Barbados overwhelms T&T to earn semis spot 

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, August 6, 2014 -  The  experienced pair of Shawn Simpson and Fabian Cox combined for 30 points to lead record ten-time winners Barbados past host Trinidad and Tobago 20-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-18 in their Men’s Pool B decider of the 15th Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Championship at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo.

With the victory, Barbados which also defeated Suriname in its first match topped the three-team round-robin series to join defending champions and Pool A winners Bahamas as automatic qualifiers to Saturday’s semifinal.

T&T and Suriname will now contest Friday’s quarterfinals with Pool A remaining duo, Curacao and Jamaica, who meet on Thursday to determine second and third in their group.

The left-handed Simpson led the way with 16 points while Cox added a valuable 14, highlighted by three blocks as the Barbadians got their first win over T&T since 2010.

For T&T, Simom Blake had a team-high 14 points while Brandon Legall and Ryan Stewart added eight apiece.

The winners held the advantage on spikes, 45-41, but were outplayed on blocks, 11-10 and service aces, 3-1. The Barbadians also benefited from another 39 errors by the host, the second such tally in as many matches while committing 33 of their own.

T&T captain Nolan Tash said his team came into the match full of confidence to win the match. We started off very well, but at the end of the second set our intensity level dropped and Barbados took advantage of it.

“We know our blocks are a key part of our game, but tonight we did not do a good job against Simpson and Cox, who had great games. With the loss, we now have to prepare to play in the quarterfinals, but we will be ready for the challenge as we aim to get to the final,” Tash said.

Barbadian captain Alain London was quick to point out that his team started very slow, but in the end they began to fire on all cylinders and got the win to top the group.

“Once again we tried to limit of errors as much as possible, play aggressive volleyball and keep the pressure on the opponents”, London stated.

T&T coach Gideon Dickson after seeing his team take the first set convincingly before going downhill said the Barbadians capitalized on the key moments of the match.

“We went flat in the last part of the second set and lost our momentum and that was the difference tonight,” Dickson said.

Barbados coach Niles Ludger was quick to point out that when his team left home, their first target was to top the group as they saw two days of rest ahead of the semifinals as being very key.

“Against T&T we also tried to keep Blake and Honore as quiet as possible, and we managed that a bit tonight while our balance team all played a part in the win