Jamaica Volleyball

Jamaica’s senior men’s volleyball team will begin their hunt for a place in next year’s FIVB Men’s World Championship in Italy tomorrow evening, when they face Haiti in their opening game in Group D of Round Two qualifying action at the National Indoor Sports Centre.

Mexico, St Lucia, Bahamas and Cayman are the other teams in Jamaica’s group, however Jamaica will only face Haiti and the Cayman Islands in the ‘preliminary’ round, and will then play a knockout game against one of the other teams based on their positions after these two games. The top two teams at the end of the tournament will move on to the next phase of qualifying.

Jamaica and favorites Mexico are widely expected to be the two qualifying teams. After tomorrow’s match, Jamaica will be in action once again on Friday (May 22) at 5:00 pm against the Cayman Islands at the same venue.

The Jamaica Volleyball Association will host Group D of the World Championship Qualifiers for men from May 20-24 at the National Indoor Sports Centre. The announcement was made last week by JVA boss Wayne Robinson.

“Preparations are in high gear at this time. We have been having our regular planning committee meetings, in fact the last one was last night (Thursday night) and we are now just trying to put together the finishing touches in terms of administration and sorting out the whole technicalities around hosting such an event. We were asked to host based on our record in terms of the sport in the region, our appeal and certainly our representation in terms of lobbying for the rights to host the event,” said Robinson.

Jamaica will face Mexico, St Lucia, Haiti, Bahamas and the Cayman Islands in round two of the qualifying series, and the top two teams will advance to the 2010 FIVB Men’s World Championships in Italy.

Jamaica is ranked 66th, and the 35th-ranked Mexican team are overwhelming favorites to win the group, with Jamaica expected to take the second spot.

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) continued their dominance of the 2009 Business House Volleyball season with victory in the second event of the competition - the Supreme Ventures One Day Rally - which was held at the UWI Gymnasium yesterday.

Once again, they went unbeaten in the double round-robin competition, gaining 10 points to move to 20 points overall. Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) finished runners-up with eight points and are now on 16 points overall. National Water Commission (NWC) finished 3rd with seven points and 14 overall, while newcomers AMECO hold fourth place on six points and Guardian Life with five points and 11 overall round out the top five. University of the West Indies did not show.

The third and final one day weekend rally will be held on Sunday, May 24, ahead of the Reggae Jammin’ Indoor League which runs throughout the month of June.

The second in the series of one-day Volleyball rallies sponsored by Supreme Ventures takes center stage tomorrow at the U.W.I. Gymnasium starting at 10:00 am.

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), who won the previous rally, will enter this second installation with 10 points following their impressive unbeaten run in the first competition. The other competing teams are Bank of Jamaica, National Water Commission, Guardian Life, Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), University of the West Indies Mona and American Equipment Company (AMECO).

Season points will also be up for grabs for this the second as well as the third and final rally which is scheduled for Sunday, May 31.

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) yesterday made a winning start to the 2009 Reggae Jammin Business House Volleyball Association season, as they got the better of Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) in the championship game for the first of three one-day rallies at the UWI Gymnasium.

Final score in the championship game was 25-18 to JDF (which finished unbeaten in their six games). Led by Gatasheu Bonner and George Tait, JDF ended with 18 points overall, while second place went to BOJ with 14 points (4 wins, 2 losses). National Water Commission (NWC) pipped Guardian Life for the third spot, with both teams ending the series with one win and five losses each.

For their win, the JDF got a winners trophy as well as gift packages from sponsors Excelsior. With this win, the JDF will also carry over 10 season points to next month’s second rally which is scheduled to happen on April 26. BOJ will enter next month’s rally with 8 season points, with NWC having 7 and Guardian Life 6.

The 5th annual Reggae Jammin Business House Volleyball Association season serves off tomorrow at the University of the West Indies gymnasium.

This will be the first of three month-end indoor rallies leading up to the start of the official indoor league which is set to serve off on June 7.

According to a release from the Jamaica Volleyball Association, the rallies to be held on April 26 and May 31 will have added significance this season, as winning teams will be able to take home trophies and prizes. More importantly also, the results of each rally will feature qualifying points towards an overall 2009 Business House champion.

Nine teams, including defending double (mixed and male divisions) champions Jamaica Defence Force will participate. The other teams are Bank of Jamaica (2008 mixed division runners-up), National Water Commission, First Caribbean Bank, University of the West Indies, Guardian Holdings Ltd., Paymaster and American Corporation.

Rounding off this year’s volleyball season will be the highly anticipated Business House ‘Beach’ competition - Sand Splash - to be held following the end of the indoor season in July.