El Salvador books third round spot in Group K

ST CROIX, Virgin Islands, May 26, 2013 – El Salvador advanced to the final match of the NORCECA Second Round Group K Qualification Tournament to the 2014 FIVB Women’s World Championship with a straight-set (25-18, 25-20, 25-19) victory over St Vincent and Grenadines at Ronald “Ranche” Charles Arena on Sunday morning.

Captain Adriana Flores and Gabriela Martinez each contributed 8 points to the victory while Dennise Rogel and Andrea Mansur charted six apiece. Nikita Campbell had a match-high 11 points for the losers.

The victory earned the Salvadorans a 3-0 win-loss record and a spot in the third round of zonal competitions to be held early next year towards the world event in Italy. The Salvadorans’ strong and accurate serves were the key for the victory as Flores explained.

“Even though we made mistakes along the match our serves compensated and hurt them,” Flores said. “We knew about the importance of the victory and we are really happy.”

“Our defense was a little bit cold and we need to play our best in this evening’s match,” commented Nikita Campbell of St Vincent.

Making the final round of the elimination process towards a world championship is the highest peak for El Salvador said the coach Nery Henriquez.

“I am very proud of my team because we have reached the third phase for the first time,” Henriquez said. “As Adriana said the serves gave us the advantage against a team like St Vincent.”

Shaun Young, the coach of St Vincent, expressed his personal satisfaction for the opportunity to play against a team of the quality of El Salvador.

“We really appreciate the opportunity and we will use this experience to improve our game,” he said. “Our reception is our weakest skill but we also made other basic fundamental mistakes.”