Guatemala defeats Honduras in straight sets

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, October 7, 2014. - Guatemala defeated Honduras in straight sets 25-22, 25-19, 25-23 on the second day of actions of the Women’s XVIII Central American Cup.

Host Guatemala managed to lead with strong spikes as Honduras edged the home team tying the scores on several occasions coming from behind. Honduras showed a tight defense while Guatemala struggled mostly in the last set. Guatemala remains unbeaten with a 2-0 win-loss record and Honduras stands with 1-1 record.

Stats speak for themselves as it was a close win for Guatemala; in the blocking and services categories both scored 6 and 5 points respectively. Guatemala committed 26 unforced errors and El Salvador had a total of 25. Guatemala held a 39-27 advantage in spikes.

Outside hitter Blanca Recinos was an important element in Guatemala’s victory, scoring 15 points all in kills. Middle blocker Mariajosse Diaz topped Honduras with 14 points.

“It was a well disputed match, we won it strategically. Guatemala performed solidly, mostly with attacks and our serves damaged their passing. Tomorrow we’ll face Panama as strong as we performed today” said captain Diana Arias.

Honduras’ captain Estela Duron expressed “we are able to come from behind, tie the score but we’re having difficulties in sealing the win. We fought stronger in the first and third sets and I believe we’re getting closer to adding important victories. We must continue focused on performing well as the tournament advances”.

“We lost concentration and the team was able to work under pressure and obtain the result; for me this is good as they put to the test their knowledge in solving in our favor. The strategy was to neutralize three of their important players” said Guatemalan coach David Aldana.