Costa Rica prevails over Guatemala in five set thriller

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, July 10, 2014.-  Costa Rica prevailed over hosts Guatemala 3-2 (25-17, 25-20, 22-25, 21-25, 15-8) on Thursday night at the Women’s U-20 NORCECA Continental Championship at Teodoro Palacios Flores Gymnasium

Costa Rica couldn’t seal the Central American classic in three sets with Guatemala extending the match to a five set thriller in front of more than 1000 spectators. Costa Rica finishes the preliminary round as Pool B winners and advances along with Guatemala to the quarterfinals.

The winners held a 10-7 advantage in the blocking category, a 9-5 margin in service points and 45-42 in spikes.

With a math-high of 23 points, outside hitter Tania Carazo led Costa Rica’s offensive line along with Monica Castro with 19 points. For Guatemala, outside hitter Maria Villagran and opposite Maria Garcia were the top scorers with 11 points apiece; Jessica Anleu added 10 points.

“Guatemala had a splendid comeback, forcing us to lose concentration and putting pressure on our own performance. We lost the consistency of the first two sets but we are excited to have won against Guatemala who had beaten us in the Central American Championship last year” said captain Tatiana Sayles.

Guatemala’s captain Jessica Anleu said “we never gave up, we fought every point but I’m sad to have lost, we really wanted to finish in first place”.

“In this age-group, the players aren’t used to face pressure, nor fans cheering. Costa Rica couldn’t establish an individual tactic, the team wasn’t consistent and we lost many service points, I’m not satisfied with their performance but the only way to improve is playing more at this level” indicated coach Martin Rodriguez.

Cuban coach William Fernandez for Guatemala said to be very proud of his team “they were down by two sets and had a surprising comeback. Unfortunately our bench players lack experience to make more efficient changes during the match and we lack leadership”.