2006 Men’s World Championship – Trinidad and Tobago
St Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago set the early pace (FIVB)
05/25/2005
Port of Spain, Trinidad, May 25, 2005 – Top seeds St Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago were in devastating form on day two of the 2006 Men's World Championship first round tournament - Norceca Pool B on Thursday beating Anguilla and St. Kitts & Nevis in straight sets (25-21, 25-21, 25-15) and (25-16, 25-13, 25-14) respectively.

It was the second victory in as many matches for both sides and with both looking particularly strong, Saturday’s clash between the two Caribbean heavyweights looks likely to decide who will claim the one ticket on offer through to the second round.

St Lucia had Jason Octave to thank for their free scoring as he led their balanced offence with 19 points while Dionus Augustus added 9. The first two sets were very close but Octave produced at the right moment. The third set was an easy cruise for St. Lucia with Augustus and Amobi Armstrong at the helm of the boat.

“The guys who came off the bench did a good job,” St. Lucia coach Terry Verdant said. “We did not have good reception and our service was bad so I hope we can correct those things when we practice tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, Trinidad & Tobago put on a top quality show of Volleyball when they crushed St. Kitts & Nevis confirming their position as heavy favorites to advance to round two.

Nolan Tash and Sean Morrison each scored 13 points while Marc Honore added 11 for the locals. The tandem of Honore and Tash caused a lot of damage in the first set with regular spiking and outstanding blocking while Shawn Seabrookes tried to keep St. Kitts & Nevis in the hunt with some exceptional spikes of his own.

The second set took the same road with Honore as the main provider for the Trinidadians and a strong supporting crowd playing a key role in elevating their game before the third set confirmed the superiority of the Trinidadians who put on an exhibition of superb blocking accompanied by some extraordinary offensive moves.

“We played better than the night before and things are coming together at the right time and the right place,” Trinidad & Tobago coach Gideon Dickson said. “There was more consistency today while the blocking was good but there is still room for improvement.”

Glen Quinlan, the coach of St. Kitts & Nevis said: “The physical condition and leaping ability of Trinidad & Tobago was evident. Their power serves caused a lot of problems in our reception. I am not happy with the way we played, but if Trinidad can play better than tonight…ouch.”

Day three of the tournament sees Dominicana take on Anguilla at 17:00 (local time) followed by St Lucia playing St Kitts at 19:00. Trinidad & Togabo has the bye.
(Released by FIVB)