DOUBLE-CROWN queens Chargers had their invincibility status shattered on the last day of 2011.
Chargers, who have dominated local volleyball for the entire year, were beaten by defending Volley Barbados Champions, Montreal Carabins, 25-13, 25-21, 21-25, 24-26, 15-9, on Saturday night at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex.
Although Carabins opted to play most of their reserves, leaving the deadly hitter Marie-Sophie Nadeau on the bench, Chargers could not stop the onslaught from Melanie Ferron, Vicky Savard and Pamela Drapeau.
The visitors exploited the Bajans’ weakness to stop quick middle attacks.
Key hitter for Chargers, Dania Hamilton, played an error-prone game while libero Janelle Pilgrim was out of sorts. Strong play from Rheann Niles and the dependable Sharon Bovell as well as captain Thonya Joseph helped Chargers to carry the game to five sets.
Chargers miraculously surged from 19-24 in the fourth set to reach the decider where they flip-flopped as the Carabins regained control of the game. Despite the loss, Chargers will most likely meet the Carabins in the finals.
In the other match, the Rockets rebounded from their loss to the Carabins by playing some impressive defence to hand Bois de Boulogne Cavaliers their second loss, 25-20, 25-18, 26-24.
Tonight, when action switches to the Barbados Community College, the Rockets will meet Chargers at 6 p.m. and Cavaliers will battle the Carabins at 8 p.m. in what is expected to be the setup for tomorrow’s playoff stage where position one will meet four while second and third will clash.
