Further meltdown saw Barbados settling for sixth at the NORCECA men’s under-21 volleyball championship in El Salvador.
Barbados failed to repeat their opening round upset over host El Salvador in the battle for fifth losing the match 21-25, 25-21, 18-25, 22-25 with Carlos Cyrus finding his range rather later with a team high 18 points.
The consistent Jabarry Goodridge racked up 17 points with Andriy Stapleton contributing 12.
The Bajans were undone by Best Scorer and Best Opposite Samuel Valdez who reeled off 28 points and Best Blocker Jose Mejia did not make life any easier for Barbados.
Cuba clinched their fifth title while Canada earned their fifth silver as the Canadian triple towers standing 6’6” could not halt the loss 29-27, 25-21, 25-21.
The United States maintained sovereignty over Puerto Rico for the bronze 26-24, 25-19, 27-25. Both Cuba and Canada qualified for next year’s world championship in Mexico.
While captain Ammuniki Wood and Goodridge were impressive in blocking and spiking the non scoring skills proved to be Barbados’ undoing after an impressive start.
Barbados placed third in blocking, fifth in digs and serving, sixth in spiking and eighth in reception and setting.
Wood stated, “We can play better than we did and we will return home with a very good experience. We want to remain at this level and we recognise that we must keep working hard.”
Coach John Stuart summed up the tournament as “a good experience which we hope to use to improve our players.”
Cuba dominated the individual awards with Ricardo Calvo being the Best Setter and MVP, Abrahan Alfonso, Best Server, Osmany Uriarte, Best Spiker and Luis Soza, second best blocker. (KB)