The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas men’s national volleyball team pulled off a big victory over Barbados on Sunday to get their play started in the Men’s CAZOVA (Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association) Championships, but they won’t have much time to celebrate at the Ismay Van Wilgen Sporthal as they had to come back in the late game to play host Suriname.

The Bahamas, the 2012 champions, defeated ten-time champs Barbados 25-20, 25-23, 25-22 in 74 minutes. In all three sets, the Bahamas had to dig down deep to avoid having to play beyond the third set, so they could save some vital energy for their second match-up. Suriname was well rested after pulling off a four-set victory over Haiti in first match of the competition on Saturday.

“Very good game, the players lived up to expectation,” said Bahamas head coach Lloyd Davis, who is being assisted by Kirkwood Greene Sr. “Our goal is to win the tournament.”

Bahamas team captain Princtanique Wilson led by example with 17 points.

“Today we took care of business,” he stated, but he admitted that they will have to do a much better job of maintaining their lead as they tournament progresses.

Other members on Team Bahamas are Renaldo Knowles, Kyle Wilson, Je’Vaughn Saunders, Jamaal Ferguson, Byron Ferguson, Donavan Wilmott, Eugene Stuart, Tonny Simon and Shonari Hepburn.

Shawn Simpson, one of the three players who scored in double figures with 11 for Barbados said they simply got off to a slow start and the Bahamas took advantage of it.

The Bahamas, whose team almost didn’t make the trip because of financial difficulties, will play their third game today at 6 pm against Haiti. Their initial game against Trinidad & Tobago that was scheduled for Saturday, will now be played on Tuesday morning at 9 am to complete the round-robin stage. The top two teams will battle for the title during the night session, following the bronze-medal match.