DEFENDING champions Trinidad and Tobago suffered a stunning defeat when the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CASOVA) Junior Women’s Championships continued Monday night in Martinique.
The winners of six of the eight editions of this Under-20 tournament were not only beaten, they failed to win a set when they began their campaign against Martinique in the second match of the doubleheader.
After nosing out United States Virgin Islands (USVI) in a five-set thriller when the tournament served off on Sunday night, the hosts trounced T&T 25-11, 25-23, 25-22 in just 71 minutes.
Despite the defeat, T&T’s Reann Young was the game’s leading scorer with 13 points. The visitors also had an 11-5 advantage in blocked shots and the edge (20-19) in kills, but were dominated 13-4 in aces.
The victory assured Martinique a place in the sem-ifinals as only the cellar-placed of the five teams will not advance to the knockout phase on Friday night.
After opposing 2009 champs Guadeloupe yesterday, T&T will face two-time runners-up Barbados from 5 p.m. today and conclude their round-robin campaign at the same time tomorrow against USVI.
After losing a heart-breaking five-setter against two-time runners-up Barbados in the first match of the tournament on Sunday, Guadeloupe recovered the following day to defeat the USVI 25-20, 30-32, 27-25, 25-22.
Guadeloupe will oppose Martinique two hours after today’s Barbados/T&T clash.