Guatemala book ticket to NORCECA third round

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, June 8, 2013 - Guatemala earned a spot in the third round of NORCECA qualifiers towards the FIVB Women’s World Championship after recording their second victory of Saturday at the Group L Tournament.

The home girls had to fight hard to earn their second victory defeating Guadeloupe 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-15) in the closing match of day one.

Guadeloupe attacked in every way possible with superiority in blocking by 10-4, but the local girls were able to take control with advantage in spikes 41-24 to remain undefeated with a 2-0 win-loss record.

Rut Gomez was Guatemala’s top scorer with 19 points and Isabelle Acina was Guadeloupe’s best with 11 points.

Guatemala meets Aruba on Sunday morning while Guadeloupe faces St. Kitts & Nevis to complete the preliminary phase of the tournament.

“Their higher blocks hurt us, but we knew how to counterattack with a better strategy, playing united and following our coaches’ instructions, said Diana Arias, Guatemala’s captain. “I believe we’ll meet again in the final match.”

Isabelle Acina was a little emotional after the loss. “It’s hard to lose and after having two spectacular sets it’s odd. Guatemala pushed hard and we weren’t able to keep it up in the third set with many faults, but this isn’t finished yet.”

David Aldana, Guatemala’s coach said: “We were surprised by Guadeloupe as we saw them a play differently against Aruba. After the substitution of Blanca Recinos due to a minor injury, Andrea Diaz led our victory in the second set. Our strong serves made them lose control.”

Jean-Louis first wanted to thank NORCECA for organizing these tournaments and also congratulated Guatemala for hosting the event.