Costa Rica records first win beating Haiti

FORT LAUDERDALE, United States, July 28, 2016.- Costa Rica beat Haiti 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-17) to record their first win at the NORCECA Women’s U20 Continental Championship in Nova Southeastern University of Ft. Lauderdale Florida.

Costa Rica’s win was just enough to move forward into the quarterfinal round as third place in group A with 1-2 win-loss record, while Haiti finishes the preliminary round win-less.  

Haiti started winning the first and second sets but Costa Rica recovered fast to finish on top; both teams presented similar conditions in their performance. Costa Rica’s advantage in blocking (7-0) and serves (10-5) were crucial to beat Haiti who did better in spiking (40-34). The Central American team had 18 errors and the Caribbean 24.

Opposite Isla Johnson was Costa Rica’s top scorer with 12 points, on 8 kills, 3 blocks and one ace. Also contributing in the winning cause was outside hitter Alison Font chipped in with 11 points, on 10 kills and one ace. Haiti’s outside hitter Jean Jacques led all scorers with 16 points on kills, followed by opposite Solaida Pierre with 13 kills.   

“We were organized, we played clean and simple; at the beginning we were blurry because in the previous matches we played against very competitive teams and returning to our level took some adjustment” said Costa Rica’s Captain Mariana Rodriguez.

For coach Andres Lopez, the match wasn’t easy “we are able to advance, which in the end was our goal and beating a complicated team like Haiti satisfice me. They are physically stronger and our tactics needed adjustments for a comeback and win”.