Barbados defeated Bahamas 3-1 (25-23, 25-16, 23-25, 25-22) to book their spot in the men’s final of the 2023 CAZOVA Volleyball Championships in Suriname on Friday. They will face either hosts or Trinidad and Tobago.
Barbados was incredibly dominant in the semi-finals at the Anthony Nesty Sport Hall only giving up one set to The Bahamas on their way their 14th appearance in a CAZOVA final. Team captain and outside hitter Oxley led Barbados with 22 points.
Barbados coach Elwyn Oxley was full of praise for his team, stating, “All the credit are going to the players. The have fought all through this tournament. Especially those young players we have coming up doing great stuff out on the court. Let’s see who will we meet in the final on Sunday.”
Meanwhile, Jamaica ended the Men’s Championship in fifth place after defeating Martinique 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-21).
Friday’s victory over Martinique was bitter-sweet for Jamaica’s coach Gatasheu Bonner.
“Yesterday (Thursday) was a disappointing match for us. We didn’t get the result we wanted but it pressed us to come back today to show energy and life, which is a great opportunity for this group,” he said.
“We try to teach our team that every game matters and tomorrow hopefully we’ll show up to be the team we want to be. This tournament will be a lesson to move forward with volleyball in Jamaica.”
Losing coach Eddy Erialc said his team’s performance was disappointing, saying, “We didn’t show up today. It is like we couldn’t make any good points in the attack. We will evaluate and do things for developing the game in our country.”
In the men’s quarter-final Thursday defending champions Suriname had beaten Jamaica’s men 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 20-25, 28-26, 15-9) in a thriller at the Anthony Nesty Sports Hall in Paramaribo.
Jamaica dominated the opening set but Suriname fought back to win the second set in the contest between the evenly-matched teams. However, Suriname took control of the final set to book their spot in the semi-final.
Zefanio Breinburg led Suriname’s scoring with 21 points and got backing from outside hitter and team captain Keven Sporkslede with 16 points. Outside hitter David Pinas was a key player in the final set with 11 points.
For Jamaica, Owayne Lawrence had a game high 21 points and outside hitter Ryck Webb contributed with 17 points.