Costa Rica remains undefeated by beating Nicaragua

 

CIUDAD QUESADA, Costa Rica, November 22, 2019 - Costa Rica moved one step away from the gold medal of the XIII Central American U18 Women's Volleyball Championship by defeating Nicaragua 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-17) on the penultimate day.

 

With four wins without defeats, Costa Rica needs to beat Guatemala on Saturday to finish unbeaten and recover the throne they lost in the last tournament against Honduras.

 

Nicole Mata led Costa Rica with 12 points and Merilyn Vindas contributed 8. Francesca Medrano was the best for Nicaragua with 11. Costa Rica was better in attacks 35-27, blocks 6-2 and services 7-4, committing 25 unforced errors to 27 by the Nicaraguans.

 

Sophia Chavez, captain of Costa Rica: “I am very proud of all of us because we have fought, worked and given everything, courage and heart to represent our country. Each rival has been different, what we have tried to do is not get overconfident, give everything on the court, because every rival has its potential.”

 

Norma Brenes, captain of Nicaragua: “This match against Costa Rica was very important for us, the victory was in our hands, but our attitude failed, we lost the initiative. All teams are very strong, we have had to fight hard to have the results we have obtained.”

 

Henry Rodríguez, Coach of Costa Rica: “Today we got the win, but we always have some problems, we are doing well and suddenly we give away points. The best player was unable to play, I did not want to risk her, but had to enter to solve. If you ignore the things you have to do, you can lose, so I tell you that we have to do what we train, and not get out of it.”

 

Costa Rica faces Guatemala at 7:30 p.m. in the last game of the tournament, while Nicaragua and Honduras will fight for a spot on the podium at 5:00 p.m.