Bahamas to play for CAZOVA final

PARIMARIBO, Suriname, August 13 – After suffering their only defeat in the longest match of the tournament last night against their hosts, Bahamas defeated Haiti 25-20, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23 in the first match of tonight’s double header to remain in contention in the Men’s CAZOVA (Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association) Championships here at the Ismay Van Wilgen Sporthal.

The 2012 champion will oppose two-time defending champions Trinidad and Tobago in the final match of the round-robin phase at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning and the winner will move into the championship match during the night session.

Tonight’s second match, between ten-time champs Barbados and Suriname, is also like a semifinal as the winner will also advance to compete in the last match of the 17^th edition of the tournament.

“We executed well, but still gave away too many points,” said Bahamas captain Princtanique Wilson, who admitted that they took longer (97 minutes) to get the victory that they expected.

The No. 2, who was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points, declined comment on the showdown with T&T, but stated that his players prepared well for the tournament and “fitness would not be an issue with them.”

Bahamas is the oldest of the five teams in the tournament and they were edged in 2 ½ hours by Suriname last night in what has been their only defeat.

Lloyd Davis also shied away from commenting on the match against T&T, but he had confidently stated after their impressive straight-set victory over Barbados yesterday morning that “our goal is to win the tournament.”

Prince was ably assisted on the scoreboard by Shonari Hepburn (10) and Bryon Ferguson (13) last night, while Kensky Jean Baptiste and Jean Philippe Bayol were really impressive for Haiti with 18 and 19 points, respectively.

They lost all four matches, but were far from disgraced in the tournament. Haiti took a set from Suriname in the opening match on Saturday and led Barbados 2-0 this morning before eventually going down over two and a quarter hours.