Colina leads Curacao to men bronze medal  

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, Augusto 10, 2014 - Derwin Colina and veteran Gilbert Paulina were both in double-figures as they guided under-dogs Curacao to a 25-15, 17-25, 25-23, 25-21 defeat of dethroned champions Bahamas for bronze at the 15th Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Men’s Championship at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo.

Colina hammered down a team-high 20 points and Paulina fired in 16 points while Norandy Bonafasia chipped in with nine in the one hour and 59 minutes see-saw battle.

The podium finish for Curacao was its first since a silver medal in T&T in 2002.

Byrone Ferguson scored 16 points while captain Prince’tanique Wilson added ten, and Shonari Hepburn nine in the loss for the Bahamians.

The fourth place finish was the Bahamians third in the history of the competition after a similar outcome in 1996 and 1998 in US Virgin Islands and Martinique, respectively, where Barbados won both times.

In avenging the round-robin loss in five sets to Bahamas, Curacao held the narrow edge on spikes 45-42 and service aces, 6-4, but was totally dominant on blocks, 13-8. However, the Dutch-speaking country was guilty of a few more errors than its opponent, 30 to 28.