The Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Championships (CAZOVA) began at the GC Foster College Auditorium in Spanish Town, Jamaica, on Saturday with a brief opening ceremony. Twelve teams from seven countries proudly paraded to center court adorned in their country’s colors.
Aruba, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, United States Virgin Islands, and host Jamaica each entered a team in both the male and female divisions. Curacao only entered the female division, while the Cayman Islands will be playing in the male division.
Once all the speeches had concluded, it was finally time for Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago girl teams to take the court. Behind a boisterous Trinidad & Tobago crowd, T&T jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, which was very short-lived. Barbados composed themselves and cruised to a 25-17 first-set win. Barbados continued their dominance in the second set behind a strong offensive attack led by Janica Grant and Destiny Layne. The Bajans won the second set 25-21. Trinidad & Tobago withstood a brief power outage in the third set and came away with an impressive 25-16 third-set win. However, the party was over for Trinidad as Shakira Oliver of Barbados entered the serving box when her team held a tender 14-11 lead and calmly served nine straight points, driving the final nails in Trinidad’s coffin. Barbados won the match 25-17, 25-21, 16-25, 25-11.
In the final match of the evening, host Jamaica took on Aruba in the opening match in the male division. By looking at both teams, it would seem like Jamaica would completely dominate this match. Aruba only has eight players on their rosters, with their two tallest players listed at 6 feet. This young team has players ranging in age from 14-17. Jamaica comes into this match with four players, actually over six feet tall. The average age of their 12-man roster is 17.6 years of age. Jamaica did win in three sets, but the young Aruba team fought valiantly, scoring at least 20 points in each set. The home team won the match 25-21, 25-23, 25-20. Setting Toshiro Jones led Jamaica with 15 service points. Nicholas Watson and Ithran Softley provided the hitting power with 11 and 5 kills, respectively, for Jamaica. Thelion Jahim Coutinho and Joshua Jermaine Hoepolman paced Aruba with eight and seven service points, respectively.
The United States Virgin Islands (ISV) will take the court for the first time today. ISV girls will face Aruba at 2:00 p.m. and ISV boys will play Aruba at 4:00 p.m.
To watch the live action click here.
Here is the complete schedule for Sunday
2:00 p.m. U.S. Virgin Islands vs Aruba GIRLS
4:00 p.m. U.S. Virgin Islands vs Aruba BOYS
6:00 p.m. Cayman Islands vs Trinidad & Tobago BOYS
8:00 p.m. Jamaica vs Barbados GIRLS
Games times are listed in Atlantic Standard Time.
