United States contained early impetus of Nicaragua

HAVANA, Cuba, August 27, 2018 - The United States reacted early to contain the impetus Nicaragua showed early to open the third match of the day one of the Norceca U21 Men's World Qualifying Tournament, which concluded with continuing straight sets of 3- 0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-15).

The defending champions whose crown was earned in 2016 came out of their lethargy bewitched by the strategy of the Central Americans. After sealing victorious at the end pf the first set, they gave no breaks in the other two sets to conclude with evident advantage of 43-27 in attacks, 10-1 in blocking and 6-1 in services.

The opposite Jaylen Jasper was the top scorer of the game with 18 points, while wing attacker John Reilly made another good contribution with 15. For the opponents the slender Jonny Zeledón was the leading scorer with 9.

Jonah Carson, technical director of the Americans, said that "it was good that they forced our kids to squeeze, because they played relaxed and the Nicaraguans took advantage as they know the tactics to use, I applaud them for that. In my team some players have experience, but it is not the same U-19 tham this level, they have not had time to settle down"

Samuel Lewis, the 2.08 meter captain, appreciated that "Nicaragua plays very strong and in the beginning we played very comfortable, but they do it well and we appreciate it because that forces us to strive. They have a good defense and tactics with smart players and it was an honor to face them."

Osman Hernández, coach of Nicaragua, said that "that rival is one of the favorites, apart from stature it has a trajectory and all the conditions superior to ours. In the first set I thought we were going to win, mine started disrespecting them, they felt they could but we made mistakes, they tightened the serve and in our area we are not used to that kind of services. My team made the effort, I think we are going to improve and advance to the quarterfinals, we will do a psychological work because they were excited that they could do more."

Zeledón, captain of the Central Americans, expressed his discomfort because "after we got to take advantage in the initial set we had a low and they reached us, they knew how to close, in the others the mood declined and we could never go up in the score. It has height, strength, level, it is to respect and for us it was something unforeseen, and they taught us that we should not belittle anyone.