The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE women of the Columbus Isles Arawaks and the New Providence Buccaneers men’s team captured the gold medals for volleyball last night at the Kendal G L Isaacs Gymnasium.

With more than 60 volleyball matches played since the beginning of the Bahamas Golden Jubilee Games last week Friday, both teams were eager to win the gold. The Buccaneers team settled for silver in the women’s division and the Arawaks finished with silver in the men’s division.

GOLD

The Lady Arawaks outlasted the Buccaneers to secure gold in a gruelling best-of-five sets matchup. The Buccaneers appeared to have the edge after winning the first set 25-18.

However, the Arawaks stuck with their game plan and upped the intensity in the second set, claiming the win 25-12. With New Providence now feeling the pressure, the Arawaks snatched sets three and four 25-19, 25-15 to be named the overall winners for the women’s division.

Laval Sands, team captain of the Arawaks, talked about the big win.

“The win feels great [with] the Bahamas Games coming back 21 years later. I knew that I played in the last Bahamas Games so coming back feels great,” Sands said.

Despite the expectation that the Buccaneers would win and an injury to one of the team’s star players early in the tournament, Sands said the key to the big win was in-game service and communication.

In the marquee match of the day, the men got the job done for New Providence. Although the home team would have liked to sweep the gold medal matches, the Buccaneers sealed the deal against the Arawaks in three sets. The Buccaneers opened strong in the initial set, winning 24-14. The team held onto the momentum from set one and bested the Arawaks in set two 25-17. In a wire-to-wire final set, New Providence not only seized the moment but also the gold medal win for the men’s division after ending 25-21.

BRONZE

The Survivors secured bronze for Abaco after downing the Lucayans in three tightly contested sets. In the opening set, the Survivors snuck past the Lucayans 25-23.

However, in set two, the Lucayans lost a step and fell once again to the Survivors 25-13. In the final set, both teams were locked in but the Survivors had another gear and finished third in the women’s division after winning 26-24.

Renaldo Knowles, head coach of the Survivors, talked about the competitive win for bronze.

“I am glad we came out with the win. It was a struggle because most of my players were injured so I had to move some people around to try and make it work, but everyone stepped up and played well,” Knowles said.

With the slogan for the sixth edition of The Bahamas Golden Jubilee Games being “Our Nation. Our Islands. Our Games”, one of the most important aspects for the return has been the camaraderie and unity among players from the islands of The Bahamas. Head coach Knowles talked about this side of the Bahamian Olympic-style games. “I am glad the Bahamas Games is back because the last 22 years we did not have one. I played in the last one so it’s good to see all the athletes in the sports back on the island, young people playing home [and] everybody can see their families,” He added.

The Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins, and Long Cay (MICAL) Flamingos cleared the men Lucayans in three sets.

In the initial set, both teams brought the competitive spirit but the Flamingos came away with the win 27-25. The Flamingos collected another win in the following set 25-19.

In the third set of the trio, the Flamingos wrapped up the Lucayans 25-21 to claim bronze in the best-of-five series.

Lahaundro Thompson, team captain of the Flamingos, said the win felt good as they played an exceptional game to come out on top. Thompson added that their game plan was simple: get the ball to the team’s big hitters and let them finish the job.