a match more, Kangasala (32) and OrPo with 23 from 16 matches as well.

Up next for Ramdin and Mitchell, who are in their first year as professional players, will be a meeting with Viljandi Metall on Saturday followed by clashes with HPK (February 2), OrPo (February 9), Liiga Eura (February 16), LP Kangasala (February 17), LP Salo (February 23), Wovo (March 1) and Pislaploki on March 2.

Over in Portugal, T&T’s Marc-Anthony Honore and SL Benfica stayed five points clear at the top of the Portugal A-1 Division after overcoming second from bottom of the ten-team standings CS Maritimo 31-29, 25-17, 25-19 on Saturday.

The win pushed Benfica, the three-time A-1 champions, to 54 points from 19 matches.