Four days after lifting the 2018 Senior Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Women’s Championship title for an unprecedented eighth overall triumph, T&T women leave today for the Dominican Republic, to contest the 17th Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup.
The 12-team event serves off on Sunday at Ricardo Arias Pavilion in Santo Domingo, with T&T coming up against world champion the USA in Pool B, in the opening match of the competition from 10 am.
On Monday night, the Renele Forde- T&T women defeated host Suriname 25-21, 25-20, 25-22 at the Ismay Van Wilgen Sports Hall, in Paramaribo, Suriname for the CAZOVA crown, to secure a spot in next year’s NORCECA Continental Championship.
However, in Santo Domingo, it will be a different level of opposition as the Francisco Cruz-coached women will be aiming to improve on their best ever ninth-placed finish from last year in Peru after beating two South American teams.
Firstly, in the round-robin phase, T&T beat Chile 26-24, 25-22, 25-15 and then battled past Venezuela 25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 25-18 in their ninth-place playoff.
In 2016, the “Calypso Spikers” ended in 10th spot, which equalled their finishes from 2009-2013 while they ended 12th on debut in 2007 as well as 2008 and 11th in 2014.
In addition to defending champion USA, T&T will also face four-time winners Cuba and seven-time top three finishers Puerto Rico in group play.
Pool A consists of Canada, Peru, Costa Rica and host Dominican Republic while Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia will compete in Pool C.
The top two ranked teams at the end of the preliminary round will advance directly to the semifinals while the pool winner with the lowest ranking will compete in the quarter-finals with the top second and third place teams.
Since 2013, USA and Dominican Republic have won the event every other year.
The USA leads the historic standings at the Pan American Cup with five gold medals, Cuba and the Dominican Republic each have won the competition four times while Brazil has three titles.
The Dominican Republic has the most total medals in the history of the competition with 15, including four golds, eight silvers and three bronzes.
The USA is second with 10, five golds, two silvers and three bronzes.
The top five ranked teams at the conclusion of the tournament will earn tickets to next year’s Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
This will be the third tournament of the year for the “Calypso Spikers” after a fourth-placed finish at the NORCECA Women’s Challenger Cup in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in May.
Following the Pan Am Cup, T&T will then compete at the 23rd Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Barranquilla, Colombia from July 20 to August 3 versus host Colombia, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica in Pool B.
Champion Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela will compete in Pool A.
This will be followed by T&T women debut at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship in Japan from September 29 to October 20 where the local women, ranked 34th in the world, battle defending champion and world second-ranked USA, fifth-ranked Russia, South Korea (No 10), Thailand (No 16) and Azerbaijan (No 24) at the Kobe Green Arena in Pool C.
T&T WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL PAN AM CUP TEAM
Renele Forde (Svedala/Sweden), Sinead Jack (Galatasaray/Turkey), Krystle Esdelle (Pursaklar Belediyesi/Turkey), Channon Thompson (Ankara Numune (Turkey) & Foton Tornadoes (Philippines), Darlene Ramdin (Generika-Ayala Lifesavers/ Philippines), Kelly Ann Billingy, Kiune Fletcher, Afesha Olton, Jalicia Ross-Kydd, Taija Thomas (Toronto Tornadoes).
Technical staff: Francisco Cruz (coach), Jarad Cuffie (assistant coach), Keva Stephens (physiotherapist)
