Sixteen clubs, both local and regional, will be on show from Friday to Sunday at the UWI Mona Club’s Fourth Pelican Invitational Volleyball Tournament at the UWI Indoor Gym in Kingston.

The teams of 10 male and six female will be vying for the top prize in each division of US$1,000. Defending men’s champions Vikings will face stern tests from teams like the Jamaica Defence Force, who have been hot all season.

Also expecting to push for honours are new overseas entrants, Technocrats from Trinidad and Tobago.

The Technocrats male and female teams will be joined by returning overseas team Scotia Defenders from the Bahamas.

Not to be overlooked is last year’s male runner-up, Venus, who pushed Vikings all the way in the 2008 final. The other participating men’s teams are MOSA, UTech, UWI “A” and “B” and GC Foster.

On the female side, defending champions UWI “A”, who have been kicking up a storm this year, will try to stave off MOSA once again for the female crown.

However, Viqueens, UWI “B”, GC Foster and Technocrats will also have their eyes on the main prize Sunday afternoon.

Teams will be seeded based on their first-round performance. The second round will feature a knock-out phase from which the top four semi-finalists will emerge.

The third and fourth-place play-off and the finals will take place on Sunday.

The event, which is sanctioned by the Jamaica Volleyball Association (JAVA), is being staged by the UWI Volleyball Club under the auspices of the UWI Sports Department. Matches start at 9:00 am on Friday and Saturday, with a 10:00 am start set for Sunday’s final day.

Part proceeds from the tournament will go towards a volleyball scholarship for a needy UWI student.

With admission to the tournament being free to the public, President of the UWI Club, Dr Ricardo Chong, says patrons should come out in their numbers to witness yet another display of high-quality, intense play.

Sponsors of the event include Supreme Ventures, Gleaner Company, CB Chicken, Pricesmart, Gatorade and Wisynco. Dolphin Cove, Dunn’s River Videos and Turnkey Productions will be providing prizes for the male and female MVPs. There will be additional prizes from Cooyah, Gillette, Pioneer Distributors, Matate Holdings and Red Bull.