Female volleyball team wins last match after losing two

Team closes with Hard-Fought Victory Over Barbados

ORLANDO, Florida, July 8, 2009.- Netherlands Antilles withstood a late Barbados charge to conclude the FIVB Women’s World Championship Qualification Tournament with a 25-22, 20-25, 27-25, 21-25, 16-14 victory Wednesday evening to finish with a 1-2 record during the four-team, three-day round-robin event being held at Orlando, Florida. Barbados concludes the tournament with a 0-3 record.

Netherlands Antilles’ Christine Anthony scored a match-high and tournament-leading single match total of 32 points, including 27 kills, four aces and a block. Sonela Philips added 16 points via 12 kills, three blocks and an ace.

Shari Matthews paced Barbados with 21 points, including four blocks and 16 kills. Teammate Thonya Joseph contributed 19 points and match-high five blocks in the loss.

It was a really hard fought match,” Netherlands Antilles Head Coach Patricio Bridgewater said. “In talking with the Barbados head coach before the match, we agreed from the start that this match would be a battle. Barbados’ effort made us fight harder and pushed us to the limit. It could have gone either way, but we had fewer errors in key moments.”

The Netherlands Antilles team needed to win at least two matches to continue to the next qualifying round. Unfortunately they didn’t succeed. NAOC facilitated the team with a mental coach and a fysiotherapist, who both travelled together with the team to Orlando.