By Dean “The Sportsman” Greenaway
Kyle Liverpool prepares a big hit vs Dream Team
Kyle Liverpool had a monster game with the support of his teammates, as Phoenix swept 3-peat champs Dream Team in straight sets for their first Virgin Islands Volleyball Association men’s title, while Kiss My Ace fended off Raw Power for a women’s division 3-peat.
Men’s Volleyball finals MVP Liverpool, had a triple double that included: 24 kills, 17 receptions, 15 digs, 5 blocks, 2 aces, and 1 assist, as Phoenix, in an epic rematch of last year’s finals, swept 3-time defending champs Dream Team in straight sets, 26-24, 25-21 and 27-26.
Liverpool, who led the league in several categories, was tied with Kryptonite’s Javin Wattley for Most Digs, with 74, was the reception leader with 88, had most kills with 68 and was fourth in blocks with 19.
“We started off a little shaky today but I have to thank my coach and my teammates for always motivating me,” Liverpool told Island Sun Sports. “That third set was really tight, I had to tell the team ‘let’s go, we got this’ and pushed forward, no backing down. It’s a great feeling to win this title.”
Dream Team’s Coach Marlon Solomon said they played a good game, but he thinks they were ‘out gunned.’ “We took a little while to make out adjustments, but I still think we played a good match, we just played a better team,” he said, noting they didn’t expect the kind of game from Phoenix. “We had a plan. We stuck with our plan. We played them before, we’ve never seen them play like this before. Honestly, I think they rose to a different level because they wanted to win. But we had a plan to attack the weaker blockers, but they just outplayed us. I can’t put it any other way—they outplayed us.”
Phoenix Coach Dwayne “Para” Rubaine, described it as a ‘big milestone’ for his team. “They have been for a long time. We had them last year, but we lost. This year, we came for them,” he said, noting their game plan was to win. “War is war. Win at all costs. We got (off to) a slow start but the team pulled it together and gave them three straight.”
In the crucial third set when the game was tied at 24-24, Rubaine told his team to run an X—taking the outside man inside and putting the outside man inside—which was his big hitter, Liverpool.
“It was executed excellently and that gave us the point to go ahead on the defence, to block those guys on our service,” he said. “This is my second championship with a different team and I feel good. Next year, I hope the same team will come together again and do the same action.”
Women’s Championship
Women’s Volleyball finals MVP, Danielle Selkridge, had 20 kills, 11 receptions, 8 digs, 2 blocks, and 1 ace, as Kiss My Ace fended off 1st time finalists Raw Power in 4 sets, 25-11, 20-25, 25-20 and 25-22.
“This was really a hard fought victory. We had some challenges. One of our players sprained her ankle and we had to rely on the young people on our team and they came out, rallied and played very well, and I’m proud of them,” Selkridge said. “Raw Power came out and played with a lot of confidence, a lot of heart, a lot of fight, but in the end, we were victorious and they played well.”
Selkridge said working with the young group of girls is inspiring and they come out and work hard. “All of them have a good attitude, and all of them are very passionate about the game and I’d like to see where they go with it.”
Coach Kwele Williams said that Kiss My Ace has been their nemesis all year and has been the only team to beat them. “I think it’s a mental problem with the girls because we came out in that first set, very, very flat—it was like sleep walking and that put us in a hole,” Williams noted. “I think putting us in that hole in the first set kind of cost us, because it didn’t leave any room for errors later in the match. Kiss My Ace is a really good team and you can’t make too many errors and fight to come back because they don’t make too many errors and I think that cost us tonight.”
Paw Power’s Henrietta Alexander said while they didn’t get the W, she was proud of her team. “We have been playing together for quite a number of years, and it has been a while since we made it to the championship , so I’m extremely proud of how everybody played,” she said.
