BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

Jamaica will tackle Martinique in a men's game to serve off the 12th Caribbean Volleyball Championships (CVC) at the Wildey Gymnasium this morning.

Match time for that Group B opener is 10 a.m. (11 a.m. Jamaica time) and the match will be one of four men's games on opening day, ending with a 9 p.m. showdown between reigning champions Barbados and Dominica.

In the women's competition, T&T - drawn in Group C - are reigning champions after their triumph two years ago in The Bahamas, toppling Barbados.

10-time champions

Barbados are 10-time champions and winners of every men's title at CVC tournaments they have appeared in.

Barbados will play alongside the Netherlands Antilles, Bahamas and Dominica in their Group A schedule.

Jamaica and Martinique are joined in Group B by T&T and the US Virgin Islands (USVI).

For the women's competition, T&T will face St Lucia, Netherlands Antilles, and Martinique in Group C and the Barbadians will be up against the USVI, Bahamas and Jamaica in Group D.

top team

The top team in each group at the end of round-robin play will secure an automatic semi-final berth while the second- and-third-place teams will meet in crossover quarter-finals to determine the other semi-finalists.

The semi-finals, set for July 19 and the finals on July 20, will be broadcast live on CMC's CaribVision.

After the Jamaicans meet Martinique in the opening game, USVI will play Jamaica in a women's match at midday (1p.m. Jamaica time), T&T's men face USVI at 2 p.m., the Netherlands Antilles play Bahamas (men) at 4 p.m. and Barbados women play Bahamas at 7 p.m., before Barbados men close the night against Dominica.

Except for the Jamaica match, the other fixtures are listed in Eastern Caribbean time.