Barbados impresses on day two of CAZOVA U17 Championships

SPANISH TOWN, Jamaica, Agust 1, 2025.- Barbados pulled off a fantastic double on day two of the CAZOVA Under 17 Volleyball championship with wins over Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname.

Trinidad and Tobago, after beating Jamaica 3-0 on day one, were very confident at the start and edged the first set 26-24. But that's when the Bajans came to life. The Trinidadians were rattled and made simple mistakes that worked in their opponents' favour. Barbados's service game was spot on, with Cuzera Batson exhibiting outstanding skills. Barbados women fought gallantly for every point in the third and fourth sets to take a memorable victory. The last three sets were 25-22, 25-23, 25-22.

Julia Lewis, coach of the Barbados women, was ecstatic. "We knew coming in that Trinidad and Tobago are a competitive team. We were aware of their service game, and I told my girls that they had to break that service momentum. The girls did a fantastic job in dealing with the serves that came from Trinidad today. Some of the outstanding players for TT include middle blocker Gabriel Sandiford, Chelsea Broomes, who served very well and Cuzerah Batson who played fantastic all-round.

Barbados men made it two from two . They proved too much for Suriname and beat them 3-0: 25-19, 25-17 and 25-13.

Barbados men's coach Alwyn Oxley was bullish about his team's chances after two games, "I don't want to degrade or downgrade anyone, but based on what I've seen, I think Team Barbados are playing a complete game compared to the others. We are not taking anybody for granted, but we do expect our team to improve as they play more games," he opined. Oxley was full of praise for his vice-captain Liam Yearwood, a who was a tower of strength on the outside as well as a quality server throughout.

Hosts Jamaica men suffered a second loss in two days, going down 3-1 to Trinidad and Tobago. Jamaica won the first  set 25-22 but struggled to keep the momentum with an uncertain service game. Trinidad were more consistent all-around, winning the last three sets 25-23, 23-20 and 25-21.

In the final game of the day, Jamaica women suffered a second loss, going down 3-0:  25-16,  25-17, 25-14 to Suriname.