TT volleyballers brush aside Dominica

SHERDON PIERRE

Trinidad and Tobago's women volleyball team is one step closer to qualifying for the FIVB World Championship Japan 2018 after defeating Dominica 3-0 on Friday evening at the National Cycling Centre, Couva as action began in the 2018 World Championship Qualifiers NORCECA Continental Women`s Pool C.

TT played uncontested throughout the match as they won comfortably against the notably weaker Dominica team. Due to the devastation of Hurricane Maria last month, the Dominicans had to alter their travel plans as they were made to take a boat to St Lucia then a flight to Trinidad for this tournament. They were most competitive in the first set which they lost 25-16, even though most of their points came from the serve errors from TT.

Channon ‘De Cannon’ Thompson blew away her opponents in the second set with her powerful serves amassing eight consecutive aces to defeat them (25-7) and take a two-nil lead. Thompson along with Sinead Jack spiked well in the third set which allowed them to seal the victory at 25-9. Thompson led all scoring with 20 points (10 spikes, nine aces) and Sinead Jack chipped in with 14 points (8 spikes, five aces).

A resolute TT captain Krystle Esdelle said, “The challenge coming into this tournament was to stay focused. We came from winning CAZOVA in Jamaica in August to no available courts to practice so we only started to build momentum in September, which meant that we had to fight to get in shape in order to perform today.”

Dominica's Coach Albert Loblack admitted, "Trinidad is a stronger, more talented team than we are. It was a nice experience playing against them. It showed us what we really need to do in the future. However, if we were more focused, we could have played better. We will take some positives from this match so we can put on a better show next time.”

In the earlier match, Mexico whipped Costa Rica 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-21). Mexican Samantha Bricio was the top scorer in the match with 14 points while Yuliana Gonzales had nine points for the Costa Ricans. Today, Costa Rica will battle Dominica at 5pm while TT take on Mexico at 7pm.