Starlings v-ballers dethrone Glamorgan

Sparked by the brilliance of new national star Nadiege Honore, Michele Mohan, Stephanie Woodroofe, Susan Pierre and Avalon Taitt; Starlings Volleyball Club have scored the biggest upset in local volleyball history. This they did when they dethroned four-time champions Glamorgan in a thrilling five-setter to claim the Trinidad and Tobago Volleyball Federation Division One Women’s title.

The final was contested at the Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Chaguanas on Sunday and there was wild celebration by Starlings supporters who witnessed one of the greatest come-from- behind victories in a championship final. The San Fernando-based club, with only one national player in their inspirational captain Honore, defied the odds and triumphed against the star-studded Glamorgan outfit which comprised eight national senior and junior players. Having gained promotion to Division One this year after winning the Division Two crown in their first year of existence,  Starlings proved their worth with a gutsy all-round performance against their much more experienced and seasoned campaigners from the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Tacarigua. They triumphed at 17-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-12.

While Glamorgan’s women failed to stop the determined southerners, their men counterparts restored their smiles and provided a soothing balm for their wounded pride. National senior captain Mark Daley and his boys were fully tested before retaining their Division One crown for the second consecutive year against the Laventille-based SEPOS team which was spearheaded by national vice-captain Nolan Tash. Apart from his own individual brilliance, Daley received solid support from national junior skipper Sean Morrison, national senior libero Kevin Edwards and former national player Rodney Charles to turn back Tash’s brigade at 25-23, 21-25, 20-25, 25-21, 15-10. Tash was on fire in the second and third sets but Morrison and Daley turned on the heat and blazed away in the fourth and fifth to re-assert their superiority for yet another year.

Starlings coach Danwantee Nado Deonath was elated with her team’s victory and joined in the after-match celebrations, dancing on court and in the aisles. It was also a special moment for the club to crown a very successful year as their junior team, coached by Camille Khan,  also retained the Division Two title they won last year.  No one would believe that a team with a galaxy of national players such as KellyAnn Billingy, Aisha Sealy, Jenna Ferguson, Karina Moore, Madonna Bedenoch and Ayana Dyette plus Barbadians Marlyn Brandford and Chantal Browne would succumb to another team with just one national player and a former national junior. But whatever hopes and aspirations Glamorgan cherished of claiming the national senior women Division One title for a record five consecutive years were dashed by the power and cohesion of the Starlings outfit which rallied from being two sets down to become the new national champion club by winning the remaining three in the three best of five title play-offs.

Starlings Stephanie Woodroofe was voted Division One Women “Most Valuable Player for the Year” while Morrison edged out Tash for the “Men Most Valuable Player” award at the annual presentation function after the two block-buster finals. Challengers collected the bronze medals in the Division One Women category having beaten Apex 17-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-22 in the third place-off on Saturday at the St Paul’s Street Muti-Purpose Gymnasium in Port-of-Spain. Arima Technocrats, led by national player Keegan Garcia took the Men’s Division One bronze medals by getting the better of a depleted Southern United team at 16-25, 27-29, 25-17, 28-26,15-9, also on Saturday last.