By VINO

In Division Two of the Ladies league, the VG Eagles overcame the Vipers in three sets, 25-22, 25-12, 25-16, with Yvette Harley picking off 10 kills, Dauphne Sprauve 5 aces and Debbie Ridgeway 4 digs.

Jacintha Weekes and Patricia Potter both had 4 digs for the RTW Vipers.

Phoenix Red advances

Meanwhile, in Division One, Phoenix Red saw off the challenge from the Spikers to win in straight sets, 25-15, 25-7, 25-14 and now await the winner of the game between Seventeen and Raw Power, which is scheduled for Wednesday May 11, 2016.

Amondona Creese picked off 5 kills and 7 Digs and Ladonna Woodley 6 kills, 6 aces and 8 digs.

Just Dream reach men’s final

In Men’s action, Just Dream reached the final with a straight sets demolition of the VG Hawks, 25-9, 25-9, 25-16. Canice Marquise had 8 kills and 5 aces.

Just Dream now await the winner between Raw Power and Gunz in the Championship Game.

On Saturday May 14, 2016 the Championships in both Men’s and Ladies Divisions will take place.

Saturday May 7, 2016 action included School Them against the Vixens at 6.00pm and Raw Power versus Gunz at 7.30pm.

The opening set proved it was going to be a game that went to the wire with Raw Power edging it 30-28 and then Raw Power doubled their advantage, taking the second set, 25-22. However, Seventeen is packed with experience and they began an epic fight back in the third set, snatching the win, 25-18, to make it 2-1.

The fourth set went to Seventeen by the same score line and then in the fifth they held on to take the win, 15-12.

Deborah Dagou smashed 11 Kills and 5 Digs, Erica Smith-Penn notched 10 Kills, and Lynelle Gumbs made 5 Digs.

For Raw Power, Henrietta Alexander picked of 13 Kills, 7 Digs and served up 4 Aces, whilst Lauren Welch finished up with 5 Kills, 5 Blocks, 8 Digs and 5 Aces.

School Them sweep Vixens

In Sunday’s other game, School Them romped to a 3-0 win over the Vixens, 25-16, 25-20, 25-19, with Tiffany Brewley hitting 4 Kills and Tyjenica Maduro-George 4 Digs and 4 Aces.

On Saturday February 27, 2016, Phoenix Red Roosters had an equally comfortable win over the Super Spikers, 3-0, 25-10, 25-10, 25-20 and Raw Power men beat VG Hawks also 3-0, 25-16, 25-16, and 25-13.

Edward Pollock notched 8 Kills and Leon Smith 7.

On Friday, the Roosters overcame Seventeen 3-1, 27-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-7 and School Them beat Black Ops, 3-0, 25-14, 26-24, 25-15, with 5 Kills and 7 Aces from Nicola Maduro, 4 Kills and 6 Aces from Elecia Todman and 12 Kills from Tiffany Brewley.

 

By VINO

The BVI U18 Girls team suffered a successive defeat at the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Junior Female Championships, going down 3-0 to host nation St Martin on Friday July 24, 2015.

St Martin wasted little time in disposing of the BVI in straight sets (25-5, 25 -6 and 25-9) in game 4 of the Championship, with the entire game lasting a total of 44 minutes and the French girls hardly having a reason to exert real effort.

It was painful to see the BVI struggle with reception as St Martin got 29 points from services that were literally not returned. The teams’ spikes total was 6-3 while the only 4 blocks of the night were done by St Martin.

Coach of the BVI team, Willis Potter was rather plain to point to the fact that his team simply did not compete. “They just seemed a bundle of nerves out there and as a result did not play as expected. They put in some effort at the end of games but that was too little too late. Frankly, I think that they were intimidated by the occasion and thus failed to execute and failed to compete.”

St Martin’s coach, Jean- Luc Lezin was not quite ready to celebrate. “We came here knowing that we were defeated last time around by St Lucia in the finals. So this game was just a step towards our ultimate goal and that is to do one better than last time. It was not a difficult game but we had to stay focused as there is a tendency to relax in these situations.”
St Lucia had made light work of the BVI U18 Girls Volleyball team on Thursday July 23, 2015, brushing them off in straight sets (25 -8, 25- 10, and 25 -8) in the first game of the ECVA Junior Female Championship, in St Martin.
Meanwhile, Virgin Islander Tamisha Georges has been appointed a Referee at the ECVA Championships.

By: VINO

Nearly 50 young Volleyballers from half a dozen schools took part in the first Virgin Islands Volleyball Association Volley Fest event run by Jackie Weekes at the Multi Purpose Sports Complex on Saturday December 6, 2014.

The Volley Fest comes hot on the heels of the conclusion of the Youth Structure Programme that is being spearheaded by VIVA, through which the fundamentals of the sport is being introduced to the students and PE Teachers throughout the schools by Ms. Jacqueline Weekes.

“Today is going great with the turn out,” said Ms Weekes. “Even though there is so much going on and we had problems with transport for the outer islands.”

Ms. Weekes had hopes for a league to be set up but has come across many issues with equipment and getting assistance with the programme in the schools. However Weekes will be continuing her efforts and, with increased support from the Association, is confident that her goals will be achieved.

“Facilities are a problem,” she said. “There is nothing for Volleyball, with most of our practices taking place on a field. I’m hoping for more cooperation from teachers, principles, Government and VIVA and then it will happen. Right now the best we can do is encourage the youngsters to come along and teach them the fundamentals.”

One organization that needed no encouragement to attend the event was the Youth Empowerment Programme (YEP) run by the Executive Director, Stacey Mather, in East End. His young charges were out in force and having as much fun as everyone else especially when Weekes and Mather took to the court in a demonstration game.

“Any sporting activity at YEP is welcomed and Jackie has been fantastic in bringing her Volleyball programme,” said Mather. “We invested a sizeable amount of money on an outdoor facility and want to see it develop. Jackie is the face of Volleyball, she is phenomenal and everything she is involved with will always succeed.”

The day of thrills, skills and Volleyball drills concluded with Althea Scatliffe Primary School awarded for being the Best Primary School performers, but with the event due to be repeated every 3 or 4 weeks, they will not be able to rest on their laurels.

The outer island schools will be involved next time around and as the sport continues to grow at grassroots level, more and more youngsters will be vying to take the award home for their school.

By:VINO

On Thursday August 28, 2014 the Virgin Islands Volleyball Association (VIVA) duly completed a Coaching Course designed to give participants a better understanding of how to teach, promote and develop the sport.

The Course, a Level 1 International Certification Coaching Course, which began last week, was facilitated by Mr. John Kessel, a Level IV instructor, who currently serves as Secretary of the International Federation Technical Commission.

“It was a very light hearted fun filled week” he commented. “Volleyball is a game and one of the biggest things they learned is that you don’t drill Volleyball, you play Volleyball, just like you don’t learn to ride a bike by doing drills, you just ride a bike. We got the chance to show them by not putting up a net and cramming 20 kids on a side, but instead the game can be played 2 v 2 , 3 v 3, with a lot of ropes or ribbons as nets,” he said.

The Course was a condensed version and next the participants will have to take the actual Level One Course Test to become fully certified as Volleyball Coaches.

“Some of the work is afterwards, those that want to will have to read the book and take the Test,” noted Kessel. “Those that want to get the Level One will have to do extra work,” he said.

The Course was also designed a pipeline development to boost the sport in the schools and also improve the standards of team play and as VIVA President, Sabinah Clement commented it had definitely been worthwhile and a success.

“We are pleased with the turnout, but had hoped for a 100% attendance from the P.E. Teachers. The feedback is that everyone had a really enjoyable time and took on board the information provided,” said Clement.

Volleyball has received a commitment from the schools to begin teaching the sport from this term in a structured manner and following a design provided by Kessel.

“They have been given a format to utilise and the intention is to get that up and running immediately. Also VIVA already has a programme in place with Jackie Weekes, funded by Olympic Solidarity, so she will be going into schools, working with the P.E. Teachers to continue the development of the sport,” said Clement.