THERE was a great jostling for the lower positions when the Goddard’s Division 1 volleyball league continued on Monday night at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex, with front-runners Chargers, Deacons and Rockets glaringly absent from the fixtures.
The keenest contest was in the men’s games, with Sunpower Foundation United losing their heat after the first set and then needing to fight to stop O-Aces in five sets, 25-21, 22-25, 24-26, 25-10, 15-13.
Progressive beat Cawmere 25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, to avenge a first-round loss to the Waterford lads.
In the first round, Progressive were without key men Renier Grace and Fabian Cox. On Monday night, Grace was still out with injury, while the absence of Jason Griffith was filled by some crisp attacks from Corey Harris.
The offence by Shawn Simpson and Raffael Lovell took the second set and looked like challenging Progressive.
In light of the uncharacteristically inefficient attack from Cawmere’s Wendell Beckles, the personal battle between Progressive’s Akeem Payne and Cawmere’s nomadic Eadium Cobham provided some added entertainment.
Cobham had previously played for Cawmere, Progressive and Foundation.
However, Payne, along with Fabian Cox and the robust Marcus Greene, tilted the game Progressive’s way even though they had to finish the match with just six players.
Cawmere won the second set with a ball dropping in their opponents’ back court next to Zario Cummins who normally spends the season scowling on the bench.
When teammates told Cummins what he should have done to save the ball, the middle player responded with an expression that validated Rihanna’s claim that Bajans love to use a particular word, stormed off of the court, picked up his bag and exited the gym.
At least that incident gave the multi-talented and heavy-set Khobia Barrow the chance to join Greene in adding some pounds to Progressive’s court and spiking to take the close contest.
In the women’s double-header, Toners and Warrens kept up their bid for the fourth spot, while Plus The Club and Safe Security Carlton continued the struggle to avoid the cellar.
The Toners stopped Carlton 25-12, 25-19, 25-20, while Warrens beat The Club 25-19, 25-22, 25-22 to keep them winless.
