T&T women's teams of Ayana Dyette and Malika Davidson, La Teisha Joseph and Aphhia Glasgow defeated rivals Barbados 3-1 to claim the gold medal in the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Women's Continental Cup Second Round qualifiers to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Tournament between the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) and Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) at Ocho Rios, Jamaica, yesterday.
Dyette and Davidson (T&T-A), defeated Barbados-B duo of Sharon Bovell/Anthazia Mason 21-10, 21-14, but Glasgow and Joseph (T&T-B), went under to Barbados-A of Shari Matthews and Anicia Wood 13-21, 11-21 for a 1-1 score after the first two matches in the best-of-five series.
Playing in their first qualifying tournament after missing out on the first round, Dyette and Davidson did not disappoint as they won again over Barbados-A, 21-17, 21-12 while Glasgow and Joseph brushed aside Barbados-B, 21-19, 21-16 to seal a 3-1 team triumph.
On Saturday, the women in red, white and black, who were third placed finishers in the NORCECA First Round qualifiers silenced the Ocho Rios Beach, when they defeated host and first round CAZOVA qualifying winners Jamaica, 3-2 with Dyette and Davidson winning the fifth and deciding "Golden Set".
For Jamaica, Kai Wright and Danielle Perry defeated Glasgow and Joseph 21-0, 21-9 but Dyette and Davidson overcame Alicia Malcolm and Sasha-Lee Wallen 23-21, 22-20 to level the match at 1-1. Dyette and Davidson then swept Wright and Perry 21-19, 18-21, 15-6 for a 2-1 lead only for Glasgow and Joseph to fall 20-22, 21-14, 10-15 to Malcolm and Wallen to set up a fifth and deciding set where the top T&T pair won o defeated Wallen and Perry 15-11. In the other semis Barbados defeated French St Martin 3-1.
Host Jamaica ended in third spot by beating French St Martin while Suriname was fifth followed by Cayman Islands, US Virgin Islands and St Lucia who will all advance to the Third Round qualifying NORCECA series carded for El Salvador against the top four countries from the Central American Volleyball Association (AFECAVOL) zonal phase tournament.