The Bermuda women’s volleyball team received a rapturous reception when they returned home after winning gold in the British Virgin Islands.

When captain Natalie Gazzard led the victorious side out of the arrivals section at LF Wade International Airport with sports minister Owen Darrell in tow, a horde of excited Bermudians were there to welcome them home on Monday night.

“It’s great to be back and to see all our family and friends who have been supporting us the whole journey,” Gazzard told The Royal Gazette.

“We’re glad that we’re able to bring home the medal to them. I hope this encourages more people to come out and play the sport.

“It’s a great team sport. Meeting so many people you gain so many different skills and, overall, sport in Bermuda is something that we need to continue to grow.”

Reflecting on the 3-1 victory over Antigua and Barbuda in the final, the captain mentioned that they were determined not to fumble their chance of winning gold.

“It was obviously nerve-racking to go into a final game,” she said.

“We’ve been there twice before but we stuck to our plan and we handled our fundamentals well in the game, pushed through, persevered and came out on top.

“In a game like volleyball, it’s always up and down. We were playing a great team so it was about regrouping, sticking to what we know and not holding back and we were able to do that in the fourth set to close it out.

“We both wanted it bad but we excelled in defence, attack and we were able to find their weaknesses.”

Gazzard was outstanding for Bermuda in the final and put the icing on the cake by hitting the winning point. She picked up the MVP and best scorer accolades.

“It’s a great award but I honestly couldn’t do it without my team,” the outside hitter said.

“Every award comes from the team and every individual award is a make up of all the skills that we contribute together.

“When I hit that winning point, I was overwhelmed. We were going up to the last point, the nerves and excitement were definitely building in my chest, so that final point was a relief.”

Olivia Gazzard, the captain’s younger sister, picked up the best setter award. Her success in Tortola came a month after she secured gold with Isabella Sousa at the Under-20 Caribbean Beach Volleyball Championships.

“I feel really happy. We’ve been training so hard and it just feels very good to finally get to this point,” she said.

“Skills from beach and indoor volleyball are transferable and I think they complement each other well.”

Amber Simons was voted best blocker at the end of the tournament in recognition of her efforts in shutting out the opposition.

“The goal was to get up there and really try to prevent the hit from coming over to my team,” the 23-year-old said.

“If I could shut it down before it even reaches them, then that’s a point in our favour. It just felt good to be able to do my job and help out my team.

“It was definitely getting over that hump. We were coming into the final for the third time and we just wanted to make sure we could execute in the way we knew how to execute.

“We were able to put that final point down by our captain and secure the win, it felt great.

“The whole tournament was really great as we worked well as a team. We really worked on communication and trusting each other.

“There was a level of ease that we had in this tournament in terms of just team dynamics. To be able to carry that through every game made us just feel so much more comfortable and made us play as well as we did in the last game.”

Cailey Longworth was adjudged best libero for her outstanding defensive efforts.

“The gold’s always good to get,” the 24-year-old said.

“I think what I really enjoyed most about getting the gold was proving to ourselves what we’re capable of.

“We were deserving of this because we trained and fought hard. We trained together for so many years and it’s finally paid off in our favour.

“A libero’s responsibility is creating energy, positive vibes and making sure everyone’s in the right mind space.

“I really tried to help my team with that. Volleyball itself is a mind game and it’s so easy to get down on yourselves.

“We came together really well as a team and reminded ourselves that we are a unit. We work well together when we trust each other and when we believe in each other.

“We proved to ourselves, our fans and everyone who supported us, that we are capable of uplifting ourselves and getting the point to win the tournament.”

There were also individual awards for the men’s team, with Alexander Southern voted best blocker and Joshua Wilson deemed the most outstanding receiver.