Trinidad & Tobago – Bahamas
The NORCECA eighth-ranked “Calypso Spikers” who used all 12 of their players during the match won 25-20, 25-15, 21-25 25-15 in one hour, 25 minutes at the Ismay Van Wilgen Sports Hall after dominating on spikes 31-20 and blocks 10-6.
Sinead Jack and captain Krystle Esdelle also chipped in with eight points apiece for T&T which also held an 11-2 advantage on service aces. Bahamas’ Melinda Bastian led her team with eight points while Kelsie Johnson got six and Cheryse Bain, five.
Speaking after the loss, Bahamian captain, Krystel Rolle while not making excuses for her team’s performance, first pointed out her team was a bit fatigued having only arrived in Suriname early Saturday morning from Naasau.
She added: “In addition, we had a major challenge in that we knew the T&T girls were much taller than us and we needed to be quicker on defence and we weren’t at most times.”
Esdelle, on the other hand was happy to start with the win saying, “We played a good match. In the first two sets we were focused but in the third set we lost our way a bit before regaining our focus and completing the victory. Overall we could have played much better, but a win is always welcome to start a tournament.“
