By Kenmore Bynoe in Nicaragua
Barbados made an underwhelming effort on Wednesday to be dismissed in straight sets by Puerto Rico on the second day of the NORCECA Continental Under-17 Boys’ Volleyball Championships staged in Managua.
Following their impressive Pool A victory over hosts Nicaragua on Tuesday, the Bajans struggled badly, losing to Puerto Rico 18-25, 17-25, 16-25.
Puerto Rico played a quick attack which Barbados could not stop or counter.
The trio of captain Pierre Gill, Jordan John and Joshua Ashby – who were outstanding in the game against Nicaragua – scored just 11 kills. A large amount of errors by Puerto Rico gave Barbados’ scoreline some respectability.
Of the 51 points scored by Barbados, Puerto Rico contributed 32 by their errors in serve or attack. When Puerto Rico led 8-4 in the first set, Barbados benefitted from three serving errors and a wayward spike.
Pint-sized attacker Liam Yearwood could not score against the bigger opponents, while starting setter Daniel Reece was replaced by reserve playmaker Ralani Critchlow at 14-18 in that first set where he remained for the rest of the match.
In the opening set, Barbados surged from 3-8 to give hope at 9-10, 11-13 and 14-15 thanks to occasional good plays by the Bajans and erratic attempts by their opponents. However, at that stage, captain Elvis Gonzalez cranked up a brutal serve to move Puerto Rico to 21-14.
After losing the first set, coach Elwyn Oxley rang the changes, hoping for someone to spark Barbados’ attack as libero Mykhail Gooding played a significantly improved passing and defence game and Critchlow showed some smart setting options.
But, with John scoring just six kills, Ashby two, and Gill two, Barbados could not overhaul the leads established by their opponents. Even the other areas were poorly managed with Ashby contributing half of the team’s six blocks and the hyped up player scored Barbados’ lone ace.
