The Virgin Islands national volleyball teams, both men and women,
took bronze medals and advanced to the second round of the NORCECA World Championships tournament last weekend at the Multi-purpose Sports Complex.
The men’s team had just lost its second match of the tournament against Dominica on Friday, but team captain Neville Brathwaite Jr. wasn’t worried about the loss and said his team only needed to hold on to its third place position to advance to the next round.
The team showed signs of promise against Dominica with a late rally in the third game.
“If we would have taken that momentum and started at that level and continued to build on that, we would have taken the match,” Mr. Brathwaite Jr. said.
The team captain who normally plays middle and power hitter was recovering from the flu.
“All of us are just trying our best,” Mr. Brathwaite Jr. said. “We are just pushing and trying our best.”
Both male and female teams received a helping hand from professional player Matias Di Fulvio prior to the tournament. The Argentina native, who currently plays in an Italian league, helped train and coach the VI players. Mr. Brathwaite Jr. said having training prior to the tournament helped the team.
“It really built our speed game and our defence,” he said. “This is something the BVI has been weak in. We are a very good offensive team. We have very good skill, but our defense is the weakest point.”
The Multi-purpose Sports Complex was nowhere near capacity during the Dominica match, but the crowd showed strong support for the home team.
“You just try your very best to be in your game,” Mr. Brathwaite Jr. said. “You got to get into that little zone. We have been to overseas tournaments where the crowd was much bigger. If you are not accustomed to that, it can really throw off your game sometimes.”
Assistant men’s coach Willis Potter said the team didn’t play to its potential during its game against Dominica, however, the team played better than they did against St. Kitts the night before.
“It all fall apart early last night,” Mr. Potter said. “Today we made some changes: some good, some bad.”
One of the changes was using the whole team, which helped “raise the level of confidence” of the players, according to the assistant coach.
“The team played much better today, than last night,” he said.
The VI played Montserrat for the second time in the tournament for third place later that night. Mr. Potter was confident that the men’s team would win and he was correct for thinking so.
The VI won in straight sets, 25-12, 25-10 and 25-21. The win was good enough to advance to the second round of the NORCECA World Championships tournament in 2013.
Dominica beat St. Kitts in five sets, 25-22, 19-25, 20-25, 25-23 and 15-13 to win the gold medal, while St. Kitts took second place.
The women’s team won two matches and lost one, but it was good enough for a third place finish giving the team an entry to the second round of the World Championships.
The VI’s deciding match was against St Martin, which it won 25-20, 26-28, 25-18 and 25-10.
“This is the first time we have assembled a team that we feel should do well,” Mr. Potter said, who is the head coach of the women’s team. “It is a mix of season veterans and younger players.”
He said having the extra training prior to the tournament was a “big boost.”
Dominica won the women’s division, while Antigua came in second.
Mr. Willis said hosting a volleyball tournament of this calibre was very important for the development of the sport in the territory.
“It is good for our local kids coming up in volleyball to see a higher level as to what they are aspiring to,” Mr. Potter said. “Volleyball in the BVI is about to take off.”