Deacons’ men and women crowned Division one champions

By Morissa Lindsay 

Deacons Club proved once more that they are top of the class when it comes to local volleyball as they ended the Goddard Enterprises Limited Barbados Volleyball Association Division One Knockout competition as deserving double crown champions last night at the Wildey Gymnasium.

While it was a given that Deacons men would win against Cawmere which they did in straight sets 25-18, 29-27 and 25-22, it was the women of Deacons who dug deep on the night with a 24-26, 25-22, 26-24, 25-20 and 15-12 three best of five sets thriller against Burger King Clapham Toners. It was a well-deserved victory that would have made the late Patrick “Pat The Dog” Oxley very proud. 

 Deacons have won three out of four BVA titles up for grabs in the 2022 season as the men’s team won the league and returned yesterday to clinch the knockout competition along with the ladies who stunned favourites Toners 3-2 in what was a great battle in the final.

Head coach of the Deacons team, Andrew Culpepper said he was extremely happy with the performance of the women’s team because he was always confident that the men would deliver.

“With the girls it was a little harder and challenging but they fought well, played hard and never said die and I am really proud of them. The guys always for the last couple of years have been winning but the girls were always a step behind. So, for me the girls’ victory feels sweeter and I guess that also inspired the guys as well in the final against Cawmere,” Culpepper told Barbados TODAY.

Toners coached by Cedric Proverbs came into the knockout final high in confidence having won the Division One League trophy a couple days ago, defeated Chargers women in the semifinal on Monday night 3-1 and returned yesterday with hopes of achieving the double.

They started the knockout final on a great account with a comfortable 2-0 lead but suffered huge losses when their two best outside hitters Ashley Marshall and Ashley Jordan both got injured and were unable to deliver as brilliantly as they have done for most of the season.

Deacons captained by Marissa Dowell used the fact that both of Toners top hitters were unable to deliver at maximum intensity especially Jordan who started to cramp up during the all-important fifth set having lost Marshall in the third stanza with what appeared to be a right foot injury around her achilles tendons.

Toners as they did consistently in the first two sets led 8-6 in the third set, when Marshall with a tremendous swing that was superbly blocked by Abeje Carrington of Deacons, sadly got injured at that stage of the contest. That left Jordan along with veterans Shennel Pooler and Janelle Chase-Mayers to hold down the fort as Rashida Roberts came on as a substitute for Marshall.

Deacons however used Toners’ unfortunate losses to their advantage with young attacker Serena Edwards swinging diagonally on multiple occasions. Edwards also had the backing of the experienced Julia Lewis and captain Dowell who are the next best attackers in the team.  

It turned out to be an even showdown between the two teams and the fact Jordan was stationed mostly in the backcourt was favourable for Deacons who ensured that they scored and capitalized on as many points as possible, knowing that there was no one to really stop them. That put added pressure on Toners knowing that they wasted a wonderful 2-0 advantage and needed to fight in the fifth and decisive set to stand a chance. 

With the teams tied 12-12 at that crucial stage of the fifth stanza, Edwards showed up with a brilliant hit to give Deacons the edge 13-12 and that was the beginning of what turned out to be a well-deserved victory as they won the next two points and began their celebration. 

During a post-match interview Dowell expressed that it felt great to come out on top against Toners, noting that capturing the Division One Knockout title has been long overdue and thanked the team for what she described was a collective effort.

Defending men’s champion Deacons played well and from as early as the opening set sent a strong message to Cawmere that they would need to really fight as they won by a comfortable seven points. Well, the men of Cawmere did just that in the second set as they fought with determination to stay with Deacons and that resulted in the scores being locked at 27-27.

 Deacons who are one of the best defensive teams in men’s volleyball managed to break the deadlock thanks to their leading outside hitter Akeel Oxley who had an exciting battle with Cawmere’s top hitter Shawn Simpson, as the two not only traded shots but chit-chat to back it up.

With Deacons leading 28-27 in the second set, Haile Emmanuel-Turney served a lovely ball that Cawmere failed to defend. The fact that Deacons took a 2-0 lead and given the depth and quality of the squad, it was hard for Cawmere to come from behind as their plays were often too predictable. morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb