Saint Lucia volleyball is considering new blood as they look to the future after losing in last weekend’s Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association Men’s Final Four Tournament in Antigua and Barbuda. Saint Lucia was downed in straight sets by the hosts. Malica Marcelle, the national team manager, nonetheless expressed her satisfaction with their effort. The home team won and qualified for the NORCECA 2026 Pan American Cup.
“Well, that is not the outcome that we were hoping for,” acknowledged Marcelle, following a 23-25, 19-25, 15-25 loss at the YMCA in St John’s.
“However, I’m proud of my guys and proud of what they did. They did fight for the victory. Despite it not being what we wanted it to be, we are happy as to how we performed throughout the tournament, and what we placed.”
The lead administrator accompanying Team Saint Lucia conceded, though, that the national programme may need new blood.
“[We are] looking to inspire younger persons to partake in volleyball, so we can have a new senior team, hopefully in the future,” she concluded.
Saint Lucia was led by veterans Joseph Clercent and Tevin St Jean in St John’s. Clercent, a constant presence on the podium in subregional beach volleyball, was named the tournament’s best spiker. He earned 13 points in the final. St Jean, a Europe-based professional, was awarded the title of best blocker.
Head coach of Antigua & Barbuda, Carl Williams, said: “The guys would have worked hard for the past five, six months. Going to Mexico prepared them for this tournament, and it’s only fair to them to come execute in front of their home crowd.”
The home team earned 38 points off attack, compared with 36 from Saint Lucia. They also had more blocking points (33-32) and led in aces 7-1. Saint Lucia’s women will hope to improve on the performance of their men when they, too, travel to Antigua and Barbuda this week. Grenada and Bermuda will be the other participating teams.
