|
Belize City, July 13, 2022.- Guatemala defeated
Honduras 3-2 (21-25, 25-16, 25-17, 14-25,
15-11), achieving its first victory (1-0) of the
XIX U21 Central American Women's Volleyball
Championship that takes place at the Belize
Civic Center.
Honduras won the first set and looked like they
were headed for their second win of the event,
but were met by a very battle-hardened
Guatemalan team led by captain Naomi Monney with
24 points and Maria Santa Cruz with 20, six of
them on serves
Andrea Aceituno, from Honduras, was the best for
the second game in a row with 19 points, six on
serves, and 11 from Rocío Durón, four through
blocks.
Honduras led in serves 15-10, but Guatemala was
unstoppable in attack 49-33 and blocking 14-8,
especially in the second and third sets, which
they largely dominated, and was also favored
with 38 points due to errors by their opponents,
committing 27.
Naomi Monney, captain of Guatemala: “We feel
very good since we were able to get the job
done, although it was a bit complicated for us,
we knew how to be united and confident that we
were going to get the match. We have a team in
which we all contribute and that keeps us
excited, it costs us a bit to serve, but today
we were good and we are working for that. We
expected a complicated Honduras, it was our
first game, we had to see how we got along,
especially on a new field.”
William Fernández, coach of Guatemala: “It was a
very difficult match, especially because in the
last tournament we faced Honduras, they beat us
in three sets and in a very easy way. We worked
on the mental part, they at the time adjusted
their defense and blocking, we also made changes
because we needed to improve tactics and give
some players rest because we knew that more than
three sets could be played. In the critical
moments the service worked, we made many "aces",
especially with strong serves... in the third
set with a lot of disadvantage we managed to
recover and get the set thanks to the service".
Gabriela Gómez, captain of Honduras: “The
Honduran team has always had problems with
mentality, we have a great team, just nerves,
anxiety, some who have little experience, in
their first tournament, that took its toll on us
in the end and the truth are things that are
going to help us improve and climb to the top”.
Marvin Ulloa, coach of Honduras: “We have been
dragging a problem with the receipt, I feel that
we have improved a lot, but just like yesterday
against El Salvador, a single player did us a
lot of damage. As had been pointed out before
the tournament started, this is very even, we
couldn't keep our serve, I imagine that due to
tension, nervousness... just as the game was
closed, a couple of errors made the difference".
This Thursday, Honduras has a rest and Guatemala
plays against Nicaragua at 5:00 p.m. |
