Raw Power's Captain Tasha Creese makes a bump against Termin 'x. Photo>Dean "The Sportsman" Greenaway

TORTOLA—Raw Power and Jus Bless advanced to the BVI Amateur Volleyball Association championship games on Friday at the Multipurpose Sports Complex, with victories over Termin ‘x and Young Guns on Sunday night.

Raw Power pushed past the young Termin ‘x squad, 25-11, 25-12 and 25-18 for another crack at ‘n Motion, to whom they lost in last year’s championship series.

“I think we need to play together. We need to take the easy opportunities, the easy balls that come over and turn them into plays,” reasoned coach Dwayne “Para” Rubaine, who will play in the men’s championship game with Jus Bless against Terminators. “’n Motion is just a team and Raw Power going roll over ‘n Motion. Ask ‘n Motion who they are scared of. I think they are scared of us.”

Termin 'x's Genia Hodge, makes a successful dig against Raw Power. Photo>Dean "The Sportsman" Greenaway

In the men’s game, Jus Bless took a four set 20-25, 25-20 25-18 and 25-16 victory over the Young Guns. Upset by previous published comments about his team by opposing players, Jus Bless’ player-coach Drexel Glasgow refused to talked about the game and put a gag order on his team. Even while Rubaine talked to the media about his team, Glasgow positioned himself to remind him about the gag. “I have another team in the league,” snapped Rubaine who along with other players don’t understand the reasons but respected to order to keep team harmony. 

Terminators player-coach Elswort Phillip who scouted the game, got his wish for a Jus Bless match up and reflected on their five set loss to Jus Bless in their last encounter. He said he should have made a third set substitution but he didn’t and they suffered the consequences. This is the third time they will be meeting in the championship game. “Three times is a charm, trust me,” he said smiling. “From here on, it’s three straight. I believe we can give them three straight.”

How special that would be for the 12 time champs? “Come and experience it,” he said. “And, you’ll see.”

Young Guns’ player-coach Neville Bratwaithe, said after taking the first set, his team stayed at the same level. “I think we have a very good team,” he said of his squad comprised of a number of Under 16 players sprinkled among the veterans. “It’s an unpredictable situation. We ended up falling just slightly behind and every time we kept digging a hole for ourselves and tried to come out of it.”Bratwaithe commended Oren Hodge and Andre Brathwaite for bringing the young players into the team.

“We as leaders decided to continue and show them the direction, because Volleyball is a sport of discipline,” Bratwaithe noted. “It gives you life skills on a whole, so it’s just for us to carry them through the experiences while they develop their own to carry the sport forward in the BVI.”