Coach Francisco ‘Panchee’ Cruz, and members of his victorious University of T&T (UTT) women’s volleyball team show off their awards and medals won after beating Igecon Glamorgan in the US$4,000 final of the T&T Volleyball Federation International Women’s League at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo on Saturday. UTT won 28-26, 25-23, 21-25, 26-24.
In photo stooping from left are Courtnee-Mae Clifford, Shanna Ferreira, Shari Beharry and captain Carleen Williams.
Standing from left is Rheeza Grant, Donile Hamilton, Delana Mitchell, Solangel Aquino, Sofia Mercedes, Krystle Esdelle and Cruz.

The Trinidad Guardian - Wednesday 28 May, 2008

By Nigel Simon

KRYSTLE ESDELLE continued to underline her status as one of this country’s emerging talent on the regional women’s volleyball scene when she was voted as the “Most Valuable Player” of the tournament as the University of T&T (UTT) won the inaugural T&T Volleyball Federation International Women’s League.

Esdelle led an all-round impressive display by her UTT team-mates as they outplayed rivals Igecon Glamorgan in the US$4,000 final 28-26, 25-23, 21-25, 26-24 at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo on Saturday night.

What made the achievement by the Francisco “Panchee” Cruz-coached UTT women’s team so amazing, was that the team comprised the least number of imported players, two, in Dominican Republic duo, Sofia Mercedes and Solangel Aquino.

Overall the five top local teams, UTT, Igecon Glamorgan, Sportway Challengers, Oasis BIG South East Port-of-Spain (SEPoS) and Inch by Inch West Side Stars incorporated 19 regional players in their line-up.

This included 10 from Barbados, five from the Dominican Republic, two from St Vincent and the Grenadines, and one each from Jamaica and Cuba.

Prior to the start of the tournament, expectation was high that UTT, the winners of the national women’s league last November after a sweep of Glamorgan in the final, would meet its bitter rival in yet another final despite the presence of the international stars.

However, surprise package of the tournament, West Side Stars, with no fewer than five international players in their ranks handed them a shock opening loss and threatened to spoil the party.

But like true champions, UTT, after suffering another loss managed to get back on track and ended the round-robin series with a morale boosting four-set win over Glamorgan ahead of the semi-finals.

Following, both teams impressive semi-final straight set wins, the stage was now set for a showpiece final between UTT and Glamorgan, which in the end, lived up to all its hype amid a carnival-like atmosphere.

The Macsood Ali-coached Glamorgan looked the better of the both teams in the final and threatend to silence the UTT squad and its supporters.

However, on each occasion, the UTT women came up trumps to secure come-from-behind wins in the first two sets.

Glamorgan managed to hold their nerves to win the third set after opening up a sizeable lead, but in the fourth set, UTT showed their fighting spirit and despite trailing for most of the way, came away with a 28-26 win.

Earlier on in the day’s first match, Challengers, led by Dominican Republic’s Gina Mambru coasted past West Side Stars 25-20, 25-21, 25-15 to collect the US$1,000 third prize.

Following the completion of the tournament, Cruz said it was a great idea on the path of the T&T Volleyball Federation to host the tournament but warned that the local clubs needed to focus on exposing more of the young local talent.

“It’s great that the local players can test their skill against the top players from around the region, but in order for the locals to improve they must be allowed to play, and not just make up numbers on team rosters,” said Cruz.