The?Montreal Carabins captured their third Volley Barbados Championship in as many competitions when they beat the Rockets in an entertaining final at the Barbados Community College Gym on Wednesday night.
With a very animated crowd rallying behind some crunching kills from eventual MVP Shari Matthews, the Rockets gave glimpses of brilliance before losing to a superior force, 28-30, 17-25, 25-20, 13-25.
Former Barbados captain, Anthazia Mason and Julia Lewis were also impressive in attack.
Unfortunately, while setter Shennel Pooler and middle player, Janelle Chase-Mayers gave the fans plenty to shout about; the Rockets, in spite of some added players, were carrying a number of low-production “passengers”.
The same could not be said of the Carabins, with Marie-Sophie Nadeau leading a relentless assault by all of the Canadian attackers.
The ground defence of the visitors was top class, with libero Emmanuelle Marin showing an almost psychic link with any ball directed at her court.
The Barbadians battled fiercely in the extended first set, with the fans in a frenzy. But, it took a renewed fight for them to take the third set to avoid a clean sweep. That fight was applauded when Lewis smacked a ball into Nadeau’s chest to bring up set point before Chase-Mayers sealed the deal with a monster block.
The Carabins stepped up their game to overrun the Rockets, advancing to a frightening score of 18-4 in the fourth set.
However, good serves by Lewis and uncharacteristic errors by the Carabins enabled the Rockets to avoid the ignominy of a “sow” before losing the set and match.
Earlier, the other Canadian team, Cavaliers, showed that they had benefited from the week in Barbados by handing local queens Chargers their fourth loss in five days, 25-14, 25-15, 22-25, 17-25, 15-12.
The victory, Cavaliers’ first on the tour, was enough to secure third spot for them.
