Guatemala and Costa Rica secure spots in NORCECA second phase

SAN JUAN DEL SUR, Nicaragua, February 14, 2015 – Guatemala and Costa Rica have secured tickets to the second round of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Continental Cup after reaching the finals at the Central American Zonal Women’s Tournament on Saturday.

The teams of Guatemala blanked El Salvador 4-0 while the top-seeded Costa Rica defeated Nicaragua 3-1 and will clash on Sunday in the double elimination tournament. In the losers’ bracket, Belize eliminated Panama winning their series 3-1.

El Salvador will play Honduras and Nicaragua will be pitted against Belize for the other two spots in the second round of the continental cup against the top four teams from the Caribbean and Eastern Caribbean qualifiers.

Guatemala 4, El Salvador 0

Blanca Ocaña/Anna Ramírez of Guatemala A won 21-12, 21-9 over Yvonne Soler/Laura Molina of El Salvador B and 21-19, 21-18 over Kathya Vásquez/María Vargas of El Salvador A. María Jose Orellana/María Andrea Orellana of Guatemala B prevailed 23-21, 21-11 against Vásquez/Vargas and won 21-12, 21-8 over Soler/Molina.

Costa Rica 3, Nicaragua 1

Karen Cope/Natalia Alfaro of Costa Rica A won 21-8, 21-12 over Claudia Machado/Osiris Patricia Juarez of Nicaragua B and edged Lolette Rodríguez/Elia Torres of Nicaragua A 21-19, 22-20. Rodríguez/Torres won 21-15, 21-15 over Katherine Quesada/Eugenia Ramírez of Costa Rica B while Quesada/Ramírez beat Machado/Juárez 21-10, 21-4.

Belize 3, Panama 1

Jasmine Anderson/Kelsey Balderamos of Belize A defeated Yileen Ng/Iris Urruñaga of Panama B 21-13, 21-19 and won 21-16, 23-21 over Keisy Caballero/Erlin Castillo of Panama A. Tichele Solis/Tisha Solis of Belize B won 21-18, 21-13 against Ng/Urruñaga while Caballero/Castillo prevailed 16-21, 21-17, 15-10 against Solis/Solis.