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11th Caribbean Volleyball Championships, Haiti almost pull off biggest upset in tournament against title-holders Barbados.

NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC) ? A spirited Haiti side came close to pulling off the biggest upset of the 11th Caribbean Volleyball Championships yesterday when they pushed perennial title-holders Barbados to the limit before losing in five sets.

Playing at the Kendall Isaacs Gymnasium, Haiti had the champions hanging on a string for the first four sets before Barbados pulled it together when it mattered in the fifth to register a 25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 24-26, 15-8 victory.

In contrast, the Barbadian women romped to a comfortable straight sets win over the US Virgin Islands, posting a 25-13, 25-19, 25-16 triumph.

After surprisingly losing two of the four sets played, Barbados then took advantage of a slight muscle injury to Haiti?s libero Mackenzie Allen to post a 3-1 lead which they extended to 8-3, before coasting home.

Barbados Head Coach Ludger Niles said he knew it was just a matter of time before his side prevailed over Haiti, who was playing their first match in six years at CVC level.

?We needed a tough first match like that to get going,? Niles told CMC Sports.

?Hopefully we will build on this as we move on from one step to the next in our quest to repeat as champions.?

Dimitri Edouard, who provided much of the spark for the Haitians on court, said despite the loss, they were not disappointed because they always expected a tough time against the defending champions.

?We just wanted to go out there and play them and see how we looked against them,? Edouard said.

?If we had won, it would have been good, but at least we know that we can play on this level.?

Renier Grace and Elwin Oxley provided a one-two punch for Barbados with 17 and 14 kills respectively.

For Haiti, Raymond Joseph took the honours producing 16 kills, while Ralph Adolphe chipped in with 13.

In the day?s first match, Barbados? women experienced little difficulty putting away the USVI in a lopsided affair.

For the exception of the second set, Barbados totally controlled the game, playing like true champions as they withstood the challenge presented by the USVI.

Barbados Coach Paul Payne described the victory as a good indication of where his team was.

US Virgin Island?s coach Lucille Hobson said due to the fact their players were based on two different islands, they did not get together to practise prior to the tournament.

?This was like our first practice together, so we were just trying to work out some of the knits,? she reflected.

?I?m not too concerned because we still have a long way to go. We should get better as we play more.?

Barbados were led by Janelle Chase who had 11 kills while Avarra Brown added nine.

Jahmila Ottley and Theshia Nieves had six and five kills respectively for the US Virgin Islands.