Young Achievers dominate once again

Aug 30, 2010 Sports

By Rawle Welch
Despite fielding an under-strength unit Guyana’s best volleyball team Young Achievers finished the day with the most points and the No.1 seeding as the preliminary rounds of the Tradewind Tankers ‘True Champions’ Tournament concluded Saturday, at the GuySuCo Training Centre, Port Mourant, Berbice.
Organised by Castrol Strikers Volleyball Club in collaboration with the Guyana Volleyball Federation, Young Achievers missing a few key players, lost just two games both in the 2’s format, to close the day with the best record, a total aggregate of 311 points and the $20,000 top prize, for being the most outstanding team of the month.

Young Achievers Captain Randy Adams (left) receives the $20,000 prize from Tournament Organiser Adolph Davis for being the top team of the month on Saturday.

It meant that apart from grabbing the top spot, they have now won both prizes that were on offer for the best team of the preliminary rounds, but more importantly puts them in a commanding position for the overall prize of $80,000 and a trophy for the winner of the tournament.
Occupying the second spot was Port Mourant (293 points), a team made mainly up of students attending the Training School and they took away the runner-up monthly prize of $10,000, while Castrol Strikers (288 points), who continue to play disappointingly secured the third position with Rollers (274 points) grabbing the remaining qualifying position for the finals.
The semifinals and final will be played in September 11 and 18 respectively, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
The semifinal match-up will see Young Achievers battle Rollers, while Port Mourant takes on Castrol Strikers with the winners of both matches advancing to the final and the two losers facing off in the third place playoff.
In Saturday’s action, Young Achievers who had played unbeaten in the preceding rounds were significantly weakened by the absence of their key setter, forcing their best player Randy Adams to take up that slack, and the change of position was noticeable immediately as Castrol Strikers took full advantage and picked up the opening stanza in their first round fixture, winning 15-13.
The second set followed the same pattern with Castrol strikers enjoying a 12-9 lead and seemed to be coasting to a comfortable two straight win, before Adams turned up the level a notch.
He suddenly from nowhere begun to cover all parts of the court, spiking the ball with ferocity, all this combined with some effective blocking and in a flash they a 6-1 run to draw the contest level.
That recovery evidently affected the smooth flow of the Castrol Strikers team and as has become their custom, they disintegrated and lost the decisive set 12-15.
Adams was well supported by Christopher Ramsundar, Creston Rodney and Wendell Austin, while Castrol Strikers Adolph Davis and Dester Hoppie tried their best to keep the team competitive.
Port Mourant just like their junior counterparts from the school showed remarkable improvement since the last round and gave all their opponents a rough time, before scoring an upset win over Rollers.
Impressive for them were the six-foot plus Quacy Matheson, who most would agree was the player of the day, while Captain Jared Jhingree and Trevor Lucas supported admirably.
The other team in the day’s play was GuySuCo Training School and they too seemed to be gaining strength under the tutelage of former national player Levi Nedd.
They too, provided a few scares for all the teams and showed plenty talent and potential among their rooster.
Rollers, who was positioned second heading into Saturday’s play were a bit below par, but had good performances from Setter Errol Chase, Seon Wilson, Imran Azeez and Mark DaCosta.
Both the 2’s and 4’s formats were used during the day’s play, but according to the Organisers, teams will have the opportunity to chose which two formats they would like to use including the 6’s in the final stages of the competition.
In the day’s full results:
GTS lost to Castrol Strikers 15-6, 8-15, 13-15; Port Mourant went down to Young Achievers 9-15, 15-9, 13-15; Castrol Strikers beat GTS 21-19 (2’s); Port Mourant crushed Young Achievers 21-12 (2’s); Rollers beat GTS 15-12, 15-7; Young Achievers defeated Castrol Strikers 13-15, 15-13, 15-12; Rollers edged GTS 21-19 (2’s); Castrol Strikers squeezed past Young Achievers 21-17 (2’s); Port Mourant upset Rollers 14-15, 15-6, 15-13; Young Achievers cruised past GTS 15-3, 15-14; Port Mourant beat Rollers 21-16 (2’s); Young Achievers defeated GTS 21-10 (2’s); Rollers rolled over Castrol Strikers 15-14, 10-15, 15-13; Castrol Strikers then beat Rollers 21-13 (2’s); Young Achievers hammered Rollers 15-4, 15-10; Castrol Strikers defeated Port Mourant 15-11, 15-11; Young Achievers narrowly beat Rollers 21-20 (2’s) and Port Mourant wrapped up a good day with a 21-16 win over Castrol Strikers (2’s).