Simon Blake, the reigning senior Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Men's "Most Valuable Player" was instrumental in helping Technocrats to a 25-16, 18-25, 25-20, 23-25, 15-9 triumph over Southern United Volleyball Academy (SUVA) in the T&T Volleyball Federation Men's Premier Division on Tuesday night.
This was in the feature match of a double-header at the Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena and the win was the sixth in seven matches for Technocrats, now with 22 points at the top of the table.
On Sunday, Technocrats had missed a chance to go top of the table after it needed five-sets as well to beat fifth placed Toco Youths Volleyball Academy (12 points), 20-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-19, 15-12 at the same venue.
A day earlier, the Saleem Ali-led Glamorgan crushed the Nolan Tash-led BIG South East Port-of-Spain (SEPoS) 25-7, 25-15, 25-16 to briefly go top with its 4-2 mark and 20 points, while SEPoS (4-3) has 19 in third thanks to its 25-23, 23-25, 25-10, 25-17 defeat of Zenith at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo on Monday.
On Friday, cellar-placed Zenith (1-6) and ine points created an upset, beating a late arriving SUVA 25-0, 15-25, 21-25, 25-11, 15-13 at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Tacarigua. SUVA with its back-to-back defeats fell to 3-4 and 18 points in fourth. Tomorrow, Toco Youths and Glamorgan meet at Mucurapo from 8.30pm.
At the end of the two rounds of round-robin matches, the top four teams will meet in cross-over best of three semifinal playoffs from which the winners meet in a one-of championship match.
...Glamorgan women spike seventh straight
Glamorgan maintains its perfect record in the six-team Women's Premier Division after sweeping past Southern United Volleyball Academy (SUVA) 25-14, 24-19, 25-20 at Chaguanas on Tuesday night.
The win for the star-studded Glamorgan line-up featuring former European-based outside-hitter Darlene Ramdin and her fellow national team-mates, Jalicia Ross-Kydd, Malika York and Marisha Herbert was their seventh from as many matches to move to 34 points from 30 after dropping one set in a 3-1 round one win over the same West Side Stars.
The victory was the second in four days for Glamorgan which served off round two with a comfortable 25-12, 25-12, 25-12 spiking of West Side Stars at the same Chaguanas venue on Saturday while SUVA stayed third with 22 points and a 5-2 record following its 25-12, 23-25, 25-13, 25-13 defeat of Big South East Port-of-Spain (SEPoS) on Sunday.
Second on the table with 26 points and a 5-2 mark as well is Technocrats (5-2) led by national captain Kelly-Anne Billingy and Renele Forde after easing to a 25-19, 25-14, 25-10 defeat of West Side Stars on Monday at Mucurapo.
It was also the second win in four days for Technocrats after it stormed past former champions University of T&T 25-19, 25-10, 25-15 at Tacarigua on Friday night.
The trio of West Side Stars, SEPoS and UTT all have the same 1-5 record for seven, six and five points respectively in the battle for the fourth and final semifinal spot which will be determine at the end of round two matches, ten each per club.
Tomorrow, at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Tacarigua, West Side Stars battle SUVA from 7pm.
Fixtures
Remaining T&TVF Premier Division fixtures:
Women's Premier Division:
Friday Jan 16: West Side Stars vs SUVA, Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Tacarigua, 7pm
Saturday Jan 17: UTT vs BIG SEPoS, Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo, 4pm
Sunday Jan 18: UTT vs Glamorgan, 9am; Technocrats vs BIG SEPoS, 10.30am, Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Chaguanas,
Monday Jan 19: BIG SEPoS vs Glamorgan, Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo, 6pm
Friday Jan 23: West Side Stars vs UTT, 6pm; Technocrats vs Glamorgan, 7.30pm, Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Tacarigua
Saturday Jan 24: SUVA vs UTT, 2.30pm; BIG SEPoS vs West Side Stars, 4pm, Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Chaguanas
Semifinals: Jan 26 & 28
Men's Premier Division:
Today: Toco Youths vs Glamorgan, Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo, 8.30pm
Saturday Jan 17: SUVA vs Glamorgan, 5.30pm; BIG SEPoS vs Toco Youths, 7pm; Zenith vs Technocrats, 8.30pm, Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo
Monday Jan 19: Glamorgan vs Zenith, Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo, 8pm
Tuesday Jan 20: Technocrats vs BIG SEPoS, Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Chaguanas, 7.30pm
Thursday Jan 22: SUVA vs Toco Youths, Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo, 8.30pm
Saturday Jan 24: Toco Youths vs Zenith, 7pm; SUVA vs BIG SEPoS, 8.30pm, Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Chaguanas
Sunday Jan 25: Glamorgan vs Technocrats, 5.30pm; Toco Youths vs Zenith, 7pm; BIG SEPoS vs SUVA, 8.30pm, Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Chaguanas, 10.30am
Semifinals: Jan 27 & 29
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