Costa Rica debuts over Guatemala in straight sets

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, August 8, 2014. - Costa Rica’s straight set win 25-16, 25-18, 25-16 over Guatemala marked their debut at the II Women’s U-23 Central American Championship at Jorge A. Galeano Gymnasium in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Costa Rica managed a solid performance in their first match of the tournament over Guatemala, with dominancy mostly in services. Guatemala remains with five points and now has a 1-1 win-loss record. Costa Rica stands wins five points and 1-0 record.

The winners were superior in kills with a 34-23 margin, 8-3 margin in the blocking category and a huge advantage in service points by 14-3.

Opposite Mijal Hines was Costa Rica’s top scorer with a match-high of 21 points, with 13 kills, 3 blocks and 6 aces; also with double figures, outside hitter Tannia Carazo with 11 points, with 7 kills and 4 aces. Opposite Lourdes Cruz led Guatemala with 10 points.

Costa Rican captain Mijal Hines expressed “our attitude, energy and desire to win were the most important skills today. We performed tactically as traced by our coach, following all his instructions. I know the crowd will support Honduras tomorrow, which we are used too because we usually don’t play back home so it won’t be a problem”.

Maria Alvarez captain of Guatemala said that they weren’t able to concentrate enough “Costa Rica is a very strong team and we began to fail more than usual, letting them score and taking more advantage. We won’t put our heads down and we’ll stay firm for our next matches”.

“I was told by my players that Guatemala was the rival to beat and for what I saw yesterday they were the team I liked the most. I am satisfied with some things that worked well, like our blocking and serves, but still there were actions from my point of view made us commit to many unforced errors” indicated Argentinian coach Horacio Bastit.

Coach David Aldana said “first of all, Costa Rica wins deservedly; they applied well their blocks and serves which were outstanding. We show deficiencies in our outside hitters, for me there are players that we are missing, but we have to recover fast from this loss. For me Costa Rica will sustain the title, they are a solid group with lots of potential and we have to work harder to finish behind them”.