Technocrats led by Simon Blake, the reigning Senior Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Men’s “Most Valuable Player” and the experienced Sean Morrison withstood a strong to outlast rivals Glamorgan in five sets and go top in the Men’s Premier Division of the T&T Volleyball Federation League on Monday night.
In addition to Morrison, the Technocrats’ line-up also featured Marlon Phillip, Nicholas Prescott, Newton Grant, Dominic Martin, Marcus Moore and Aakiel Murray as they came away with a 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-13 victory at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo.
With the win, Technocrats improved their record to 4-1 and 17 points, two ahead of Glamorgan and Big South East Port-of-Spain, the latter of which missed a chance to reclaim top spot when it went under to Southern United Volleyball Academy (SUVA) 25-21, 19-25, 20-25, 21-25 at the Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Chaguanas on Tuesday night.
However, on Thursday night, Glamorgan led by national setter, Saleem Ali rebounded with a 25-16, 25-11, 17-25, 25-17 victory over cellar-placed Zenith to move to 15 points, one more than fourth placed SUVA at Mucurapo.
Toco Youths Volleyball Academy is fifth with ten points while Zenith has five points going into their second round clash with SUVA, Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Tacarigua last night.
At the end of the two rounds of round-robin matches, the top four teams will meet in cross-over best of three semifinal playoffs from which the winners meet in a one-of championship match.
In the Women’s Premier Division encounter, Glamorgan ended round one of the round-robin phase of the six-team tournament with an impeccable 5-0 mark after defeating main rival and defending champions Technocrats 25-19, 25-22, 26-24 at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo on Wednesday night.
With the win, Glamorgan led by a host of senior national women’s team player inclusive of former European-based Darlene Ramdin, Jalicia Ross-Kydd, Malika York and Marisha Herbert finished with 24 points from a possible 25 after dropping one set in a 3-1 opening win over West Side Stars while Technocrats led by national captain Kelly-Anne Billingy and Rheeza Grant stayed third with 15 points.
On Tuesday at the Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Chaguanas, Southern United Volleyball Academy rocketed up to second spot with 18 points, following its 25-16, 25-17, 25-12 sweep of former champions, University of T&T and a day earlier, Big South East Port-of-Spain (SEPoS) got its first win of the campaign, 25-18, 25-13, 13-25, 25-22 over West Side Stars at Mucurapo.
The win saw SEPoS join UTT on five points, two behind West Side Stars, which ended in fourth
MATCHES
Women’s Premier Division:
Today: SUVA vs BIG SEPoS, Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Chaguanas, 9am
Tomorrow: West Side Stars vs Technocrats, Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo, 6pm
Men’s Premier Division:
Today: Toco Youths vs Technocrats, Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Chaguanas, 10.30am
Tomorrow: Zenith vs BIG SEPoS, Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo, 8pm