Barbados finish as runners-up at CAZOVA Championships in Curaçao

Barbados finished runners-up at the CAZOVA Men’s Final Four Championships in Curaçao on Monday after hosts and defending champions Curaçao swept the visitors in straight sets to retain the title. 

The hosts, who had beaten Barbados 3-1 earlier in the tournament, were in control throughout the final, securing a 25-12, 25-18, 25-17 win.

Coach Andrew Culpepper said the Barbadian volleyball team did not perform as well as he wanted in the final and may have been slightly affected by the home crowd. He however credited the defending champions for executing their game plan better and producing the stronger overall performance. 

Coach Culpepper believes the experience of Curaçao showed in the final, whereas Barbados fielded a relatively young team.

“Our players were a bit inexperienced at this level as well but for sure there is still lots to come. We have to strengthen our middle and unfortunately our captain, Akil, who is our best playe,r had to play libero due to an injury. I’m not looking for excuses however and see lots of positives going forward,” he said. 

“Coming out of the Caribbean Volleyball Championships last year we would have played the same teams, right? Barbados placed fifth then, so going into the final I told my guys we had already improved by getting to that point.”

Coach Culpepper said Barbados would have had to play its best possible game to win the final, but admitted it was the defending champions who were the better performers on the night.

As a player, Culpepper was a part of a Barbadian Volleyball dynasty that enjoyed tremendous success for multiple years at the Caribbean level.

He believes the signs are already there, to suggest that the current squad is heading in the right direction to repeat that success.

“We had a lot of youngsters in this team, so there is tremendous potential going forward. As I said, it’s just a matter of strengthening one or two areas. I’m really proud of the guys and they did really well,” he concluded.

(KH)