The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BACK home after a successful showing at the ninth CAZOVA Junior Men’s Championships, the team was treated to a reception at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture on Tuesday as the celebrations began for the Bahamas’ bronze medal performance over the weekend in Pointe-A-Pitre, Guadeloupe.

It was the first medal won at the junior level since 2003 when the Bahamas picked up a silver in Martinique.

After getting off to a disappointing start, losing its two games in the round robin, Bahamas Volleyball Federation president Joseph ‘Joe Mo’ Smith said once they got into the cross over post-season for a placing, the team really took their game to another level.

“The guys really let it all hang out. The gym was very hot, no air conditioning, so we were a little fatigued,” said Smith of their performance at the beginning. “We didn’t play the defence that we were capable of playing and that is how they got away from us.”

In the game for the bronze medal, Smith said the team played extremely well and it showed as they avenged a three-set loss to Trinidad & Tobago in the round robin to return the favour to eventually clinch the bronze medal.

“In the first game, I think the guys were just intimidated with the height of the Trinidad team,” Smith said. “After that, I think we adjusted in practice and we ran some drills in practice and we got them on the right plateau where come game time, nothing was dropping.”

Compared to the last time when they won the silver medal, Smith said this team had all of the tools with the tall middle, the outside hitting, the setters and the bench help. He noted that they had some big shoes to fill in the previous medal team that comprised of players like Prince Wilson, Muller Petit and Renaldo Knowles.

“We’re on the way up. We have some young guys who can even help with the senior team. So our programme is building and it’s very intriguing to see these young guys perform.”

Head coach DeVince Smith, who was assisted by Lloyd Davis, said it was a very interesting tournament.

“We finished last in our pool, losing our first two games because of the rough time getting there. We purchased our tickets relatively late,” he said. “Nevertheless, the guys came out and they tried to perform at the best of their ability. We had to play Trinidad, but we really didn’t have a chance to practice for them.

“A lot of guys were playing for the first time and they admitted that they were scared. We tried to work out the jitters and we were still competitive. But despite finishing third in our pool, we knew that we were competitive and we could have won. When we played against Trinidad in our first game, we had about 38 errors. That’s just too many to commit in three sets, although we lost by two points in each set.”

When they played Trinidad in the bronze medal game, Smith said they cut down their mistakes and only came up with 13 errors.

“We were the team that had the least errors in the entire tournament, so that proved that the guys played and they gelled together as a team,” Smith said. “They were more focused and they were ready to win. What made the difference was that we had a good setting team in Gaege Smith, who won the best setter award and his back up Justin Smith.

“As long as we have the setters, we will always have offensive players. So the setters really made a difference in this tournament. Once the ball went up, the other guys put it away.”

While Smith was named the best setter, Kenton Dawkins took home the best blocker award. Both players, along with team captain Rajahl Moxey, said it was a total team effort that got the job done.

“It was a good experience. I thought I was in last, so I stepped up my game a lot and I was focused a lot more than I was, so I think that was what caused us to come out with the bronze,” Smith said. “Overall, the competition was kind of stiff, but it was a tournament we should have won.”

After losing their first two games, Smith said they went back to the drawing board and turned things around with their blocking at the net.

Dawkins, who led the defensive attack as the tournament’s best blocker, said he concentrated on his job and he got it done. “I had a lot of help from my teammates and watching them in previous games, so that helped a lot,” he said. “We got to play against a group of experienced players and that really helped us a lot.”

As the team captain, Moxey said they got over their lacklustre performance in their first two games and they started to play better as a team.

“We got a bit comfortable and relaxed and that caused us not to get into the gold medal game,” he said. “But we remembered that we had to play team volleyball for the Bahamas and once we did that, we were relaxed enough, but confident to know that we could beat them and we took them out in three sets.

“It was a pretty good tournament that we should have won, but we were pretty happy with the outcome.”

Other members of the team were Anthony Pratt, Tareves Eneas, Antonio Jennings, Justin Smith, Avery Moxey, Anthony Misiewich, Brandon Bethel, Christopher Cash and Eugene Stuart.

Tony Simon and Byron Ferguson, two members of the senior national team who were among the well wishers on hand to welcome the players home, said they were impressed with the team’s performance.

“It was excellent. This was the first time I think since 2003 that the Bahamas has medalled at the junior level,” Simon said. “So volleyball in the Bahamas is doing very well. It’s good to see the juniors following right behind us. So I’m happy that they actually won something.”

Added Ferguson: “It was a good accomplishment, especially considering that we got a few individual awards. They’re up and coming. They are the future. A lot of them are very promising and some of them will be on the senior team this year. So hats off to them.”

Both Simon and Ferguson are now eager to display their skills when they travel with some of these junior players to the second round of the World Qualifying Tournament 2014 in French Saint Maarten August 9-12.

Unfortunately, president Smith said the Bahamas’ trip to the 3rd Cazovay Youth Girls Volleyball Championship, that was scheduled for August 7-12 in Trinidad, has been postponed until December.