Costa Rica overcomes defending champions Guatemala

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, December 8, 2014 - Costa Rica surpassed defending champion Guatemala in straight sets 30-28, 25-12, 25-17 at the XVIII Men’s Central American Cup at Jorge Galeano Gymnasium in Tegucigalpa.

It was an outstanding performance from Costa Rica that knocked down Guatemala in a thrilling first set that led to a comfortable win in the two remaining sets. Costa Rica won five points to remain unbeaten with a 3-0 record and fifteen points. Guatemala dropped to 2-1 and nine points.

Costa Rica dominated Guatemala with advantage in every category: 36-24 in kills, 10-7 in blocking and 8-2 in serves.

Outside hitters Richard Smith and Alberto Blanco led Costa Rica’s offensive line with 17 and 15 points respectively. On Guatemala’s side, opposite player Moises Reyes and middle blocker Andy Leonardo scored 8 points apiece. 

Costa Rica’s Richard Smith said: “Our start list was different, we played too relaxed in the first set because we’ve been performing well the past days and we gave the chance to other players, some did well and other didn’t, so we re-adjusted after the first set and worked hard for the win, we played as if it was the final match”.

Andy Leonardo, Guatemala’s captain, indicated that the team wasn’t able to recover from losing the first set. “The team’s energy dropped after losing the first set, psychologically we weren’t focused; our reception was poor, we couldn’t solve”.

Coach Cesar Salas of Costa Rica expressed: “I’m very glad, I never thought in winning the way we did; we analyzed Guatemala very well, we used several tools to study them. We attacked their weakness effectively and that’s why it seems comfortable. It’s a great victory, we beat the champion; it was a final match and in straight sets puts us in a good position in the competition”.