Successful Cheddi Jagan Memorial volleyball tourney concludes ...

Successful Cheddi Jagan Memorial volleyball tourney concludes …

Apr 09, 2014 Sports

GDF overpower Achievers to win male title; Vanguard take female crown

The Guyana Defense Force male volleyball team pulled out all the stops to reigning Demerara champions Achievers in the final of the Demerara Volleyball Association (DVA) Jagan Memorial Volleyball second division one-day competition on Saturday last at the Guyana National Gymansium, Mandela Avenue, Georgetown.
The female competition produced a winner in Vanguard who overcame the challenge of the Guyana Defense Force to win.
Five teams (3 male, 2 female) competed on a round-robin format, namely Achievers, University of Guyana and the Guyana Defense Force for males while on the distaff side there were Vanguard and the Guyana Defense Force.
In the male final, Achievers, the top Demerara team came into the game hyped up to arrest the army team but the soldiers were determined not to let the match end in straight sets.
The GDF lost the first set at 25-19 and this was followed by a fiercely contested second set which the GDF eventually won.
In the third and deciding set, both teams dug deep as they demonstrated power, athleticism, accurate passing, and accurate ball placements in trying to outwit each other. The GDF went on to win as the match ended in their favour 25-19, 24-26, and 13-15.
In round-robin play, GDF had lost to Achievers in straight sets 25-20, 25-12; Achievers also got past University of Guyana 25-21, 25-21.
In the female clash, Vanguard took the lead against the GDF on account of some accurate and powerful serving led by Krystal Sukra as they cantered to an 8-2 lead. The newly formed GDF side seemed astounded but gathered themselves and went on to tie the score before moving on to win the first set 29-27, a close tussle.
The second set was also a demonstration of determination but powerful and accurate serving and spiking saw Vanguard leveling the score with victory 18-25. They held their composure to also win the third set 11-15 as the first team to reach 15 would have been declared the winner.
Copping the male MVP and Best Server awards was Juan Valasquez of the GDF while the Best Spiker trophy went to Creston Rodney of Achievers. For females, the MVP award was captured by Danielle Samaroo and Best Server Krystal Sukra, both of Vanguards. Best Spiker was the GDF’s Tiffany Whittington.
GVF President Mr. John Flores and Director of Sport Mr. Neil Kumar were both present and made brief remarks at the presentation. Kumar said he was very impressed with the level of play and assured Flores that he has his support to take the game forward.
He further stated that this event can become an annual one. Flores assured the players that 2014 will be a very good year for the sport while encouraging the players to continue training hard to keep upgrading their skills.