Barrackpore West, San Juan South set up another boys' volleyball final match

Reigning champions San Juan South Secondary and Barrackpore West Secondary continued their fine play in the 2025 Secondary Schools Volleyball League (SSVL) season when they set up a meeting in the boys' open final after a string of strong performances at the National Cycling Centre, Balmain, Couva on February 26.

On February 17, both San Juan and Barrackpore booked their spots in the boys' under-17 final after impressing at the Eastern Regional Sporting Arena, Tacarigua.

Winners of the boys' under-16 and open categories in the last SSVL season, San Juan again showed their intent as they advanced from group A which included Maple Leaf International School, Naparima College and Presentation College Chaguanas.

In their first group game, San Juan defeated "Naps" 25-13, 25-11, before beating Presentation 25-8, 25-19 and Maple Leaf 25-17, 25-15 in their last group encounter.

Barrackpore were also unbeaten in their group which included Arima North Secondary, Iere High School and International School of PoS (ISPS).

In Barrackpore's first match, they had a tight encounter with Arima but they got a 25-17, 25-19 win. ISPS also pushed the Barrackpore team to the limit in a three-set battle, with the latter winning 23-25, 25-20, 15-9 to get a comeback result. In the final group game, Barrackpore had a slightly easier road as they defeated Iere 27-25, 25-16.

Barrackpore and San Juan advanced straight to the semifinal, with Iere, ISPS, Maple Leaf and Presentation contesting the quarterfinal round.

Maple Leaf and ISPS had a keenly contested quarterfinal matchup, with the former getting a three-set win (25-20, 18-25, 15-9). In the other quarterfinal, Iere showed their class with a 25-17, 25-7 victory over Presentation.

In the semifinal, though, Iere had no answer for San Juan who got a 25-12, 25-16 result. In the other semi, Barrackpore overcame Maple Leaf in an exciting encounter after dropping the first set. Barrackpore won 22-25, 26-24, 15-13 in a tussle which went right down to the wire.

After the Carnival break, Iere and maple Leaf will play the bronze medal match, with Barrackpore and the red-hot San Juan meeting in the final as the latter school aims to defend its crown.

Meanwhile, in the girls' under-15 division in Balmain on February 25, ISPS, Maple Leaf and St Joseph's Convent Port of Spain (SJCPoS) progressed to the final four after convincing performances.

Winners of the girls' under-14 and under-16 categories in the previous SSVL season, ISPS had a perfect run to the semifinals with a 7-0 record in the round-robin phase. ISPS defeated San Fernando Central Secondary, Holy Faith Convent Couva, St Joseph's Convent St Joseph, ASJA San Fernando, SJCPoS, Maple Leaf and Tunapuna Secondary as they cruised through the round-robin.

Though they both dropped games to ISPS, Maple Leaf and SJCPoS also secured their places in the last four as they racked up five wins apiece.