MANAGUA, Nicaragua, September 25, 2024. – Costa Rica earned their second victory by defeating El Salvador 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-19) on the second day of the First AFECAVOL U17 Central American Girls’ Championship.
At times, El Salvador put pressure on Costa Rica, staying tied until the second technical timeout (16), but from then on, Costa Rica maintained composure and relied on their serve, which once again made the difference.
Costa Rica led in attacks 44-24, in blocks 4-1, and in serves 11-3, with seven aces from Nicole Leiva and three from Nadia Granados, though they committed more unforced errors with 23 to El Salvador’s 16.
Leiva was Costa Rica’s top scorer with 14 points, and Campos added 13, the same as Charlotte Martínez. For El Salvador, Tatiana Gómez finished with seven points.
On Thursday, on day three, Costa Rica will play Guatemala at 1:30 p.m., and El Salvador will face Honduras at 4:00 p.m.
Kareem Richard, Head coach of Costa Rica: “Thank God we were able to get the victory. It was a bit difficult, but we understand that this is normal at this level. The positive thing is how the girls managed to bounce back after hitting a rough patch. Now we need to keep growing, and that’s what this age group is for – to keep learning and developing our future national team athletes”.
Pedro Rivas, Head coach of El Salvador: “We thought we were better prepared to compete a bit more against Costa Rica. We made a lot of mistakes in the first set, which cost us, but we tried to turn things around. The girls gained confidence and shook off their nerves by the third set. We know they’re young, for some this is their first event, so it was a good result. I’m proud of the girls for putting Costa Rica, a well-prepared team, under pressure”.
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