Barbados needed to get past former Caribbean Volleyball Championship (CVC) queens The Bahamas last night in order to reach today’s semi-finals of the 14th edition being played in St Croix, the United States Virgin Islands.
That was because the host team changed the script by upsetting The Bahamas in five sets in Group B, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17,18-25, 25-13, while Barbados lasted just eight minutes over an hour in tumbling to the defending champions Trinidad and Tobago 17-25, 15-25, 22-25, in the final preliminary games on Thursday night.
The Bajans girls could not match the power of Trinidad and Tobago at the net, and they did themselves no favours by giving up 17 aces to the champions.
Former MVP Shari Matthews scored ten points for Barbados, with Trinidad and Tobago captain Esdelle Krystle leading with 13 points.
Trinidad and Tobago topped the group to advance directly to today’s semis, along with Jamaica from Group B.
A win for Barbados last night would have set the Bajans in a square-off with Jamaica while the winner of the USVI
/Guadeloupe encounter would meet Trinidad and Tobago today. Barbados and The Bahamas have met in four CVC finals splitting the victories.
Meanwhile, Matthews continued to excel, holding the second spot as Best Scorer, with 30 points to 42 by leader Valissia Brathwaite of USVI.
The next best Bajan is Julia Lewis at 14th with 18 points.
Matthews is fourth in spiking and sixth in digs. Veteran Avara Brown is eighth in blocks, setter Afyia Taylor is third in setting and fourth in serves.
Newcomer Kandia Shorey is ranked as the No.5 libero, and she is seventh in digs and ninth in reception.