Bermuda look to build on bronze success - Royal Gazette

Bermuda finished the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association Under-20 Female Tournament on a high at the YMCA Sporting Complex in St John’s, Antigua, by beating Saba 3-0 to claim the bronze medal.

The island took 59 minutes to triumph over the winless Saba.

Morgan Kempe, the middle blocker, picked up 11 points and Daniella Stegmann, outside hitter, added points in the match on Sunday.

Shaniah Hughes with three points, topped Saba’s scoring.

Bermuda bettered Saba 24-3 in serves and conceded 28 errors in comparison to Saba’s 31.

Gary LeBlanc, Bermuda’s head coach, said his team’s podium finish represented some justification for their efforts in the four-team tournament.

“At least we did not travel this far to go back home empty-handed”, LeBlanc said.

“We had a game plan and we stuck to it. It took us to the bronze medal match and we tried to keep a high standard of play throughout”.

He added that the tournament was a good fillip for Bermuda’s volleyball programme going forward.

“This is a good step for the team, as we got better during the tournament. This means a lot for the team and we are going to be stronger the next time a tournament of this nature comes around.”

Ashley Horseman, the Bermuda captain, believes the team have grown as a unit from their experiences in Antigua.

“The biggest that we learnt from this tournament was that we were not here just to play, but to play as a team, to get the result what we want”, Horseman said.

“We are using this tournament as our learning opportunities, to focus on the mistakes that we did make, fix them and fine-tune for our next tournament.

Amber Simons was named among the top three middle blockers at the tournament while Horseman, best setter, and Cailey Longworth, best receiver, also received recognition.

St Lucia won the tournament, Antigua placed runners-up and Bermuda finished third with three wins and two losses.

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