The United States Virgin Islands (ISV) junior boys and girls teams both made it to the semi-finals of the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association’s U19 Volleyball Championships scheduled for Friday, held in Spanish Town, Jamaica.
The boys’ game is first with first serve scheduled to take place at 1:00 p.m. AST at the GC Foster College Authorium. ISV boys finished second in their pool and had to get past a young and talented Cayman Islands team in a quarterfinal match. Trinidad & Tobago (TTO) won their pool and has not played a match since Monday. Michael Burkett is the youngest player on TTO’s team, however you would not think so by his play. Burkett is an explosive hitter with a powerful jump serve. Logan Rogers and Jared Brown have been carrying much of the offensive load for ISV. However, with all this offensive talent that will be on display in this semi-final match-up, the U.S. Virgin Islands Head Coach Isaac Raphael ended a team meeting with this reminder, “Good offense wins games, but good defense wins championships.”
ISV girls won their two pool play matches convincingly, earning them a long layoff like Trinidad and Tobago boys. The U.S. Virgin Islands girls will be taking on the home team, Jamaica, in what should be a very exciting and entertaining game. Jamaica’s captain, Kaila Baker, is a very good setter. Her two main targets are middle blocker Ava Grace Troyer and outside hitter Mary Massias. ISV has a very experienced and talented roster. Seven of the 12 individuals on this team also represented ISV in the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation’s (NORCECA) U21 Volleyball Championships. That tournament featured countries like the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, to name a few. Krystal Eddy won top blocker at that event. Jayden Gorman and Vernecia Caines have been providing the offensive power for this ISV. Thirteen-year-old opposite hitter Mackaylah Mattis has also been hitting well this tournament for the team from the Virgin Islands. This showdown with Jamaica is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. AST at the GC Foster College Authorium.
At 3:00 p.m. AST, Barbados will take on Trinidad & Tobago in the other female semi-final match. The final semi-final match of the evening will be Jamaica doing battle with Barbados at 7:00 p.m. AST.
To view the live action, click here.
Game Schedule – All Times Listed are in Atlantic Standard Time (AST)
Friday
1:00 p.m. Trinidad & Tobago vs U.S. Virgin Islands Men Semi-final Match
3:00 p.m. Barbados vs Trinidad & Tobago Women Semi-final Match
5:00 p.m. U.S. Virgin Islands vs Jamaica Women Semi-final Match
7:00 p.m. Jamaica vs Barbados Men Semi-final Match
Saturday
12:00 p.m. Men Third Place Match
2:00 p.m. Women Third Place Match
4:00 p.m. Women Championship Match
6:00 p.m. Men Championship Match
