Bubbling with desire to be at the top of the pile after languishing below for three years, Deacons have brushed aside Cawmere in straight sets to take the Barbados 2018 men’s knockout volleyball title.
The score line read 25-17, 25-16 and 25-21 in favour of Deacons at the end of play last week, but perhaps because they already hold the women’s league crown, Warrens girls did not initially show the same boiling passion for this KO title as the men and had to recover from a stumble in the first set to beat the Chargers 16-25, 25-12, 25-12 and 25-21 for this title.
The teams battled in the men’s and women’s finals at Wildey Gymnasium for the Goddard Enterprises Limited Barbados Volleyball Association Senior Knockout trophies.
As the results showed, Cawmere at no time posed a challenge to Deacons’ youthful attack that was complemented and guided by some veterans.
Deacons senior national player, Ahkeem Mayers, was a thorn in the side of the Cawmere men with several crosscourt smashes, surprising and leaving them wrong-footed on many occasions.
Following the matches Deacons captain Pernell Blunte spoke of his team’s eagerness created by the long wait for the KO crown.
“The title has eluded us for the last three or four years, we came out this year with a mindset, focused and ready to play,” he said.
Following their fine play to win the first set, Chargers appeared to fall apart in the face of the well-oiled Warrens players who seemed to have been awakened from the second set onwards.
Chargers’ defence rarely had answers for the Warrens women attack which was sprung from set plays of Anthazia Mason to fellow national players Anicia Wood, Rheann Niles-Mapp, Xhane Greenidge and club captain Talya Layne.
Excellent serving by Lisa Austin also helped make it a miserable night for the Chargers.