Baking under the bright midday Sunday sun on the courts of the repurposed former army base, the second day of the UWI Five Islands campus tennis playoffs delivered high drama and standout displays of mental grit, with Entrepreneurship student Jarique Ephraim headlining the action with a thrilling comeback win.
Ephraim faced off against Dillon Leonard, an Accounting student from the School of Business and Management, in a tightly contested three-set battle that tested both athletes’ physical endurance and mental fortitude. Leonard drew first blood, taking the opening set 6-4, putting his opponent on the back foot early in the match. Rather than crumbling under the pressure, Ephraim recalibrated his serving strategy and tightened up his baseline play to shift the momentum. He claimed a hard-fought second set 7-5, forcing a deciding match tiebreaker that kept spectators on the edge of their seats. In the end, Ephraim’s steady nerves carried him to a 6-4 tiebreaker win, securing his place in the next round of selections.
This year’s playoffs carry far more significance than just on-court bragging rights: the tournament is being held to select the team that will represent UWI Five Islands at the 2026 UWI Games, hosted in Trinidad and Tobago. The biennial competition unites all University of the West Indies campuses across the Caribbean, fostering friendly athletic rivalry and reinforcing regional collective pride. For the relatively young Five Islands campus, the 2026 games will mark its historic first ever appearance at the event, and tennis is one of the leading sports penciled in to represent the campus.
Beyond his performance on the court, Ephraim embodies the balanced, multifaceted identity of the student-athletes competing in the playoffs. Outside of his studies in Entrepreneurship, he stays active in his local church and pursues music as a vocalist, building a routine that keeps him grounded across academic, athletic, and personal pursuits. Reflecting on his hard-fought win after the match, Ephraim acknowledged the intensity of the contest, saying, “It was an intense game, but I feel good regardless.” For his part, runner-up Leonard framed the match as a valuable developmental experience, noting that the high-stakes competition has helped both players push their skills to new levels as they continue to grow as athletes.
The ongoing playoffs are more than a simple selection process for the upcoming regional games. They serve as a showcase for a new generation of Caribbean student-athletes shaped by access to opportunity, academic commitment, and disciplined training. For the UWI Five Islands campus, whose journey in regional inter-campus competition is only just getting started, standout performances like Ephraim’s comeback win already signal that the campus is making meaningful progress in building its competitive sports program. With selections still ongoing, all competing athletes remain focused on personal growth, gaining valuable experience, and ultimately representing their campus with pride when the 2026 UWI Games kick off.