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BVI to face USVI with only Volleyball pride at Stake!

El Salvador cruised past British Virgin Islands to win in straight sets (25-12, 25-17, 25-9) the first match of the NORCECA Second Round Group K Tournament. Photo credit: Oris Robinson/NORCECA
We made pretty much fundamental mistakes especially with our passing,” British Virgin Islands Captain Sabinah Clement stated. “It took a while to warm up and overcome our nervousness and our passing mistakes affected our setting. Photo credit: Oris Robinson/NORCECA
We made pretty much fundamental mistakes especially with our passing,” British Virgin Islands Captain Sabinah Clement stated. “It took a while to warm up and overcome our nervousness and our passing mistakes affected our setting. Photo credit: Oris Robinson/NORCECA
In the second game though, St Vincent & Grenadines swept past British Virgin Islands 25-19, 25-17, 25-18 on Saturday evening to equalize at 1-1 their win-loss record. Photo \credit: Oris Robinson/NORCECA
In the second game though, St Vincent & Grenadines swept past British Virgin Islands 25-19, 25-17, 25-18 on Saturday evening to equalize at 1-1 their win-loss record. Photo \credit: Oris Robinson/NORCECA
Valissa Brathwaite and Danielle Selkridge finished with 13 and 10 points for the USVI as they lost to El Salvador. Today's game against the BVI is a must win if they wish to progress to the 3rd round. Photo credit: Oris Robinson/NORCECA
Valissa Brathwaite and Danielle Selkridge finished with 13 and 10 points for the USVI as they lost to El Salvador. Today's game against the BVI is a must win if they wish to progress to the 3rd round. Photo credit: Oris Robinson/NORCECA
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI - The BVI Women’s Volleyball team suffered defeats in the first two games of the NORCECA 2nd Round World Qualifiers, going down to El Salvador and St Vincent to leave them no chance of progression at the Ronald “Ranche” Charles Arena in St Croix.

El Salvador cruised past British Virgin Islands to win in straight sets (25-12, 25-17, 25-9) the first match of the NORCECA Second Round Group K Tournament, a qualifier towards the 2014 FIVB Women’s World Championship on Saturday morning at Ronald “Ranche” Charles Arena.

“To tell the truth I think we can play better than we did today,” El Salvador Captain Adriana Flores said. “We will improve as the competition goes on.”

“We made pretty much fundamental mistakes, especially with our passing,” British Virgin Islands Captain Sabinah Clement stated. “It took a while to warm up and overcome our nervousness and our passing mistakes affected our setting.”

Nery Henriquez, coach of El Salvador, pointed to their long trip as a factor in the slow start of his team.“The girls were a little bit tired after a long trip and a late arrival but they made the adjustments and as their captain said, the opponent’s mistakes helped us to the win,” he said.

Willis Potter, coach of British Virgin Islands, who was confident his team will be able to regroup and play better in the next match, said “We made too many errors in our passing,” he said. “The girls were nervous at the beginning but even after that we kept committing mistakes. We will go back to regroup and play better.”

In the second game though, St Vincent & Grenadines swept past British Virgin Islands 25-19, 25-17, 25-18 on Saturday evening to equalize at 1-1 their win-loss record.

Bretisha Gregg and Krystal Ralph topped the winners with 10 and 8 points respectively while Shaquille Branker and Bownie Allicot charted 7 apiece. Tyalia Nibbs had six points for the losers. St Vincent held a 12-6 margin in blocks and 5-1 in aces. The key for the victory, according to Captain Nikita Campbell, was the correction of the mistakes made during their morning match against El Salvador. “We went back and talked about our mistakes and our passing was much better,” Campbell commented.

“Our game completely broke down in the third set which we let escape,” said Sabinah Clement of the defeated side. “We made too many unforced errors and my team needs to work in the fundamental plays, passing, serving and blocking.”

Despite the victory, the coach of St Vincent and Grenadines, Shaun Young, commented on their need for minimizing the unforced errors.

“We had a much better game and used the experience of the morning but we still need to take care of those unforced errors if we want to succeed in this competition,” Young said.

British Virgin Islands Coach Willis Potter said: “We need to sharpen our fundamentals. As my captain said, our game broke down in the third set and I think we need to restructure our game, because offense makes your defense better.”

Meanwhile the USVI featuring Valissia Brathwaite and Danielle Selkridge had overpowered St Vincent and Grenadines 25-6, 25-16, 25-17) in the second match of Saturday morning.

“It was not our best match but we played good defense and the intensity was there,” U.S Virgin Islands Captain Sacha Gumbs said after the match. “We need to improve our communication.”

St Vincent Captain Nikita Campbell said: “We were a little bit timid in the first set but then we fought back. It is the first time we meet this team and we need to work harder.”

Lucille Hobson, coach of the winners, said this is a tournament where they need to reserve energy because of playing two matches a day.

“St Vincent showed in the second and third set that they can compete with us,” Hobson expressed. “We needed to step up our game in the third set when they were in front. I am proud of my team because they only trained for two weeks as most of them just finished college.”

“We came to this tournament not knowing so much about USVI,” commented Shaun Young, the St Vincent coach. “We will use this match to correct our mistakes and come back for the rest of our matches.”

However, they then lost to El Salvador 18-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-23.

The Salvadorans meet St Vincent and Grenadines (1-1) on Sunday morning needing one more victory to advance to the finals and claim a ticket to the third round of regional competitions. Diana Romero and Denisse Rogel each had 10 points for the winners while Adriana Flores added nine of her own. Valissa Brathwaite and Danielle Selkridge finished with 13 and 10 for the losers while Rhea Simon had eight.

El Salvador made 31 unforced errors compared to 55 by the home side. The losers held advantages of 7-2 in blocks and 5-2 in aces.
“We pressed them with our serves and didn’t make as many errors as in the morning match,” El Salvador’s Adriana Flores said. “After a slow start in the first set we were able to come back and improved a lot.”


“Mentally wise the communication wasn’t there after the first set,” U.S. Virgin Islands’ Sacha Gumbs explained. “They made smarter shots than us and we waited too long to make a push. You don’t want to be playing catch up all the time.”

Salvadoran coach Nery Henriquez boasted his satisfaction after playing what he considered the type of game his team is used to.

7 Responses to “BVI to face USVI with only Volleyball pride at Stake!”

  • Want2Kno (26/05/2013, 09:35) Like (3) Dislike (0) Reply
    BVI will go winless, like usual in this tournament, unfortunately....the Volleyball Association need to put a program in place....there are not many youth involved in the sport and the "old women" don't have the time on their hands to prepare.....
    • play ball (26/05/2013, 11:50) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
      just hush the sports just need a little more support and push!
      • the rock (26/05/2013, 21:31) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
        kool out man want2know is right..volleyball is going no where in the bvi..they have no plan at all...just go to the games and u will see..same old association year after year...its sad!
  • Want2Kno (26/05/2013, 12:36) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    Play Ball, when last a Women's or Men's Volleyball team won a tournament? Disagree all you want, the fact remains they will return WINLESS!! No matter what support they get, support will not solve the internal problems....
    • @ Want2Kno (26/05/2013, 16:02) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
      so heatfull towards locals with accusations that could turn out as fictitious.
  • ..... (26/05/2013, 21:50) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Selkridge is playing for the USVI.......Sorry buddy. No wonder we losing so bad.


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