Suriname win again to take CAZOVA lead

PARIMARIBO, Suriname, August 12 – After winning one of the most dramatic sets in the history of the tournament to draw first blood, Suriname were still forced to come from behind to edge Bahamas tonight in the Men’s CAZOVA (Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association) Championships here at the Ismay Van Wilgen Sporthal. 

And as a result of the 42-40, 23-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-11 triumph in a tick under two and a half hours, the hosts are the only unbeaten team after two rounds of matches as they had defeated Haiti in four sets in the opening match of the tournament the day before.

After they lost the first set on the 19^th set point despite saving 13 of them, Bahamas bounced back from the heartbreak to take two competitive sets in a row.

But Suriname, who had lead for a long way in the third, dominated the fourth, and with the teams deadlocked at six-all in the decider, won four points to virtually drive the nail in the visitors’ coffin.

Three players from the host country – Gino Nardeen (28), Keven Sporkslede (26) and Zefano Breinburg (24) – each scored in excess of 20 points, while captain Princtanique Wilson led from the front for Bahamas with 24 points.

Suriname had the advantage in kills (74-68) and blocked shots (12-7), but Bahamas led 4-2 in service winners.

Casey Foe A Man, captain of the winning team, noted that Suriname is a younger team that Bahamas and he felt confident that they would be able to fight back when he sensed them begin to tire in the fourth set.

Their Cuban coach Sergio Valdes stated: “Difficult game, Bahamas have a very good team.”  Our aim is to beat Trinidad (and Tobago) tomorrow morning, and if we don’t we will have to beat Barbados in the night to reach the final.”

“We made mental mistakes, trading punches with them was not to our advantage.” We have some things to work out before our next match” said Bahamas captain Wilson.

“The first set was crucial, we should not have lost it” was the opinion of their coach Lloyd Davis, who knows that his team now have to beat Haiti tomorrow night to have any chance of winning the tournament.  

Bahamas began their campaign with a straight-set triumph over Barbados in the morning session and they will tackle two-time defending champions T&T in the final match of the round-robin stage tomorrow morning.

The top two teams after the first stage will square off for the gold medal that night, right after the 6 p.m. bronze-medal match.