Fighting spirit won v-ball crown

TRINIDAD and Tobago junior volleyball captain Aisha Sealy gave thanks to God and praised the team’s determination and fighting spirit which helped Trinidad and Tobago retain the  Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Junior crown in Martinique recently.

The dynamic 18-year-old St Joseph Convent (Port-of-Spain) and Glamorgan club player led her  team from behind to beat archrival Netherland Antilles in the grand final. After claiming the first set at 25-20, TT lost the other two at 16-25, 23-25. This was because the Dutch Girls virtually blocked out ace spiker KellyAnn Billingy at the net and prevented her from doing the demolition job she put down on the other teams with her rapier-like smashes. Sealy disclosed that they were behind in the fourth set when Marina Camps, the universal player, made a daring attempt to get the ball back into play during one of the rallies. The slimly built Camps flung herself full length over the scorers table got a hand to the ball, which sailed into the crowd.

 TT lost the point and surprisingly Camps was not injured and the team got into a huddle and prayed. “When Marina threw herself for the ball at such a great risk to herself, it spurred the team to fight harder. It brought out the best in everyone. I prayed to God and asked him to help us win the match. The break helped us to recover and overhaul the opposition,” Sealy said. “That moment changed the whole match. We were down but we never gave up. I don’t give up and Jenna and Marina were fighting hard, running all over and trying their best to keep the rallies going. I was trying to set up for the spikes but Kelly was giving up and seemed to have lost her focus. “I kept urging her to keep playing, keep fighting —- we can do. I don’t know where I got the strength but I knew that this was my last year in the juniors and I did not want to loose the title and trophy. I wanted us to come home back as champion and winner once again. Throughout the game, I was begging God to help us, and he did,” related the skipper.

Sealy was also captain of the national senior team at last year’s CAZOVA Senior Championships which were staged locally. They finished second to perennial champions Barbados in a heart-stopping final at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo. This was a back-to-back championships title campaign for TT and the second time that the Saleem Ali (assistant coach) and coach Macsood Ali-trained Trinidadians overpowered the Dutch girls in the preliminary and grand final matches. Billingy copped the “Most Valuable Female Player” and “Best Hitter” awards, Marina Camps took the “Best Receiver” while Jenna Ferguson collected the “Best Libero” prizes. Sealy and her triumphant teammates resume training this week in preparation for NORCECA Junior Championships which will be held in Montreal, Canada next year July.