Ten-time kings Barbados are one win away from a record 14th successive appearance in the semi-finals in the Caribbean Volleyball Championships (CVC).
The Bajans will be hoping that victory comes tonight when they meet hosts Trinidad and Tobago in their second and final Group B match of the 15th CVC being played at the Jean Pierre Complex.
Barbados opened their campaign on Tuesday night with a a 25-12, 25-18, 26-28, 25-15 victory over Suriname.
Southpaw Shawn Simpson scored a game-high 17 points resulting mainly from 16 smoking kills. Veteran Fabian Cox contributed 14 points and Akeem Payne 11.
Junior team captain Ammuniki Wood, who only arrived from the Norceca Under-21 Tournament in El Salvador on Monday, scored 13 points inclusive of three blocks and two aces.
On Monday Trinidad and Tobago defeated Suriname in four sets.
The second and third-placed teams in both groups will play in the quarter-finals while the first-placed teams will advance directly to Saturday’s semi-finals.
After taking the first set with relative ease with Simpson, Payne and Cox hammering Suriname and overwhelming the counter from Keven Sporkslede, Barbados started slowly in the second, trailing 5-8. However, a surge to 16-11 put the Bajans in a position to close out the match in straight sets.
With coach Ludger Niles giving playing time to the entire squad, Barbados did not falter in attack or defence and should have ended the contest at 24-21 in the third set. However, a number of unforced errors allowed Suriname to lock the scores at 24.
After Suriname took the extended set, the rankled Bajans reasserted their authority to move from 16-10 to 19-13 and finally game and match point (24-15) before closing out the set and match.
Barbados outscored Suriname in spikes (51-36), and in aces (7-2) while committing only 23 errors to their opponents’ 35.
Simpson has taken the second position in the Best Scorer table with 17 points after one game while Sporkslede is first with 33 points after two games.
“Tonight we started well and that provided a good tempo for the rest of the match,” said Barbados captain Alain London.
“We know in these tournaments the team that makes the least mistakes will win each match and we will continue to try and limit our errors as much as possible and play to win.”
Today, Jamaica’s men will meet Curacao at 4 p.m. before Barbados women meet The Bahamas at 6 p.m. and the Bajan men battle T&T at 8.
