Trinidad and Tobago teams start CAZOVA U-23 Champs on winning note

HOSTS Trinidad and Tobago got the 2025 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Under-23 Championships off to an impressive start at the Maloney Indoor Sporting Arena on July 10 as they registered wins in both the men's and women's categories.

The men got a facile 3-0 win over Martinique in their opener, with the women getting a 3-2 win against Curacao in a much tighter affair. In the women's opener, TT fell behind early as they lost an exciting first set 23-25. The TT girls showed they meant business, though, as they won the next two sets 23-16 and 25-18 to take a 2-1 lead going into the fourth set. In the fourth set, the Curacao ladies showed their resolve as they won it 25-21 to tie the game 2-2 and set up an appetising fifth set.

In the decisive fifth set, there were thrills and spills, but the TT team which is captained by Lfe Roberts, came up with the big plays and held their nerve in crunch time to win the set 15-13 to come away with the 3-2 win overall.

"It feels amazing to get the win," Roberts said, after the match. "Throughout the game, I tried telling the team that this is just what we've been practising for. This is what we've trained and sacrificed for and it's just to go out there, put our best foot forward and follow in God's plan."

Coach Deon Hutchinson was grateful for the win and said the best is yet to come from his troops.

"Based on how the team progressed, it's excellent. We peaked at the right time which is right now. The team is playing way better than we looked like tonight. I think this is a warm-up and I think we are going to be peak in the tournament also," he said.

"For me, it was a sign of relief to be honest. The game was really intense and back and forth. We had a lot of highs and a lot of lows. And then we had some break in momentum at some really poor times that could have really cost us the game...I know we're going to peak and grow from this."

The TT men had a slightly easier route to victory against Martinique. They won the first two sets 25-13 and 25-18, before getting the crucial nod in a tight third set (25-24) to claim the straight sets win.

In other results on the opening day of action, the Suriname men defeated Guadeloupe 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 24-26, 25-11), while the Suriname women were on the losing end as they lost 3-1 (16-25, 11-25, 25-21, 21-25) to Martinique.

After press time on July 11, the TT men were scheduled to play Guadeloupe from 6pm, with their female compatriots scheduled to take on Martinique from 8pm. The tourney will conclude on July 13 with gold- and bronze-medal matches at the Maloney facility.