TT v-baller among region’s best

Nadiege Honore of Starlings has scored big to place third among the leading blockers at the just-concluded NORCECA Women Championships in the Dominican Republic.

Honore was following up on her outstanding performances for TT’s junior team, who retained the CAZOVA Junior title in Martinique. In her first senior outing, the 17-year-old Honore proved to be a tower of strength in the frontline as she effected six blocks and 13 rebounds out of 26 attempts. This gave her an overall 0.67 percentage, which was third to United States captain Danielle Scott with an overall average of 0.79; and Dominican Republic’s star Annerys Valdez Vargas who had an overall 0.68. Scott, 31, who has made 253 international appearances for the four-time NORCECA champions  team (USA) had 11 blocks and 23 rebounds from 56 attempts while Vargas stopped 13 shots and 27 rebounds off 59 attempts.

Honore also produced better overall results than America’s two power blockers Prikeba Phipps (97 national senior outings) and Logan Tom (103 national appearances). The 34-year-old Phipps registered eight blocks and ten rebounds off 28 attempts for an average of 0.57; while 22-year-old Logan pushed down seven blocks and 13 rebounds off 24 attempts for an average of 0.50. Phipps and Scott also excelled as spikers and finished one-two among the leading hitters. TT’s captain Aisha Sealy finished fourth among the leading setters. She had only ten faults out of 187 attempts and made 32 running sets plus 145 still sets for an overall 3.56 average per set. Among the libero players, TT’s Jenna Ferguson was sixth with 11 successful digs and 11 good receptions from 42 attempts for an overall 1.33 per set.

America’s Amy Tutt who finished fifth, but shared the same 1.33 overall average with TT’s Ferguson was voted “Best Digger.” However, the tournament’s “Most Valuable Player” award went to Cuba’s Yumillka Luaces Ruiz who placed third overall among the leading scorers with 63 points (52 spikes, seven blocks, four service aces). TT’s KellyAnn Billingy placed 18th overall on the points list with 41 (39 spikes, two blocks) while Honore was 44th with 10 points (Two spikes, six blocks, two aces) and Karina Moore 48th with six points (four spikes, one block, one ace). The USA team retained the team’s gold medal by defeating Cuba in the final by a 3-0 margin. TT, the late replacement for CAZOVA’s champion Barbados, with their youthful team made a good impression but had to settle for seventh position.