Trinidad and Tobago earned the second automatic semi-final spot at stake in 2019 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Junior (Under-21) Men’s Championship with a straight sets win over US Virgin Islands here at the La Ville Riviere-Salee Palais Des Sport.
Led by captain Joshua Persad, T&T, searching for their first title at this age-group, won 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 in an evenly fought match-up.
With the win, T&T, who defeated hosts Martinique in four sets on Sunday night, ended Pool D round-robin play with perfect 2-0 record and joined three-time reigning champions Barbados (2-0), who downed Guadeloupe 25-14, 25-17, 25-19 earlier in the day in Pool C.
On Sunday night, outside hitter Marley Davidson led three players in double-figure scoring as T&T overcame a tournament-ending injury to key player for a 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-19, 26-24) win over hosts Martinique in their Pool B opener.
For T&T, Davidson got 17 points, inclusive of ten spikes, six service aces and one block, while Jerome Belgrove added 16 laced with four blocks and five aces, and Georiani Austin chipped in with ten valuable points highlighted by seven spikes.
The trio of Josiah Constant (nine) and Sean Marchan and team captain Joshua Persaud both with four each also contributed to the solid all-round display by T&T, who dominated on service aces 18-7 and also had a narrow edge on spikes 33-30 and blocks 12-10. However, both teams were guilty of a very high number of errors with T&T committing 32 to the host country’s 39.
Roman Letord was the lone Martinique player to get into double-figures with ten points while Roland Cyrilla added nine and Kiau-Romany, eight in the loss.
Speaking after his team’s victory, which left the home supporters stunned, Persaud said his team had to come out very positive in order to have a chance against the hosts.
“We knew playing Martinique in front of their own crowd was going to be tough and by winning the first set we built our own momentum and continued from there on. Best picked up an injury and he is one of our key players, but the guys all came together and pulled through for him.”
Assistant coach Curtis Burkette added that his team worked very hard for the win.
“We suffered a setback in losing a key player in Best during the match but it motivated the players to fight even harder which helped us to get over the bump.”
Best, 15 will play no further part in the competition after dislocating his left knee while landing after a spike against Martinique. Best picked up the injury with the sets level at 1-1 and T&T ahead 13-8 in the third set. He was taken to the hospital and after evaluation, it was determined his injury needed further assessment.
Martinique coach Gael Melinard said the match was much more difficult for his players than they first expected.
“The guys also seemed afraid and we didn’t manage every point as we should and made too many mistakes which in the end cost us the match.”
Today in Pool C, Curacao and Guadeloupe play to determine second and third in their pool ahead of the quarterfinals tomorrow while in Pool D Martinique faces USVI.