Stag beach volleyball at Vessigny

NATIONAL volleyballers Kelly Ann Billingy and Melissa Tang are among a group of top players who will be vying for honours when the inaugural Stag Spikedown Beach Volleyball Tournament serves off  at Vessigny Beach, La Brea tomorrow. Action will be in five categories: Male and Female Professionals; Male and Female Open; and Mixed Recreational. These five categories will be played under International Beach Volleyball Rules. Players in the Open Category are those who have played volleyball within the Trinidad and Tobago Volleyball Federation, and will be played under a three-a-side format. The open category will be played using the double elimination knockout system.

There will be six teams in each category, with the teams sub-dvided with three in each group. According to organisers, the recreational category to be played in a four-a-side format, two male and two female per team, and is for players who have not played formal volleyball. The team in the recreational category with the best uniform depicting Stag will earn four cases of Stag Beer. Action in the series will continue on September 24 at Mayaro, with a third preliminary round and the finals at Maracas Beach on October 5. Play will begin at 9 am each day and players will be exposed to selection on the national team for regional and international competitions. There will be a Confederation Tournament in Puerto Rico between October 10 and 12, and Barbados are expected to host an invitational series in November. First off in the women professional category, Tang and Billingy will play Ayanna Dyette and Marina Camps.

Other fixtures: Group “S” — Tang/Billingy vs Nadiege Honore/Staphanie Woodroffe; Dyette/Camps vs Honore/Woodroffe.
Group “T” — Pauline Woodroffe/Michelle Mohan vs Elky Phillips/Shanna Ferreira; Woodroffe Mohan vs Jenna Ferguson/Aisha Sealey; Phillips/Ferreira vs Ferguson/Sealey.
Group “A” Men — Salimeen Ali/Abbishaa Kissoon vs Mark Daly/Sean Morrison;  Kevin Alleyne/Keagan Garcia vs Ali/Kissoon; Daly/Morrison vs Alleyne/Garcia.
Group “B” — Nolan Tash/Gideon Dickson vs Darryl Davis/David Camacho; David Thomas/Kevin Edwards vs Tash/Gideon; Davis/Camacho vs Thomas Edwards.