TRINIDAD and Tobago finished sixth of the seven participating countries as the United States were crowned champions in the NORCECA (North, Central America and the Caribbean) Under-18 Girls' Continental Volleyball Championships Saturday night in Mexico.
The North Americans came from behind to defeat Dominican Republic 21-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-15 in a gold medal which lasted 101 minutes. Both nations qualified for the next year's World Youth Championships in Thailand, along with the Mexicans, who claimed the third automatic place from this region by nosing Puerto Rico 25-23, 25-17, 21-25, 15-13 in two hours for the bronze medal.
In the semi-finals the night before, the United States had beaten 26-24, 25-13, 19-25, 25-13, while the Dominican Republic whipped Mexico 25-22, 25-22, 25-12. As a result of winning the round-robin groups on Wednesday night, Dominican Republic and the United States were exempt from the quarter-final round where Puerto Rico cruised past Guatemala 25-8, 25-10, 25-18 and Mexico drubbed T&T 25-6, 25-10, 25-5 in just under an hour on Thursday night.
The Caribbean champs came back the following day still looking for their first victory after three heavy defeats, but the pattern continued and they were defeated 25-8, 25-13, 25-17 by Guatemala for fifth place. However, on the bright side, Zahra Collins scored 12 points and became the only T&T player to top score in a game in the tournament. Collins' compatriot Reann Young scored one point less to match the contribution of Guatemalan skipper Estafanie Bethancourth.
The Costa Ricans, who were edged out by the Guatemalans in five sets for a quarterfinal berth on Wednesday night, ended up seventh and last.