Barbados Community College (BCC) are the new league queens of Super Centre Inter-School volleyball.
The BCC girls captured the title by playing a superior attack and defence to defeat Queen’s College 25-22, 25-13, 23-25, 25-14 when the finals were played at the Wildey Gymnasium on Friday.
Queen’s College, with the likes of Barbados juniors Ashley Roberts, Janina Mayers and Gabrielle Mitchell along with Barbados netballer Vanessa Bobb and Barbados basketballer Ashlee Daniel, had looked totally in charge of the first set.
However, a superb performance by pint-sized Xenia Garnes, ably supported by Michaela Cossey, saw Elizabeth Trotman, Kimberley Pilgrim, Danika Headley and Shanice Waterman putting the match at a height which Queen’s College could not touch.
Garnes played a game which made a mockery of her limited height as her mean defence and control of the ball confounded the attacks from Bobb, Daniel and Mitchell as Queen’s College then imploded with poor serves, poor defence and tentative offence.
With a likely straight sets defeat staring them in the face, Queen’s College battled stronger in the third set with Mayers, who plays libero for the Barbados junior team, showing her attacking skills to pull a set back for the Husbands team.
However, BCC’s superior skills and consistency could not be denied as they regained control in the fourth set to quell any hopes of a Queen’s College fightback.
Coleridge and Parry boys were also forced to squash a fightback from BCC as they took the title 25-23, 25-13, 19-25, 24-26, 15-13, in a bruising battle of power hitting.
With Barbados’ junior setter Kimar Hinds running the offence, fellow juniors Atiba Best and Stephen Packer, along with top athletes Nicolai Bovelle and Shakera Hall, were keen to avenge a preliminary loss to BCC.
The power and aggression of Best, Bovelle, Carlos Cyrus and Packer looked like it would wipe out BCC in straight sets. BCC were over-dependent on national player Leshon Alexander, who was repeatedly called on by portly setter Akil Moore to even the contest.
While Alexander delivered on occasions, poor service and faulty attacks at critical junctures from Coleridge and Parry allowed BCC back into the game where they took the third and fourth sets.
Moore’s improved setting and deceptive “dumps” on the second ball also scored heavily for BCC.
Coleridge and Parry were running away 8-2 in the decider before inconsistency in attack and defence allowed BCC to surge.
However, after receiving a crushing block from Moore, Coleridge and Parry’s Cyrus was able to finish the game to take the title and prepare for tomorrow’s battle when they meet BCC for the knockout crown.
