Jamaica bow out after narrow five-set losses

PARAMARIBO, Suriname (CMC):

Both Jamaican teams were dumped from the 13th Caribbean Volleyball Championship after losing tense five-setters in their quarter-final encounters on Friday evening.

While the Jamaican men were beaten 25-14, 17-25, 23-25, 25-16, 15-13 by Guadeloupe, their women found themselves outslugged by surprise semi-finalists US Virgin Islands who hammered out a 25-20, 25-27, 14-25, 25-22, 15-10 verdict in a near two-hour duel.

The defeats left both sides to play for fifth place in the competition with the men facing hosts Suriname in the play-offs while the women will clash with the Netherlands Antilles.

Game high

In the men's quarter-final, Eric Mondongue slammed 20 points and Ludobic Saha scored 12 to lead the French while captain Delfon Morgan led Jamaica with a game-high 24 points.

Dellan Brown scored 17 points and Conaradio Taylor chipped in with 11.

With the final set on a knife-edge at 13-13, Mondogue pulled off a crushing block on Brown and then unleashed a fearsome spike to end the game in style.

In last night's semi-final, Guadeloupe were due to face perennial champions Barbados who played unbeaten in Pool B to automatically reach the last four.

The USVI, meanwhile, continued their surprise run in the tournament, stunning Jamaica's lasses to pull off an upset result.

Valissia Brathwaite led the USVI with 25 kills and got support from Janelle Sarauw and Sacha Gumbs who scored nine points each.

For Jamaica, Makini Thompson had 21 kills while Shedeikly Hamilton-Barnes got 13.

Trinidad and Tobago's men booked their semi-final berth with a comfortable straight-set win over Suriname.

Qualified

Powered by captain Nolan Tash who sent down 14 kills, T&T cruised to a 25-20, 25-11, 25-14 victory to set up a semi-final meeting with the Bahamas who qualified for the last four by virtue of winning Pool B.

Barbados' women, meanwhile, secured a semi-final meeting with arch-rivals Trinidad and Tobago when they battled past the Netherlands Antilles 25-16, 21-25, 25-13, 25-20.

Anicia Wood led the winners with 19 points while the outstanding Shari Matthews added 16 and Julia Lewis, 10.

Christine Anthony topped all scorers with 23 points for the losers with Geraldine Gregorius chipping in with 19.

In Friday's first match, the Bahamas defeated Dominica 25-18, 25-21, 25-11 for seventh spot in the women's draw.