TT volleyballers suffer double-blow

BRIDGETOWN: Both Trinidad and Tobago teams suffered major disappointment on day two of the 10th Caribbean Volleyball Championships (CVC), as they were handed heavy defeats when the tournament continued at the Wildey Gymnasium in Barbados on Monday. The men’s team, despite winning the first set, were emphatically crushed by Jamaica 16-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-19, while their female counterparts never looked the part against reigning queens Barbados and were annihilated in straight sets, 21-19, 25-21, 26-24, in the night’s feature match that lacked in quality. These results leave Trinidad and Tobago with all to do in the tournament, if either team is to qualify for the next phase of the competition.

While it was the first loss for the men’s team, it was the women’s second defeat. However, head coach Ali Macsood is still confident that the TT girls will win their three remaining matches and clinch a berth in the semi finals of the competition, scheduled for Saturday. “If I win my next three games I will come third in this tournament,” Macsood told CMC Sport in a post-match interview.  “And if I come third I play in the semi- final and most probably will meet Barbados. I have no fear because my girls are playing better and better everyday.”  Ironically, the Trinidad and Tobago women’s team were afforded a golden opportunity by Barbados to win at least their first set of the tournament, as the hosts played poorly throughout the match.