TT beach volleyball pair loses in Mexico

Trinidad and Tobago’s number one ranked beach volleyball pair of Malika Davidson and Phylecia Armstrong will join third ranked LaTeisha Joseph and Suraya Chase in Mexico for the 2nd leg of the 2018 North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) Beach Volleyball Continental Tour.

Davidson and Armstrong were supposed to compete in the first leg of the tournament currently taking place in Aguascalientes, Mexico, but will now arrive for the La Paz segment instead,

The first leg, which runs until Monday, served off yesterday with TT’s Joseph and Chase beaten in Pool C.

The TT duo lost without putting up much of a fight 2-0 (21-8, 21-5) to the dominant Mexican pair of Paulette Cruz and Claudia Rios. Joseph and Chase were outclassed 2-0 again in their second match against Nicaraguans Swan Mendoza and Lolette Rodriguez. This time the match was a bit closer with TT going under 21-15, 21-17.

TT complete Pool C action today when they face USA’s Kelly Reeves and Brittany Howard.

The absence of Davidson and Armstrong comes as a surprise as Newsday spoke Davidson earlier this week and she gave no indication that plans had changed. Davidson was optimistic of her chances alongside Armstrong.

“As a newly formed team, our main goal for the 2018 beach volleyball season is about growth. The focus is to understand each other better, and more so getting to know about our strengths and weaknesses in order to become a stronger combined team. The first two legs of the 2018 NORCECA beach volleyball circuit is Phylecia’s first and our team’s debut at the tournament. Our goal is to place in the top eight and compare our game level to the powerhouses in the continental region.”

Joseph also explained her team`s plan for the tour. “Well, this tournament is basically to get a feel of the teams, win the games we can, and place as high as we can. It (Aguascalientes) is more so of a warm-up heading to the next tournament in La Paz next week and Cuba shortly after. We are a bit nervous but our confidence has grown from the last couple of practice sessions with our adviser Jason Dennis.” Following the Aguascalientes leg, they will travel to La Paz, Mexico April 19-23, before competing in Varadero, Cuba from April 26-30.