This country’s men's and women's volleyball teams will both be targeting a spot in their respective finals on Sunday when semifinal matches take place in the 18th Senior Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Championships at the Anthony Nesty Sports Hall in Paramaribo, Suriname on Friday.
In the men’s semifinal, T&T who finished top of the four-team Pool B round-robin table ahead of Bahamas and Jamaica on points ratio difference will meet reigning champions Suriname from 7.30 pm after the latter battled past Jamaica 23-25, 25-20, 20-25, 28-26, 15-9 in the second quarterfinal last night, while perennial kings, Barbados battles the Bahamas from 11 am in the second semifinal.
This after former champions Bahamas won the first quarterfinal against Martinique 27-25, 25-20, 25-14.
On Wednesday night, captain Akim Bushe led three players in double digits scoring as three-time champions T&T rebounded from its five sets loss to Bahamas with a four sets win against Curacao.
Bushe tallied 18 points while USA-based Daynte Stewart scored 15 and Joel Theodore ten as three-time tournament champions T&T battled past Curacao 23-25, 25-18, 27-25, 27-25 with the latter saving four match points in the fourth set before finally folding.
Curacao, which was omitted from the competition with its third loss from as many matches got a match-high 22 points from Carlos Raygid while Shuruendy Valeriano got 14, and Jurcham Meulens 11.
With the win, T&T, champions in 2010, 2014, and 2017 ended its round-robin campaign with a 2-1 record, and ten points to top the four-team group on sets point-ratio ahead of the Bahamas (2-1) and Jamaica (2-1) who ended with nine and eight points respectively and second and third on the table.
The Bahamians went into their final match against Jamaica as favourites to secure top spot in the pool, and a straight passage to the final four.
However, it was not to be as Jamaican won the hard-fought five-set thriller 25-16, 19-25, 21-25, 27-25,15-11 in the final round-robin match on Wednesday night.
Outside hitter Ryck Webb led Jamaica with a game-high 27 points while middle-blocker Mark Blake and outside hitter Shavar James chipped in with 16 and 12 points, respectively.
For the Bahamas outside hitter Kyle Wilson had a team-high 17 points and opposite Stuart Eugene contributed 14 as they missed out on the automatic semifinal spot with the loss.
The Barbadians won the three-team Pool A round-robin series with a 2-0 record and nine points, six more than both Suriname (1-1), and winless Martinique (0-2).
Calypso Spikers look to rebound from shock loss
The wounded T&T women’s volleyballers will be looking to rebound from a first loss in 19 years at a regional competition when the defending champions face six-time winners Barbados in a clash of regional powerhouses in the second semifinal from 5 pm.
On Wednesday, eight-time competition winners, the "Calypso Spikers" as the T&T is known, was stunned by Jamaica 14-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-15, 14-16 in their final round-robin match of their five-team series to finish with a 3-1 record and 14 points, two behind the "Reggae Spikers" who blanked Bahamas 25-16, 25-21, 25-22 in their final pool match yesterday.
The win for Jamaica was its fourth from as many matches to end with a perfect 4-0 record and top spot with 16 points ahead of today’s semifinals against the same Bahamians from 2.30 pm.
Barbados cemented the third spot and the clash with T&T, winners of the past seven editions of the competitions, after beating host Suriname in the final match last night.
Friday’s (July 28) matches
Women semifinals:
Jamaica vs Bahamas, 2.30 pm
T&T vs Barbados, 5 pm
Men:
Fifth place playoff: Martinique vs Jamaica, 9 am
Semifinal 1: Barbados vs Bahamas, 11 am
Semifinal 2: Suriname vs T&T, 7.30 pm