SAGICOR emerged winners of the opening day Dress Parade in the 9th staging of the Supreme Ventures Business House Indoor Volleyball league last Sunday.

On a day packed with volleyball action of different kinds at the UWI Gymnasium, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) also took centre stage ,underlining their determination to defend their male Business House Indoor title with a come-from-behind 9-6 win over the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) male team in the final of the 2013 One-day Rally, which was postponed from the previous Sunday due to a power outage.

Both events followed a short opening ceremony in which Andrei Roper, Supreme Ventures senior vice-president, highlighted his company’s nine-year sponsorship relationship with Business House Volleyball and its organisers CNIS Ltd. Roper remarked on how CNIS and Supreme Ventures share the same vision for the development of Business House Volleyball, and pledged continued support.

In the final, the JDF looked like they were going to make light pickings of the JCF as they easily jumped ahead

3-0 with simple, yet effective plays. However, the JCF players quickly retaliated with effective spikes and rally ending defensive plays. In the end, the JCF celebrated wildly

with the satisfaction of a well-deserved victory.

The day ended with the playing of two exhibition matches. In the first, a Media All-Stars team took on a Mixed Team Business House All-Stars team. After the first set was won comfortably by the Business House All-Stars 21-11, it looked as if the second set would be the same, but the Media All-Stars had second thoughts, and they took the second set 21-17 to force a deciding third set. A ding-dong affair ensued in the deciding third set with both teams using good defensive skills to prolong rallies and win points. In the end, the Business House All-Stars won the set 21-17 and the match 2-1.

The second exhibition match resulted in the Coaches and Officials winning 2-0.

The Supreme Ventures league gets fully underway today with the first matches in each of the three divisions. Matches will start at 9:00 am, and will continue at the UWI Bowl on each Sunday in this month.

After the completion of the Sand Slam and One Day Rally tournaments, the JDF lead the overall team standings with 20 points, followed by the BOJ with 12 points, with AMECO and the NWC joint third with 11 points. Sagicor follows with 10 points, UWI and Guardian Life with eight points and the JUTC with four points.