Bermuda's national volleyball team are making a huge impression in the first round FIVB Women's World Championships being held in Marigot, French St. Martin.

After winning their first two games, the squad are on track to reach the next phases of the Worlds.

In their second match on Thursday night, Bermuda swept St. Kitts and Nevis 3-0 – triumphing 25-14, 25-17, 25-18. They had already comfortably beaten Dominica in their opening match.

Last night the side were scheduled to play British Virgin Islands and in their final game tomorrow they will play Anguilla, knowing that further wins in the five-country competition would earn them the only ticket available for the next round of the world event.

"I am encouraged by this victory," said Bermuda coach Jonathan Gazzard following Thursday night's win. "It is an important victory and we will take each game at a time but I am happy because my girls came out to play.

"It is going to be nice to see new teams in the next round but we still have two matches to play. My bench players came in and did their job."

In Thursday's opening game, Dominica held off Anguilla 3-0 to even up their win-loss record at 1-1 while the girls from Anguilla slumped to 0-2. Dominica won 25-21, 23-25, 25-16, 27-25.

This weekend's tournament champions will move onto Port of Spain, Trinidad for the next round to be played from May 31 to June 7 where they will meet the hosts, Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, Suriname and US Virgin Islands.

The top three teams from that tourney will advance to face the likes of powerhouse teams such as Cuba, USA and Dominican Republic.

Earlier this week, Bermuda and St. Kitts and Nevis won their first matches – Bermuda scoring an easy 25-15, 25-21, 25-18 victory over Dominica and St. Kitts and Nevis crushing BVI 25-10, 25-13, 25-9.

Giovanna Pacheco and Lianne Leonardi were the leading scorers for Bermuda with 17 and 14 points respectively.

Captain Leonardi said: "It was really a great team effort and our side showed a lot of energy. I hope we can continue on a roll in the rest of the competition."

Bermuda team: Stacey Dorush (Total Group); Chantal Brown (Lobster Pot); Kimberley Burns (Harbour Point); Juanita Blee (A1-Fencing); Elisabeth Rae (Harbour Point); Lisa LeBlanc (A1-Fencing); Katarina Carnicka (Kodak); Lianne Leonardi (Harbour Point); Kristin Thomas (Lobster Pot); Giovanna Pacheco (A1-Fencing); Emma Vacas Jacque (Lobster Pot); Wendy Gazzard (Lobster Pot ).

Team manager: Alexander Hunter

Head coach: Jonathan Gazzard

Assistant coaches: Adam Wong, Gary LeBlanc

Doctor/therapist/trainer: Raina Steer