MANAGUA, Nicaragua, September 9, 2023 – Costa Rica’s national team secured their fourth consecutive victory as after defeating Guatemala 3-0 (25-17, 30-28, 25-19) on Saturday at the XXII AFECAVOL Women’s Central American Cup.
For Guatemala, it was their fourth consecutive defeat, still without any wins, despite putting up a fight in all sets, as seen in the second set where they had three set points. However, Costa Rica managed to finish strong and take the set, which gave them greater confidence heading into the third.
Marcela Araya continues to be a key player for the Costa Rican team, this time scoring 13 points, and Tatiana Sayles added 10. For Guatemala, María García contributed 13 points.
Costa Rica led in attacks 38-30, blocks 8-5, and service points 5-3. Additionally, they benefited from 29 unforced errors by their opponents while committing 26 themselves.
On Sunday, Costa Rica will face Panama at 1:30 p.m., and Guatemala will go up against Nicaragua at 6:30 p.m.
QUOTES
Pablo Acuña, coach of Costa Rica: “When it’s Central America, it’s a different tournament for Costa Rica. All the opponents prepare to beat us, and we take it as a big challenge. We prepare so that each player is ready to play her role, and today, what I appreciate is that we had a better start than in the previous match”.
Julissa Rodríguez, middle blocker of Costa Rica: “We are super happy, but it’s thanks to the teamwork that both the coaching staff and we have been doing. In reality, we haven’t won anything yet; we still have games to go, and we need to keep working as we have been and show what we know how to do with the goal we’ve set for ourselves”.
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