Nicaragua brushes aside St. Martin

Marigot, St. Martin August 10 2013 -  Nicaragua recorded their first victory  in  the Men's World Cup Qualifiers group I when they defeated hosts St. Martin in straight sets (25-23, 25 -15 and 25-14).

The first game promised a competitive match but St. Martin flattered to deceive and were almost blown away in the other two sets.

Nicaragua depended on an overall team performance to achieve the victory and their efforts were reflected on the score sheet.

Captain Kenneth Sevilla and Jonathan Lopez both had 9 points while Alvarado Martinez and Tito Valdivia  chipped in with 8 and 7 points respectively. St. Martin on the other hand had a clear leader in Francky Luchel with 9 points in a losing effort.

"We got our hearts broken and  our spirits fell after the first game ended in such a narrow defeat. Consequently we lost momentum and was never able to get it back", recounted captain Paul Quellery of St. Martin. His  coach (Jean Luc Lezin) was a little more satisfied with the effort. "We have shown improvement from game to game but it is still not enough to win at this level. We have no choice now but to put in our best effort against Bahamas tomorrow, "  he said.

Coach  Lester Martinez of Nicaragua said that his team did well to forget the earlier loss and regrouped for the all important victory. "We played with a lot more spirit and gusto. Our perspective changed as to how to achieve a victory at this level playing against teams that are physically and technically sound. We were prepared to fight every ball  the end and we did," he claimed.

The final preliminary games see St. Martin against Bahamas and Barbados taking on Nicaragua.