The Tribune

THE Bahamas came close to advancing to the final of the 9th CAZOVA Junior Under-21 Men’s Volleyball Championship in Point-A-Pitre, Guadeloupe, over the weekend.

But the team, coached by DeVince Smith, lost 25-18, 22-25, 25-20, 25-14 to Curacao on Saturday and ended up playing for the bronze medal against Trinidad & Tobago. No score, however, was available for that match.

Against Curacao at the Paul Chonchon Sports and Cultural Centre, the duo of Antonio Jennings and captain Rajahl Moxey both scored 12 points each for Bahamas. Kenton Dawkins helped out with eight points.

“In our training we went about making some plans for the match, but we cracked under the pressure and did not execute while Curacao remained focus and played consistent volleyball,” coach Smith said.

The Bahamas advanced to the semifinal after stunning the US Virgin Islands in four sets as Moxey led by example with 16 points. Dawkins added 10 points, three of which were blocks, while Justin Smith added nine for the Bahamians who entered the match with a 0-2 record.

“In our first two matches, we played in spurts and never got it together as a unit, but today we came together as a team and it showed in the result,“ Moxey said.

The Bahamas lost its last match in its round robin play in Pool B to Trinidad & Tobago (25-22, 25-23, 25-23). Gaeg Smith led the Bahamas with seven points, while Moxey and Dawkins each added six points.

In their first game of the tournament, the Bahamas lost to host Guadeloupe 25-22, 25-19, 20-25, 25-23. Moxey led the way with 11 points and Christopher Cash chipped in with 10.

Despite the loss, Bahamas also enjoyed some good moments in the match including an 8-0 start to the third set helped by their blocking which was superior to the hosts on the night, 14-5.

“We started out with a few jitters because most of the guys were new to this level and playing their first international match and once we settled down we began to play better, but it was too late,” Moxey said.