For the first time in 13 successive Caribbean Volleyball Championships (CVC), ten times kings Barbados were forced to play for less than gold last night after stumbling to a five-sets loss to The Bahamas in St Croix, the United States Virgin Islands, Friday night.
Two gruelling first sets which ended at 26-24 taxed the Bajans, who lost the second and third sets before dominating the fourth set and then losing to the 1994 finalists, 26-24, 24-26, 17-25, 25-15, 12-15.
The experienced Fabian Cox led Barbados’ efforts with 20 points while the consistent Shawn Simpson scored 18 and youngster Akeem Payne, 11.
A game-high 22 points from Byron Fergusson, 21 from Prince “Tanique” Wilson and 18 from Ronaldo Knowles saw The Bahamas scoring only their second victory over Barbados in two decades.
Last night, Barbados were to meet Jamaica for the bronze.
Jamaica were crushed in their semi-final by defending champions Trinidad and Tobago, 25-20, 25-21, 25-21, with captain Nolan Tash plundering 16 points and professional Marc Anthony Honore, 11. Keyman Ryck Webb, with nine points, tried to stop the Trinidadians from reaching their third CVC finals.
Ironically, Barbados’ trio of Simpson, Cox and Payne have taken control of the Best Scorer list.
Simpson moved to No. 1 with 85 points while Webb holds the second spot with 81. Cox shares third with Nash on 67 points, while Honore has 66 to be fifth. Payne moved into the top ten with 48 points.
Unfortunately, Barbados have been let down by their blocking and non-scoring skills with The Bahamas almost tripling the Bajans in reception and digs.
Hosts USVI ended impressively Friday, taking the fifth position by pipping Guadeloupe 16-25, 25-22, 25-13, 16-25, 15-8.
