3 weeks ago
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THERE WAS bitter disappointment for team Jamaica on the opening two days of the inaugural Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association U17 Championships at the G.C. Foster College after back-to-back defeats for both the boys and girls’ teams.
Selected as hosts for the first-ever staging of the development competition, Jamaica were looking for a strong showing in the four-team tournament.
However, those hopes were quickly derailed as both teams lost their opening games on Thursday, swept in their respective matches.
The U17 boys were dominated 3-0 by Suriname in their first game, losing the sets 25-21, 25-16 and 25-7.
On the girls’ side, they were brushed aside 3-0 by a strong Trinidad and Tobago outfit, who came out comfortable 25-10, 25-15, and 25-11 victors.
Despite the loss, Brithney Scott, Jamaican head coach, felt the team would improve as the tournament went on and they became more accustomed to the level of competition.
“I saw the team coming together in bits and pieces,” she said. “Our girls are quite young and they started playing not too long ago. They will improve as the tourney progress.”
The girls would suffer a successive defeat, however, on day two, this time falling 3-0 to Suriname.
It was another underwhelming performance from the girls as they were swept 25-16, 25-17, and 25-14.
It was a similar story for the boys, who fell 3-1 to Trinidad in their second match but did show some fight, winning their first set of tournament.
Jamaica took the first set 25-22 but could not hold back the resurging Trinidadians who fought back and won the next three sets 25-23, 25-20, and 25-21 to claim the win.
Trinidad went on to edge Suriname 3-2 in an exciting game of volleyball, booking their place in the U17 boys’ final against Barbados today.
The Trinidadians opened strongly, taking the first two sets 25-18 and 25-22, before Suriname rallied to take the next two sets, 12-2 and 18-22 to tie the game.
In the final set, Trinidad did just enough to hold off Suriname, taking the win 15-12.
By virtue of that result, the U17 boys will close out their campaign in a bronze medal match against Suriname today.
By press time, Suriname had booked their place in the final of the girls’ U17 tournament.
The U17 girls’ bronze medal match will kick of the day’s schedule at the G.C. Foster College at 10 a.m. with the U17 boys’ bronze medal match following at 12 p.m.
The finals will begin at 3 p.m. with the U17 girls before U17 boys’ final at 5 p.m. to close the tournament.
English (US) ·