Mexico outduels Costa Rica in opening day

TIJUANA, Mexico, April 29, 2012 – Mexico defeated Costa Rica 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-14) in the last match of Day One at the NORCECA Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament on Sunday.

It was a close battle for the first two sets of the contest but the home team took advantage of a long rally of serves by setter Alicia Castro to take a commanding 13-0 lead in the third set.

Mexico team was better in serving aces (7-2) and the Costa Ricans were the superior side in the blocking (8-4).

Alejandra Isiordia topped Mexico with 17 points while Olivia Meza and Karla Sainz each added 7. Costa Rica’s Verania and Angela Willis had 11 and 10 points respectively.

“Our team is very young but I can feel without question that we are improving,” Sainz said. “We started doing good things and we will keep going.”

“The first match is always a difficult one and that was the case for us,” Verania Willis said. “We faced the home team and made a lot of mistakes in concentration, especially with the passes. The opponent service also affected us.”

Estanislao Vachino, the coach of Mexico, said: “Playing as the home team is always a motivation. It was a very important match for us and thanks God they made mistakes in moments when they shouldn’t. Our plan was based on our serves because of Costa Rica’s height and power attacks.”

Xavier Perales, the coach of Costa Rica, said: “In the first rotation of the third set we could not get into rhythm and Mexico is a team with good control of the ball and defense.”