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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

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Bahamas women win bronze By DAHALIA SMITH ~ NG Sports Reporter ~ dahalia@nasguard.com: Despite being victims of a malicious robbery with almost all of their personal items being stolen from the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex in Bridgetown Barbados, the Senior Women's National Volleyball Team still managed to finish with the bronze medals at their International Volleyball Federation's (FIVB) World Championships qualifying tournament, which wrapped up on Sunday night. The team remained focused on the task at hand, as they defeated St. Lucia in straight sets, 26-24, 26-14 and 21-21, to advance to the next round of the 2010 FIVB World Championships qualifying process like the men did last month in Jamaica. The victory in the NORCECA (North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation) Pool D guaranteed the ladies a trip to the third round qualification, set for July 6-11 in Puerto Rico. It is the furthest that a national women's volleyball squad has advanced in the qualification process in over 15 years. Leading the charge in the bronze medal victory was Cheryse Rolle with 12 points. Melinda Bastian registered 10 points, eight of them from kills and two from blocks while Kelsie Johnson and Tamasine Emmanuel-Poitier each contributed 11 points apiece. Krystel Rolle added four points, one from a kill and three from the service line. Cheryse Rolle was elated about the third round world qualification and elaborated on her team's perseverance after the robbery last Friday and subsequent loss to Jamaica. "Following our loss we made up our minds that we would come into this match focused and leave with one thing... the bronze medal. I am very proud of the team because we accomplished the goal with minimum errors. Also, before the bronze medal game, we had a team meeting and agreed that we all have to play our roles," Rolle noted. According to Rolle, once the bronze medal was secured, the team headed straight to the Police Headquarters in Bridgetown, Barbados to further assist with the robbery investigation. A return date by the team is uncertain as passports were also stolen, Rolle added. After regular group play, The Bahamas finished second in Group A with a record of 1-1 while Barbados won this group undefeated in three matches and Haiti third winless in three matches. Meanwhile, Jamaica won Group B undefeated in three matches, St. Lucia ended up second at 1-1 and the Cayman Islands third, winless in three sets. On Saturday, the pool crossover matches were held which saw Haiti winning over The Cayman Islands to finish fifth overall. On the same day, The Bahamas lost to Jamaica in straight sets and Barbados beat St. Lucia three sets to two. Only the top three teams from the NORCECA Pool D tourney advanced to the third round. Jamaica and Barbados earned their spots along with The Bahamas. The Bahamas will now join Canada, host country Puerto Rico and the loser between Jamaica and Barbados in Pool I, one of four NORCECA pools in the third round of qualification. Other Pools in the third round includes F, G and H. National teams already gaining third round berths in Pool F include Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Pool G NORCECA teams include Costa Rica, the Netherlands Antilles and the winner of Pool D. Comprising Pool H are Mexico, Panama and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Only the winners of NORCECA Pools F, G, H and I and first and second finishers of a tentative Pool J, will move on to the 2010 FIVB World Championships in Japan. In related news, the National Men's Volleyball Team earned a third round berth in the 2010 FIVB Men's World Championships qualifying process last month. They finished second in their pool, losing the gold medal match to Mexico. The men are scheduled to play in NORCECA Pool H against Suriname, Canada and host country Cuba, from August 12-17. The winner of this group moves onto the 2010 FIVB Men's World Championships in Italy. Monday, June 15,2009