Keisha Hill, Staff Reporter

Jamaica's male and female national volleyball teams completed two days of rigorous and intense training sessions against the Bahamas in preparation for the Caribbean Volleyball Championships (CVC), scheduled for Barbados from July 13-21.

"We viewed the games as a high-intensity practice session," said David Jack, head coach of the Jamaica Volleyball Association (JAVA).

"We had different players participating just to see how they all fit together. Some of the players were playing with each other for the first time. "I think we did well but I am still not pleased because we need to work on a lot of areas before we can be true contenders in the championships."

On Saturday, Jamaica were 3-1 winners in the opening game in the male division, taking the first set 25-23, going down in the second set 18-25, but rebounding in the third set to win 25-14, then 25-19 in the final set.

However, the Bahamians captured game two 3-2, despite Jamaica taking the lead in the first set 28-26. The game remained close throughout the final sets, with the Bahamas taking the respective second and third sets 26-24, 25-13 and Jamaica, the final set 25-19.

Down to the crunch

It was down to the crunch in Sunday's finals as Jamaica edged the Bahamians, taking game three 3-0 and game four 3-1. In game three, Jamaica won in straight sets 25-19, 25-17, 25-13, while in game four, Jamaica led 25-13, 25-23 but lost the third set 22-25, and settled for the fourth set 25-17.

Raymond Wilson, coach for the Bahamian men's team, said: "This session has allowed us to see the performances of our young men before we pick our final team.

"Some of them stepped up and earned their position and it will be very interesting to see the results in Barbados come July," added Wilson.

The Jamaican female team coach, Lynford Foreman, says they are about 85 per cent ready and will need additional work.

"All we have to do now is get the body chemistry going and everything will be fine. The core of girls that we have are not only receptive to instructions, but are now able to carry out these instructions," Foreman said.

The females were the overall winners - taking three of four games. In game one, Jamaica were 3-1 winners over the Bahamas, taking the first set 25-23, the second set 28-26 and the fourth set 25-18. The Bahamians won the third set 25-19.

Jamaica won game two 3-0, taking all three sets 25-18, 25-18 and 25-20.

Exhilarating finals

In the exhilarating finals on Sunday night, the Jamaicans triumphed again, taking game three 3-2 and game four 3-1.

Game three saw the Jamaicans taking the first set 25-16, second set 25-21 and the fifth set 15-3. The Bahamians won the third set 23-25 and the fourth 24-26.

Game four saw similar results with Jamaica winning the first set 25-19, third 25-23 and the fourth 25-18. The Bahamians won the second set 25-23.

Joe Smith, the Bahamian female coach, says the tournament will help in making critical decisions regarding the team's future.

"It was a good warm-up tournament for us so that we could see where we are in terms of defence, offence and strategy.

"I put any six in just to see them play. They all stepped up to the plate, but we could have been a little more offensive," observed Smith.