Men’s Volleyball team fourth in World Championships qualifier

BY DEAN GREENAWAY

The BVI men’s national Volleyball team salvaged a victory over the Cayman Islands on Sunday, to place fourth in the first round of the 2006 World Championships qualifying tournament at the Gary Sobers Sports Complex in Bridgetown, Barbados

The five set victory came following successive losses to host Barbados, the Nederland Antilles and Jamaica. The match was the only one in the tournament to go five sets, as Team BVI took the see saw match 25-11, 14-25, 25-21, 20-25 and 15-11 from the Cayman Islands.

“I think this was a very good tournament for the guys because we were able to come away with at least one victory and at this level for the BVI team, this is a great achievement,” coach Kwele Williams said. “This is the best of the best that the Caribbean has to offer.”

The BVI began the competition with a straight set 20-25, 22-25 and 18-25 loss to eventual zone winner and host Barbados. That game was followed by a 12-25, 10-25 and 18-25 set-backs to Jamaica. The BVI had another straight set 22-25, 19-25 and 11-25 loss to the Nederland Antilles.

Williams said the BVI team was competitive against Barbados and Jamaica, despite straight set losses, which he said was due to lack of experience on the team’s part. He said one never knows what winning a set would have done for momentum against the stronger teams. But, he said, the team saw a level of volleyball many had never seen before and can only help them in the future.

“They realize the dedication that they need to put in, and also realized, had they done a little more, the results could have been different. That’s the overall experience of competing at this level-knowing that you stand a chance to compete,” Williams noted. “Most people thought we didn’t stand a chance when we went down, and we might not even score 10, 15 points in a set. But, we took the top teams down to 20, 22 and that is something we can build on.”

Following the tournament, Williams said the BVI has been invited to participate in next year’s Caribbean Volleyball Championships. “That’s a plus for us,” he said. “The guys came back rather upbeat and are ready to continue training to improve on their performances.”