Nicaragua defeat Panama in straight sets

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras. June 24, 2024.- Nicaragua defeated Panamá 3-0  (25-11, 25-14, 25-20) in the second match of day three at the VI U23 Women’s Central American Championship at Gimnasio Jorge Galeno in Tegucigalpa.

Once again Panama showed to have one of the best defenses in the tournament, Nicaragua prevailed thanks to their experience and smart play on the court. In the last set, Nicaragua had to make a great effort to finish the match in three sets.

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Nicaragua benefited from Panama’s unforced errors (28) to finish the match in their favor, in addition to dominating every skill of the match, 32-24 in attacks, 5 to 2 in blocks and 10 to 3 in service aces.

Ekaterina Ureña of Panama led all scorers with 11 points, among them one block and one ace. Six players led Nicaragua’s offense, with 8 points Masiel Brenes and Marcela Martínez; and  Norma Brenes, Samantha Vargas, María José Rivera and Brittany Forbes with seven points each.

Masiel Brenes of Nicaragua explained “Panama worked hard in defense and receiving, that made the match difficult, but we were able to reach the result we were aiming for, not like we expected, but we won. We think we are still on time to keep improving and doing things better in every match”.

Ekaterina Ureña of Panama said “the match was well disputed, but our errors didn’t allow us to win sets. Little by little we are improving. Nicaragua is a great team; we have good players”.