Suriname outguns Curacao for CAZOVA survival

COUVA, Trinidad, July 6, 2017 - Suriname recovered from a tough five sets loss to host and defending champions Trinidad and Tobago with a 3-1 (25-20, 24-26, 25-19, 25-23) win over Curacao in their final Pool E match at the 16^th Senior Caribbean Zonal Volleyball  Association (CAZOVA) Men’s Championship  match at the National Cycling Centre, in Balmain, Couva.

Leading the way for Suriname was Gino Robert Naarden with 22 points, 18 of which were kills while Zefanio Breinburg added 14, Marc Flu 11 and Keven Sporkslede ten.

Derwin Colina had a match-high 23 points, which comprised 19 kills for Curacao while Raygid Isenia chipped in with ten, and Shuruendy Valeriano, eight.

Suriname also held the slight edge on kills 47-43 and service aces 4-1 while Curacao topped its rival on blocks, 13-12 in the one hour, and 46 minutes contest.

However, both teams continued to be plagued by errors, with Suriname committing 36 to Suriname’s 31.

With the win, Suriname ended with a 2-1 round-robin record and ten points, while Curacao, former tournament winners, ended with a 0-3 record and will now contest the playoff for position seventh and eighth.

In the final match in the pool, host and defending champions T&T, with a perfect 2-0 record , but six points after two 3-2 wins  came up against 2008 winners, Martinique which entered with a 1-1 mark and six points as well.

A win for T&T, by 3-0 or 3-1 will secure an automatic semifinal spot while a Martinique win by 3-0 will put it top of the table.

However, a Martinique victory by a 3-1 margin will see it join T&T and Suriname with a 2-1 record and the group to be decided by points won to loss ratio.

The second and third placed team will contest the two quarterfinals on Friday for places in Saturday’s semifinal from which the two winners will contest Sunday’s final and also earn the two CAZOVA spots to the Third and Final Round of qualification, the 12-team NORCECA Continental Championship, for five spots to the 2018 FIVB World Championship, in Bulgaria and Italy.