Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica start winning

ST CROIX, Virgin Islands, July 25, 2012 - Three-time defending champions, T&T used a mostly second-string line-up but still coasted to a 3-0 (25-8, 25-16, 25-19) win over Guadeloupe on Wednesday night.

Darlene Ramdin and Channon Thompson led the way for T&T the four-time overall winners with ten points each while Andrea Kinsale and Abigail Gloud added nine each. For Guadeloupe the captain Isabelle Acina had a team-high seven points.

Despite having regular starters, captain, Krystle Esdelle, Kelly-Ann Billingy, Jalicia Ross and Sinead Jack on the bench most of the contest, the "Calypso Spikers" still held a 7-6 advantage on blocks and 13-3 on service aces.

Esdelle, captain of the T&T team credited Guadeloupe for its courageous display and the way they played with a smile. "On the other hand, our aim to take it match by match as its comes. So we have to remain focus and keep improving as a team."

Commenting after the match Acina said her team's objective was to be competitive and play as hard as it could. "We knew going into the match that T&T was the better team, and for us we wanted to fight as hard as we could because each point counts. As a team we are happy how we played and to have had the opportunity to play against a team like T&T.”

Francisco Cruz, "I like the players of Guadeloupe because they fight for every point. For me it was a chance to give other players a chance to perform because some of the girls came here carrying injuries from the Pan American Cup. The players that came in tonight did well and for the victory I am satisfied and we will continue to work for the rest of the tournament.”

Jean-Louis Delag, coach of Guadeloupe commended T&T for its great performance and said his team played as best as it could. "I really like the way T&T play, their play the modern game while my team is still in the learning stages and we will continue work hard to improve for the future."

Meanwhile, Jamaica got off to a winning start by defeating a flat Bahamas in straight sets (25-20, 25-14, 25-22).

For the Jamaicans, who dominated with a 12-2 advantage on blocks and 9-3 on service aces Makini Thompson had a match-high 15 points, Lecia Brown got ten and Tracy-Ann Findlay chipped in with eight while Kelsie Johnson led Bahamas with seven and Tia Charlow added six.

Sheldelky Hamilton-Barnes, captain of the Jamaica said her team had a good all round match and was pleased for the win. "We started off a bit slow but then we picked up our game and did not allow Bahamas any easy points. In the third set we fell down a bit with our serving but our blocking game came up big for us in the end.”

Speaking after the match Bahamas captain Krystel Rolle said her team had a number of problems in the match. "We made too many mistakes on our passing and serving game and after losing the first set our girls found it difficult to get back up.”

Jamaica coach, Gatasheu Bonner, stated, "Our focus was on our serving and blocking. The first two sets for us was excellent but in the third set Bahamas pushed us a bit with their serve while our service game was not good. We kept our focus and close out the match in the end and overall we are happy as a team."

Joe Smith, coach of Bahamas said his team was too inconsistent to have any impact on the match. "Our errors killed us tonight. We did not serve, receive or pass well while our covering on plays was also not what is was supposed to be. Jamaica played well and executed their plans and credit to them on the victory."