Suriname close in on CAZOVA crown

KRALENDIJK, Bonaire, June 24, 2018 – Suriname are within touching distance of the first ever trophy in the CAZOVA (Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association) Under-23 Women’s Championship at the Jorge Nicholas Sports Hall, Bonaire.

The only unbeaten team in the competition now just have to defeat Bonaire, the only team yet to notch a victory, in the final match of the straight round-robin competition at eight o’clock tonight for the celebrations to officially commence.

Suriname seemed on their way to a routine straight-set win over the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) in the middle of the third set of today’s second match.

But they then made things very complicated for themselves and ended up almost needing another set before they eventually still managed to close it out in three (25-17, 25-15, 26-24).

Saving two sets points in the process, they won the last four, but had brought the drama upon themselves when they lost six straight points after being up 16-14.

Suriname won the next three points to reduce the deficit to one, but the USVI outfit was now playing with more confidence than they had for the entire match and they really made their opponents pull out all the stops down the stretch to cross the finish line.

USVI needed to win the match to force a three-way tie with Curacao and Suriname, which would have resulted in the team with the best win/loss ratio getting the gold medal.

Suriname coach Victor Lesperans admitted afterwards that “we considered this game the final because we thought USVI was the toughest opposition from the start”.

His comments were somewhat surprising because Curacao beat USVI and pushed Suriname to 16-14 in the deciding fifth set.

But Lesperans pointed out that his players suffered several lapses of concentration when they opposed Curacao on Friday night and were the closest to their best against USVI today.

Although it is considered a foregone conclusion that they will beat Bonarie, he is not taking anything for granted and will be waiting until the final point to celebrate.

Captain Sigourney Kame admitted that she was the main culprit when we “lost our focus in the middle of the third set”, but she still scored 18 points to match her total the previous night when she also led all scores against Aruba.

Ketura Margaret (10) and Gabriella Bouterse (12) were also in double figures on the scoreboard for the winners, while Adjuwa Osborne led the way with 12 for USVI in the 63-minute contest.

Captain Khrysti Rosa was satisfied by her team’s performance, but admitted that “we needed to be more aggressive.” 

Desiree Miranda filled in for absent USVI coach Issac Raphael, but the assistance was unable to speak after her team failed to force a fourth set after leading 24-22.

Unless Aruba and Bonaire produce miracles against USVI and Suriname, respectively, tonight Suriname, Curacao and USVI will finish with the gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively.