St. Croix Good Hope Country Day School (GHCDS) held its first volleyball tournament since 2020, welcoming four varsity girls teams, three varsity boys teams, and four junior varsity boys and girls teams.
St. Croix Central High School (CHS), St. Croix Educational Complex (SCEC), and host GHCDS all entered teams in all four divisions. Free Will Baptist School (FWB) fielded a team in the varsity girls division. Pearl B Larsen Middle School (PBL) jumped into the deep end of the pool by entering their boys and girls middle school teams in the Junior Varsity division.
Pearl B. Larsen’s middle school boys team was the delight of the weekend as they showed that they could play with the big boys, defeating both Central High School and Educational Complex School JV teams in pool play. GHCDS got the better of them in their other pool play match, but PBL got the last laugh as they defeated GHCDS in the JV Boys Championship Game. Zayden Turner, of PBL, was the JV Boys MVP and his teammate Elijah Rosario earned the JV Boys Defensive Player Award.
Unlike the boys, there wasn’t a real Cinderella story in the JV Girls Division. GHCDS came into the tournament with an unblemished record and breezed through the preliminary round easily. However, in the championship match, the Lady Barracudas upset the Lady Panthers to claim the JV Girls’ Title. Tysanne Lake of SCEC had a really impactful performance as she took home both the JV Girls Tournament MVP and the Best Defensive Player Award.
Central High School boys and girls came away with the top honors in the varsity divisions. Central boys had their way in the varsity boys division, making it through the entire tournament without a loss. Central’s Jaden Greenidge was named varsity boys Most Valuable Player. His teammate, Ricardo Caleb, blocked his way to the Best Defensive Player Award.
It wasn’t as easy for the Lady Caribs as they had to fight and claw their way into the final match, even sustaining a loss along the way. Central faced the host, GHCDS, in the finals and came out victorious. Central’s Anesha Deterville was the varsity girls’ MVP. The Lady Caribs libero, Topaz Newton, earned the Best Defensive Player Award.
Central High School will be hosting its Junior Varsity / Middle School Volleyball Tournament on Oct. 6 – 8. The Central High School Varsity Volleyball Tournament will be the following weekend, Oct. 13-15. Then the action shifts to St. Thomas, where Antilles School will be hosting their Varsity Volleyball Tournament, Oct. 19-21. The Educational Complex will hold the final event of the volleyball season with the SCEC Varsity Volleyball Tournament, Oct. 27-29.
