México open with a victory over Guatemala

TIJUANA, Mexico, August 6 2012 — México won against Guatemala in straight sets (25-13, 25-9, 25-12). Fernanda Bañuelos and Diana Valdez scored 10 points apiece, while captain Ivonne Martínez recorded four aces. For Guatemala, the top scorer was captain Estefanie Bethancourth, with 6 points.

“We tried to give everything that we had against our rival, now we know must improve in the tournament after this match,” said Guatemala’s captain Estefanie Bethancourth.

“This win helps us to play with more confidence, we had some mistakes but we can improve, some nerves of course, but I think we can advance,” Ivonne Martinez mentioned.

“Taking part in a tournament like this is very important to understand conflict situations during a match. We faced a very compact team and we need to add and to improve,” said Julio Dominguez, head coach of Guatemala.

For Estanislao Vachino, coach of Mexico, this match represented a mystery. “We didn’t know how the team was going to respond before facing Guatemala, at this age girls play how they live,” he said. “But we had three experienced players from the Olympic Qualifier and the Pan Am Cup like Fernanda (Bañuelos), Jocelyn (Urias) and Ivonne (Martinez) and we achieved our first goal”.