Martinique battles past Guatemala in three sets

PARAMARIBO, Suriname,  June 15, 2013 - Rodrigue Larcher and Gregory Alpha combined for 34 points as Martinique overcame a tough test from Guatemala 3-0 (25-20, 31-29, 25-22)  in their opening match of the  second round NORCECA Men’s Group M qualifiers to the 2014 FIVB World Volleyball Championship in Poland.

Larcher ended with a match-high 19 points which was comprised of 16 spikes, two service aces and one block while  Alpha had 14 spikes in his 15 points total as the French-speaking  island showed the better of the nerves to close out the evenly contested encounter, the second match in Group M, at the Ismay Van Wilgen Sporthal in 90 minutes.

The duo of captain David Lefaivre and Mayik Gros-Desormeaux each added eight points for Martinique which dominated the Central Americans on spikes, 46-37; 7-4 on blocks and 4-3 on service aces while committing more errors, 27-24.

For Guatemala, Jeyson Flores had a team-high ten points while Andy Blanco got nine, and Gerardo Gonzalez and captain Oscar Daniel Garcia, seven points apiece in the loss.

Speaking after the match, Oscar Daniel Garcia, captain of Guatemala noted that it was a very close match for both teams but the key was that his team had a lot of difficulty in receiving the serves of Martinique.

He added, “We were also a bit surprised as we did not expect Martinique to play at the level they did. They played a very good match and we have to play better in our next two matches, because we can still finish in the top two to reach the final.”

Lefaivre, captain of the victorious Martinique team said his team expected a good result because of their good preparation for the tournament.

“We also had good mental preparation for this match which was very key in getting the key points when the sets were close. We concentrated well and came out with a good win.

Cuban-born Reider Lucas, the coach of Guatemala first congratulated Martinique on a match well played.

He added, “The match was a close one, but Martinique did the little things needed to get the win better than us. They also concentrated on the match much better than us, but we have two more matches which we need to win, so we will be working towards that.

Eddy Erialc, coach of Martinique noted that Guatemala has a team with a lot of good spikers and his assignment to his team was to get in very good first serves to make passing very difficult for their opponents.

“My team also played with a lot of confidence because we did not know what to expect and now we have the win and will take this same attitude into our next match against the host country, which will no doubt have the crowd support behind them,” Erialc said.