Jamaica still undefeated

KINGSTON, Jamaica, November 30, 2012. - Jamaica beat Barbados by 3-1 (25-21, 25-19, 18-25, 25-17) to finish undefeated in the preliminary round of the NORCECA Group E First Round Tournament of the 2014 FIVB Women’s World Championship.

The host opened up aggressively while Barbados was only able to dominate them in the third set.

Jamaica registered a 3-0 win-loss record and will meet again with Barbados on Friday night for the first place of the event. Aruba and Cayman Islands will battle for the third place and the ticket to next year’s second round of competitions.

The winners held a huge margin of 12-5 in blocking points. Lecia Brown collected 16 points, Maniki Thompson 12 and Avaniki Campbell 11 to lead Jamaica while Shari Mathews finished with 19 for the defeated side.

Shedeiky Hamilton for the winners said “we knew we had to play hard from the start, things turned out as planned because we improved our passing and serves which helped us to push forward.”

“Our lack of focus caused us the match, Jamaica had more power than we expected. We were able to have a comeback but it wasn’t enough so I believe the rematch looks promising” indicated Thonya Joseph.

Jamaican coach, Gatashew Bonner expressed “it has been too long since we’ve won to Barbados and this will give the team confidence for the important match. Our hard work for the past months has shown progress.”

Andrew Brathwaite said that his team didn’t execute the game plan, “I believe the girls were surprised by Jamaica, so the final match will be more interesting. I am happy for Jamaica’s development.”