Barbados scored a hard-fought but straight-sets victory over the United States Virgin Islands to launch the ninth Junior Caribbean Volleyball Championships at the Dr Alfred Sangster Auditorium University of Technology in Jamaica yesterday.
With captain and setter Ramon Blades directing the path, the Bajans held off the Virgin Islanders 25-18, 26-24, 27-25.
First games jitters saw Barbados committing many serving errors, which allowed their opponents to rally after dropping the first set.
However, strong blocking from Barbados and holding their nerves at critical junctures earned the second and third sets when it looked like USVI would extend the contest.
The maturity of Jabarry Goodridge, who has moved from “best libero” to attacker, was confirmed with some excellent kills to put Barbados one victory away from the next round.
Tomorrow Barbados will battle Trinidad and Tobago in their final preliminary Group A match.
Manager Carol-Lyn Edghill indicated that the players were relieved to get past not only their first game but the first match of the tournament.
“Our success today came from a total team effort. Our focus will now be on Trinidad and then the crossover match,” Edghill said. (KB)
