USVI Boys and Girls End Volleyball Tournament on Different Notes

The United States Virgin Islands junior boys and girls volleyball teams went into the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Associations U19 Volleyball Championships held in Spanish Town, Jamaica, with varying expectations.

ISV is the three-letter international code name given to the United States Virgin Islands by the National Olympic Committee. ISV girls were the defending champions, heavily favored to repeat, while ISV boys had not won one single match the last three times they entered a high-level international event and weren’t expected to medal.

This is why they play the games.

Both teams reacted differently to their semi-final match losses. ISV girls played Barbados who also lost their semi-final match to Trinidad & Tobago in a five-set heartbreaking fashion. Barbados controlled most of that match before their error cost them a spot in the final. ISV was also trying to recover from their five-set marathon semi-final loss to Jamaica, but the Bajans played with more focus and determination in the third-place match and handed the defending champs their second consecutive loss 25-19; 25-22; 25-23. The leading scorers for ISV were Vernecia Caines with 10 points, Jayden Gorman added eight, and Mya Brown with seven.