SURINAME’s female volleyball team virtually sealed their claim to the volleyball title when they disposed of Guyana in three straight sets yesterday at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue.
The win yesterday followed on the heels of the Dutch team’s 3-0 win in their opening encounter against the hosts (Guyana) on Friday.Suriname now lead 2-0 with one game to go.
After winning the first best-of- three game on Friday, the Surinamese lasses returned yesterday and won by a similar margin, but not before having to stave off a strong challenge from the Guyanese players, who, although outmatched in terms of height and experience as a unit, put up a fight and restored some amount of pride, much to the delight of the few supporters who were on hand urging them on.
In the end, the Surinamese won in three straight sets 25-5, 25-21, 25-8. This margin of victory follows on the heels of the Dutch side’s 3-0 win over the Guyanese on Friday, when the visitors won 25-12, 25-12, 25-13.
Yesterday’s match saw the locals making improvements on their set plays and defence (blocking),but the height advantage they (Suriname) enjoyed was the determining factor in the final result.
Apart from that, it appeared as though the local girls were not gelling and in addition there were some technical mistakes on their part which caused them to lose at least three points during the second set which they were poised to win when the score was 18-15 in Suriname’s favour.
The final match today will be of academic interest only since Suriname hold an unassailable lead in the 3-match series.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s male team was poised to seal victory in the men’s category last evening at the same venue where they were slated to play their second match of the best of three series.
Having won the first match on Friday by a 3-0 margin (25-14, 25-17, 25-10),the locals would have been looking to close off the visitors in the best of three series last evening.
Since the introduction of volleyball in the Games, Guyana has never lost against their Dutch counterparts and was a very confident bunch going into last evening’s second match.
Final matches in the male and female categories will both conclude today at the same venue with Guyana’sfemales opposing their Dutch counterparts from 13:00hrs and the males playing from 15:00hrs.