Costa Rica begins with victory over Belize

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, September 6, 2017.- Costa Rica began the XVII AFECAVOL U-21 Men’s Central American Championship at IND Volleyball venue in Managua, Nicaragua, with 3-0  (25-15, 25-14, 27-25) victory over Belize.

Costa Rica needed one hour and 16 minutes to win after two comfortable sets; in set three, Belize was at set point 24-22, but the winning team turned the score for a final 27-25.

Costa Rica prevailed by (30-22) advantage in spikes over Belize, while Belize held 6-3 margin in blocking, both scored 5 points on aces.

Costa Rican captain Andres Ortiz scored 12 points on a match-high, accompanied by Mariano Salas with 9 points. Francis Hauze topped Belize with 13 points.

After finishing the match, Hauze said “the game was really good, we started off balance; Costa Rica wasn’t doing anything spectacular to beat us; in the set three we played our hearts out but Costa Rica’s blocks and serves were really hard, in addition to a miscommunication between two of our players”.

Andres Ortiz of Costa Rica said “we are very glad, everybody says the first match is difficult and it’s true; the team was concentrated and we are able to come out on top, at the end things got a little complicates, but we recovered well”.