Nicaragua opens with a victory

Managua, Nicaragua, May 18, 2012 – Nicaragua defeated Honduras 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-16) in the opening of the 2014 FIVB Women’s World Championship First Round NORCECA H on Friday night.

Nicaragua relied on the solid attacks of Valeska Hernandez who registered 13 points and was followed by Captain Claudia Noguera and Heydi Traña with 8 and 7 respectively. Honduras’ Carmen Aguilar had 11 points attacking over the local defense at the net.

Noguera, captain of Nicaragua, greeted the Honduras team for its fighting spirit during the match. “Both teams started a little bit slow but then we fired up with the match. All the sets were complicated but we were able to win.”

Catarine Leiva, captain of Honduras said: “We had many errors in the reception and that hurt us but we hope to improve for the next match. We need to force our serves and be more ready for the pass to improve our attack.”

Nicaragua’s Coach Rene Quintana commented on the progress of Honduras. “I was surprised by the actions of Honduras especially with their risky serves to win several points. Their high sets above all with Aguilar hurt us also, but we adjusted our blocking.”

Felix Savio, coach of Honduras, admitted Nicaragua was the superior team both in techniques and in tactics. “They were better, but we also made mistakes in some things we trained and that is something we need to improve.”

“Against Guatemala I will play more juniors because they need to get the experience in preparation for future events.”

Guatemala and Honduras play on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.