Kingston, Jamaica, April 15, 2005 – Jamaica and the Netherlands Antilles both recorded impressive victories on the opening day of the 2006 Women’s World Championship first round tournament (Norceca Pool A) in Kingston on Friday.

Jamaica confirmed their heavy favouritism to win the tournament by crushing the Cayman Islands 25-14, 25-15, 25-11 in exactly one hour while the Netherlands Antilles overcame some early difficulties before going on to win in straight sets (25-20, 25-11, 25-14) over the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

There were spectacular scenes in the National Arena as a huge crowd enjoyed a colourful opening ceremony followed by two top class Volleyball matches.

In the opening match, the Netherlands Antilles, the third team ranked in the Caribbean, came from behind in the first set against the British Virgin Islands, erasing a five-point deficit to prevail 25-20 before wrapping up the next two sets a lot easier.

Captain Helma Stam led the Netherlands Antilles’ scoring with 13 points while Geraldine Gregorius added 12. Jacqueline Weekes top scored for the BVI and in the match with 15 points.
Pic: Jamaica's Tracyann Pryce on attack as the hosts completed a convincing straight sets win over the Cayman Islands on the opening day
“I feel very good with the victory but we can do better,” Stam said. “We were a little nervous at the beginning but we picked ourselves up and played better during the rest of the match.

“We think that Jamaica are the favorites, but I think that it is not bad to be the underdog,” she added. “The local crowd can work against them because they will be in a must win situation with a lot of pressure to perform.”

In the second game of the night Jamaica were in awesome form with captain Tracyann Pryce, with 11 points, leading her side to a comfortable victory over Netherlands Antilles. She was the only player in double figures for the team of coach Ortnel Findlay, who used all of his squad.

“I think this is a confidence builder for our team,” Findlay said. “We have put this first match out of the way and now we can concentrate on the rest of the tournament.”

“I was more anxious than nervous,” Pryce said. “The key of the victory was our passing because when we pass well everything else falls into place.”

Andrea Williams, the coach of the Cayman Islands, said: “It is the first match we have played in a long time. We need to play more games. I think that we played stronger as the match advanced but unfortunately so did Jamaica.”

Day two of the 2006 Women’s World Championship first round tournament (Norceca Pool A) sees the Cayman Islands play the Netherlands Antilles and Jamaica take on the British Virgin Islands on Saturday.