Chile earns first victory over Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, April 29, 2013. - Chile earned their first victory over host Guatemala 3-0 (25-18, 25-11, 25-7) in the last match of opening day at the U-18 Girls Pan American Cup.

The home girls put up a fight in the first set, but slowly lost to a more experienced Chile who was better in the blocking category by 9-4 and in service points by 8-3.

Chile had in Catalina Meloits top scorer with 16 points, Catalina Pulgar contributed with 14 and Laura Sotomayor with 11. For Guatemala, Natalia Giron was the best scorer with 5 points.

Catalina Melo for the winners said that the pressure of the first match is hard to overcome, “all our opponents are hard but playing against the home team is more difficult, now we’ll study Puerto Rico to prepare for tomorrow’s match.”

“We had high expectations but we weren’t able to focus, our anxiousness took control and we must continue to fight” expressed EstefanieBethancourthcaptain of Guatemala.

Hugo Jauregui, Argentinian coach for Chile was pleased with his team, “I began working from zero three years ago, and with the support of our sports authorities and the federation our job has been faster. The first set was complicated but in the end our experience was essential.”

Julio Dominguez, coach of Guatemala stated that it’s not easy to recover from a loss, “our team has more to give, the first match is always difficult and we have to work in our passing”.