The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net THE D'ALBENAS Heavenly Angels last week returned from Deerfield, Florida, where they picked up the runners-up trophy in a 12-and-under girls' volleyball tournament. Head coach Cardinal Moncur said it was a learning experience. "This was the first time for the team. It's a young team," he said. "They know the game but they just have to take the experience and run with it. We have the height but we have to learn to hit the ball. "We can't play ping pong and expect to get away with it. The other teams are hitting the ball and they will send it back hard at you. That is what we have to learn. But they understand that because whenever we sent it free, they returned the ball back with a lot of fire." Playing in two separate divisions, the D'Albenas Heavenly Angels, a team of eight players from Yellow Elder Primary School, advanced as the pool B winner. They went on to play the Hurricane 12 in the crossover playoffs, winning the match to get into the final. In the final, they lost in two straight sets to O'Hana 12. Moncur said O'Hana played an excellent game and their experience pulled them through. For the majority of the players, the trip was a great one, even though they fell short of winning it all. "It was wonderful. I experienced a lot from the other volleyball teams and players," said Carleane McKinney, the shortest member of the team. "I hope we can go again. We played good." Nacara Dawkins, the youngest member of the team at age nine, said it was good that "we played all of our games." "We had a nice trip and I hope we can go again because we learnt how to bump, set and spike." Nakencha Giullame noted: "It was great. I had a lot of fun. I learn a lot of new things. We played well as a team. But I think we could have won. They were not that much better than us. We just didn't spike the ball the way our coach told us. But we did well." Another player, Regina Hanna, said the trip was good. "In the championship, we didn't play that good," she said. "If we played with the bump, set and spike, we could have won it. I think in the other games we were very focused, but not for the championship. We learned a lesson." And Aaliyah Gibson, the tallest member of the team, said although they played very well, if she had "killed the ball a lot more, I think we would have been able to win." "We learned a lot from them, but we were disappointed that we lost. I think we have a very good team but if we can remain focused, we will be better when we go back to play again." Moncur thanked D'Albenas for their sponsorship as well as the Free National Movement's candidate for Englerston, Caron Shepherd, who made a personal contribution to the players from her constituency. Based on their performances in the tournaments, Moncur said they were given an invitation to participate in the AAU Girls National Volleyball Tournament. "If we can go there, I think the sky is the limit," Moncur said. "Our goal is to get them to the elite status where we can play any team. We believe we have the tools, we just need the experience. "They have given us an invitation and they are just holding a spot for us. We just need the funding. If we can get the funding, we will definitely make the trip and compete because we believe we have the talent to play in the tournament."