Jamaica roll into CAZOVA second round

PARAMARIBO, Suriname, October 30, 2016: Jamaica became the first team from Group B to move into the second round of the CAZOVA zonal qualifying series for the 2018 FIVB Men’s World Volleyball Championship at the Anthony Nesty Indoor Sports Hall tonight.

The sixth-ranked CAZOVA (Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association) team whipped Guadeloupe 25-23, 25-17, 25-21 for their second victory from as many matches in the four-team straight round-robin competition.

The Jamaicans still have a match to play, but after tomorrow night’s opponents, Turks & Caicos, were beaten in the second match of the double-header by hosts Suriname, this match will now be for academic purposes only.

Guadeloupe were straight-set winners over Turks & Caicos in the day session match and the winner of their clash with Suriname tomorrow night will qualify for the second stage along with the Jamaicans.

The tenth-ranked team in CAZOVA failed to win a set tonight, but it could have been a different story had they made the most of their opportunities.

After trailing in the early stages, Guadeloupe went ahead and actually held a significant (18-14) advantage before losing 11 of the last 16 points of the first set.

In the second, they clawed back from 6-1 to level proceedings at ten, but only managed seven of the last 23 points as the Jamaicans turned up the heat again.

Guadeloupe surged to an 8-3 lead in the third, but the lead was erased before they could muster another point and they were always playing catch-up after that.

Jamaican captain Ryck Webb led from the front with a 16 points and the only other player to reach double figures on the scoreboard in the 65-minute contest was his opposite number, Loic Couchy (ten).

Both Couchy and coach Olivier Ismael lamented the missed opportunities, but pointed out that they have to be ready for the do-or-die clash with Suriname tomorrow night.

Jamaica coach Gatasheu Bonner stated “we came here to qualify and achieved our objective.”