BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC:

WOMEN'S DEFENDING champions Trinidad and Tobago cruised to their second straight victory and confirmed their billing as title favourites when they crushed Martinique 25-16, 25-16, 25-20 in the Caribbean Volleyball Championships yesterday.

Jamaica's two national sides also clinched wins to keep their hopes of a place in the quarter-finals alive. The men endured a gruelling five-setter to prevail over the United States Virgin Islands 22-25, 25-19, 32-34, 25-21, 15-9, and the women resisted a brave Bahamas 25-18, 25-23, 25-17.