CORDOBA, Mexico, CMC-Trinidad and Tobago have been eliminated from the NORCECA Men’s Volleyball Championships after squandering an early lead against Costa Rica in Pool B on Wednesday night.
The Trinidadians started impressively by capturing the first set but could not sustain the momentum as their opponents rebounded to seal a narrow encounter.
Costa Rica prevailed 20-25, 25-18, 25-23, and 25-21 in a match T&T needed to win to advance to the quarter finals after losing to Mexico and Cuba. “This match was a really closed match a very tight match,” declared Ryan Stewart, captain of Trinidad and Tobago.
“We had very good moments, crucial times, but we failed in our reception in crucial times”.
Three Trinidad and Tobago players registered double digit points- captain Ryan Stewart with 19, Simon Blake 17 and Brandon Legall 12. The Caribbean side led in blocks 9- 3.
“They played a good match. I think we had some mistakes in the crucial points,” explained Trinidadian coach Gideon Dickson.
“We played in four sets and we could go for more, but like my captain said we had reception problems and we just didn’t go on”.
Costa Rica’s win over T&T was sweet revenge for losing to them in the women’s edition of the tournament last week.
Meantime Cuba defeated Mexico in straight sets and became the second team to advance to the semifinals at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship.
