Women v-ballers beaten in ‘semi’

BRIDGETOWN: Jamaica regained their early tournament confidence and form in time, to storm into the women’s final with a stunning four-set victory over archrivals Trinidad and Tobago at the Caribbean Volleyball Championships yesterday. Putting on an incredible display of blocking, the upbeat Jamaican lasses recovered from a first-set loss to register an impressive 19-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-22 victory and book a place in today’s final. Jamaica clearly did their homework on the TT team. For the entire match, they kept the powerful outside hitter Kelly-Ann Billingy at bay, delivering some crushing blocks on the 18-year -old six-footer.

The taller Jamaican players like Cherine Richards, Tracyann Pryce and Shedeiky Hamilton followed Billingy around at net and they managed to intimidate her and successfully shut her down. Once this was done, the match was Jamaica’s for the taking. “We were watching some clips of her (Billingy) last night and we spoke about it,” head coach Othneil Findlay revealed. “And to come and see the girls do what we spoke about in this match, was excellent.”

Billingy nevertheless finished with 27 kills and received little or no support from her fellow attackers. She was fed with the majority of the sets and, after a while, the young TT hitter could not deliver. Such was the pressure on her during the third set that she lost confidence and begun to opt for the dink instead of her characteristic bombshells across court. “I am very disappointed because we didn’t play as well as we should play,” said Ali Macsood, the T’T head coach. “Jamaica played very well —  good defence and good attack —  and I think they were better on the day. The Jamaican defence was really good and I think that is where the game was really won.”