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CAVOZA action set to resume
GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, November 8, 2016 – The first round
of the CAZOVA zonal qualifying series to the 2018 FIVB Women’s
World Volleyball Championship will resume here with the start of
action in Group C on Saturday.
Mushtaque Mohammed, president of CAZOVA, announced that teams
from Bahamas, Bonaire, Guadeloupe and the host country will
compete in a straight round-robin two-day event and the top two
finishers will advance to the second round in July.
Cayman Islands will have the home court advantage, but they are
at the bottom of the ladder in this competition with a CAZOVA
(Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association) ranking of #12.
Bonaire is only ranked once place higher as Guadeloupe and
Bahamas, ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, are the
favourites to advance.
However the form book was thrown out the window when the first
round began with Group A action in August in St Croix.
The Barbadians, ranked third in CAZOVA and the highest of 12
teams involved in the three groups, failed to advance as
ninth-ranked players from Curacao won all three matches to
qualify along with the eight-ranked hosts United States Virgin
Islands.
Action in the third and final group, Group B, will take place on
November 26 and 27 in Aruba. Teams from Suriname (ranked
fourth), Haiti (7th), Aruba (10th) and
Martinique (13th) will be battle for two other places
in the second round.
Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, ranked first and second,
respectively, in the zone, have received byes into the second
round and will each host half of the six qualifiers in July.
The two group winners, along with the final two teams standing
in the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association Zone and the
Central American Zone, will then compete alongside top-ranked
NORCECA teams Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic,
Mexico and Puerto Rico.
The top six finishers from this competition will qualify for the
next World Championship in Japan.
United States received an automatic berth after winning the
previous edition in 2014. |
