Southern United v-ballers on top

Sparked by the brilliance of guest players Greg Ouditt and Mark Honore, Southern United showed they are determined to remain “Big Four” volleyball champions.

Playing against the Sepos in the first round of the Peter Mungal Grand Champions Cup at the Tacarigua Regional Indoor Sports Arena Southern United nullified all the ammunition trained on them. This was done by the power blocking of Ouditt and Honore who teamed up with the  Caribbean’s number one middle blocker Adrian Ayers. And together with skipper Purcell and Kesley Romain, they also dished out heavy artillery to pound the South-East Port of Spain Boys into submission to win their highly entertaining opening round fixture in impressive fashion.

With setter Mark Mahabir and libero Kerish Maharaj supplying the feed, Ouditt, Purcell and Romain unleashed bulletlike smashes that give them the edge in the first two sets at 28-26, 25-23. But Nolan Tash, the national senior vice-captain who recorded the most kills in the Caribbean Volleyball Championships last year, found his touch in the third set. Complemented with excellent setting by David Comacho and good all-round play by Gideon Dixon, SEPOS took the third set at 20-25. And despite their best efforts, Southern United was too hot to handle and the town boys bit the dust and bowed out 25-16.

This victory puts Southern United alongside Glamorgan who toppled Technocrats in the other men’s first round fixture. However, before Southern United signaled their intention of retaining their title, 2002 triple-crown women’s champion Glamorgan also displayed their undoubted power and skills to register a comfortable three sets victory over Point Fortin Slammers in the first match of the feature double-header. Spearheaded by the top female stars including Kelly-Ann Billingy (outside hitter), Madonna Bedenoch (outside hitter), Danya Augustus (middle blocker), Aisha Sealy (setter), Jenna Ferguson (libero) and Marina Camps (universal), Glamorgan raced to a commanding two set advantage 25-16, 25-12.

Coach Macsood Ali gave his younger and less experienced players a chance to make their mark  and showcase their talents. And they responded and proved superior to the Black City Girls, who were led by national players Elke Phillip and Nadiege Honore (guest player from Starlings), and sealed victory with a 25-23 advantage in the third set. The action switches back to the St Paul’s Street Gymnasium on Saturday with another double header. Glamorgan triumphant women takes on Apex from 5 pm while their men counterparts will do battle with SEPOS men in the second match from 7 pm.