Costa Rica Ends Guatemala’s Unbeaten Run
Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
June 26, 2024: Costa Rica defeated Guatemala 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 26-24),
re-entering the race for medals at the VI Central American Women’s U23
Championship, at the Jorge Galeano Gymnasium.
The victory keeps Costa Rica's hopes alive and puts Guatemala in a tough
spot, as they now no longer solely control their path to the Gold medal
match. A loss to Nicaragua tomorrow could even push them off the podium.
AFECAVOL 2024 U23 FEMENINO
ALBUM FOTOS DEL JUEGO
Costa Rica improved their record to 3-2 and will face Honduras on
Saturday. Guatemala now stands at 4-1 and will face Nicaragua.
Costa Rica surpassed in serves, leading 6-0, while Guatemala missed 7
serves. The differences in attack and blocking were small, yet still in
favor of Costa Rica, at 37-35 and 8-5, respectively.
Ana Victoria Rojas from Costa Rica dominated the game, being the most
effective scorer with 19 points. Nhya Barley assisted with 12 points,
including 4 on serves and 2 on blocks. For Guatemala, Ivana Sopegno was
their best attacker with 12 points, and Naomi Monney contributed 9.
Ana Victoria Rojas of Costa Rica said, “Thank God we were able to win
3-0 today. This result puts us back in the competition. We now have the
chance to fight for the Silver medal, and that’s what we’ll aim for
tomorrow when we play against Honduras. Today, the team had great
energy; we worked together, and that helped us secure the victory.”
Guatemala’s coach, William Fernández, commented, “The team did not meet
the expectations for this game. They started well in the first set, but
after Costa Rica came back, they couldn’t recover psychologically,
losing confidence in themselves. Now we have to fight back tomorrow.” |