Jamaica fight back to defeat hosts in CAZOVA opener  

PARAMARIBO, Suriname, October 30, 2016: Jamaica came from behind in impressive fashion to defeat their hosts 19-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-17 when the final tournament in the first round of the CAZOVA zonal qualifying series for the 2018 FIVB Men’s World Volleyball Championships served off here today at the Anthony Nesty Indoor Sports Hall.

The Suriname outfit, ranked fourth in CAZOVA (Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association) and first in this tournament, seemed to be cruising to a two-set lead before everything suddenly fell apart.

Down 11-6 in the second, coach Gatasheu Bonner took a time-out for Jamaica and it was a completely different story after that.

The visitors went on to win 19 of the last 24 points to level proceedings and were never really threatened by the shell-shocked tournament favourites in the other two sets.

As a result of the late arrival of the Guadeloupe team, the match between the top two ranked teams in the tournament ended up being the first match instead of last and Suriname coach Verdy Getrouw believed that the change affected the concentration of his players.

Bonner also felt that the schedule adjustment could have been partly responsible for his team’s “shaky start”, but he was impressed with how they turned things around when it was starting to look bleak.

His captain Ryck Webb felt that a substitution Bonner made during the timeout at 11-6 down in the second set was crucial to the dramatic turnaround, while his opposite number Antoine Vliet believes that “we gave it away.”

The other teams involved in the straight round-robin competition in Group B are Guadeloupe and Turks & Caicos.

Two will advance to the second round of NORCECA qualifying for the next World Championships in Bulgaria and Italy, and despite the defeat, Suriname are favoured to move forward, along with Jamaica.