TRINIDAD and Tobago began their campaign in impressive fashion a day later than scheduled when the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CASOVA) Junior Men’s Championships continued yesterday in Guadeloupe.
The T&T under-21 players whipped Bahamas 25-22, 25-23, 25-23, but were forced to come back in the night match to do battle against Guadeloupe in their other Group B encounter.
T&T were billed to face the hosts in their opening match on Tuesday night, but officials were forced to change the schedule because several of the T&T players had flight problems and arrived late.
Guadeloupe had defeated Bahamas in four sets on Wednesday and the winners of their clash with T&T will move straight into tomorrow night’s semifinals.
The other two teams will battle the second and third-placed outfits from Group A in tonight’s quarterfinals.
Defending champs Curacao were stunned by Barbados in five sets on Tuesday and came up against the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) the following day. The Barbadians tackled USVI when the round robin phase of the tournament ended yesterday.
The final is scheduled for Sunday night and the champs will qualify for the NORCECA (North, Central America and the Caribbean) Under-21 Continental Championships in the United States next year.
T&T took 93 minutes to dispose of Bahamas, and Nicholas Prescott led the way with 16 points, comprised of 13 kills and three aces. The winners had the overall advantage in both categories—28-19 in kills and 8-2 in aces.
This is the ninth edition of the tournament, and T&T’s best finish was claiming the bronze medal in the last two.
In stark contrast, this country has been the dominant force in the female equivalent tournament, and just failed to secure their seventh gold medal when they lost to hosts Martinique in the final of the ninth edition, on Saturday night.