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Antigua and Barbuda were handed a straight set defeat by St Lucia as they just missed the top podium spot in the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Under-21 Beach Volleyball Championship held in St Kitts over the Whit weekend.
St Lucia’s Ericka Gaspard and Clio Phillip delivered a flawless run in the tournament, overpowering Antigua and Barbuda’s Jassania Joseph and Jaya Carr in straight sets (2-0), winning 21-11 and 23-21 respectively, to finish the tournament unbeaten.
The St Lucian duo controlled the opening set with authority but had to dig deep in the second after trailing 19-20. Displaying calmness under pressure, coupled with sharp execution, Gaspard and Phillip rallied to close the match 23-21, completing their perfect tournament and claiming the gold medal.
In an interview after the victory, Phillip said, “We feel great, we are excited, we are happy. This is what we came to do, win the gold.”
Speaking about the match, Gaspard said, “We really had to work hard in the last set. Our confidence allowed us to push through the last points”.
Meanwhile, Dominica’s Alyssa Bully and Joyan Pascal secured an exciting bronze medal victory in three sets over Anguilla’s Deandra Fleming and Lavesha Richardson. Bully/Pascal came out strong to take the first set 21-14, but Fleming/Richardson fought back in a tight second set, edging it 22-20 to force a decider. In the third, Bully and Pascal regained control with a dominant 15-7 finish to clinch the 2-1 win and a spot on the podium.
The top three finishers of the event move on to represent the ECVA at the NORCECA World Championships Qualifier Tournament.
Meanwhile, Dominica’s Mervin Mingo and Bill Frederick were crowned ECVA U21 Men’s Beach Volleyball Champions for the second year in a row, delivering a confident 2-0 win (21-17, 21-15) over St Lucia’s Victor Rio and Peter Emmanuel in Sunday’s gold medal match also in St Kitts.
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