Elwyn Oxley and Gregory Gill are the volleyball kings of the Sizzlin’ Sands Barbados Sunsplash once again!
Playing in front of a massive crowd on Sunday night at Brandons, Oxley and Gill regained the title with a bruising 21-19, 21-16 victory over the Trinidad and Tobago pair of Nolan Tash and Sean Morrison.
That victory would have erased the defeat Oxley and Gill suffered at the same venue last year to Jamaicans Dany Wilson and Mark Lewis.
The triumph would have also exacted some revenge for Oxley, whose national team lost this year’s Caribbean Volleyball Championships Finals to a Trinidad team captained by best friend Nash and with setter Morrison running the offence.
Oxley added that the win was significant since Gill was planning to retire from the sport and had only turned out after he encouraged him to make one last swing.
Oxley also expressed disappointment that the Jamaicans were unable to take part this year.
“We are good friends and this tournament provides the opportunity to link up.
“We also wanted to meet and beat the Jamaicans in the finals since real champions show their worth by defeating the toughest opponents,” he said.
The normally reserved Gill said the absence of the Jamaicans also placed more pressure on him and Oxley, as the No. 1 ranked team, to win the competition.
Gill and Oxley showed they were No. 1 indeed.
Showing better court craft and more effective spiking, complemented by some crunching blocks from Oxley, they took the first set with their opponents trailing throughout.
Tash and Morrison stepped up their game in the second set to move to a 11-10 lead before some drama unfolded.
The four players appealed to the officials to shed their shirts and the officials granted the request. However, tournament organiser Paul White objected.
Sponsors
Oxley later said that while he recognised and respected the sponsors’ desire to have their names displayed, the shirt were drenched with perspiration, and the movement and speed which were critical on the beach were being affected.
Immediately afterwards Gill and Oxley took charge, scoring four unanswered points before the Trinidadians could benefit from an Oxley serving error.
Even so, with Gill matching Oxley in ground defence and at times outspiking him, the Trinidadians were in trouble.
Oxley capped off the game with successive blocks on Tash and then Morrison.
The top pair collected a cheque for US$500 and two tickets on LIAT to any Caribbean destination.
Plane tickets
Tash and Morrison settled for US$300, while another Trinidadian duo, Fabian Whitefield and Daniel Williams, earned US$150.
All of the teams from first to third gained LIAT tickets.
The Canadians dominated the women’s section once again, with the court experience of Karen Sutherland and Maxine James dismissing the challenge of first-time beach partners Shari Matthews and Anicia Wood 21-14, 21-11.
Sharon Bovell and Mona Crawford took the third spot.
