By Neto Baptiste
The Antigua and Barbuda Amateur Volleyball Association (ABAVA) has named a 10-member squad for the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Women’s Under-23 Qualifiers slated to serve off on September 20 in Dominica.
The team will be captained by outside hitter Jassania Joseph. She is joined by Jaya Carr (setter), Schmidt Carter (outside hitter), Rihanna Brown (middle), Jahzara Donovan (middle), Samrah Samuel (middle), Nashea Browne (opposite), Jerri-Anne Barnes (opposite), Sharifa Peters (libero) and Philisha Burnette (libero).
Antigua and Barbuda will face stiff competition from hosts Dominica, Dutch St Maarten, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, the British Virgin Islands, Grenada and Anguilla.
The team will be coached by senior national player Rosemarie Simon with Jacqueline Ladoo as her assistant. Giselle Azar will manage the team in Dominica while Vanessa Burke will travel as the national referee.
“It is exciting to see the growth of women’s volleyball in Antigua and Barbuda with more youth athletes interested in the opportunity to compete on a national team program,” said coach Simon.
“Having a roster of 28 athletes competing for 10 competition spots made our training program stronger. The internal competition and battle for playing spots is really key in taking the next step with this program,” explained Simon.
The players have been in preparation for the past four months with the help of Cuban born coach, Francisco Cruz.
