Tegucigalpa, Honduras, June 13, 2024.- Nicaragua pulled off a spectacular comeback to secure a 3-2 victory (21-25, 24-26, 25-16, 25-12, 15-09) over Honduras in the closing match of the first day of the I AFECAVOL Women’s Final Four.
After narrowly losing the first two sets, the Nicaraguans managed to dominate the next three sets, showcasing their superiority over a Honduran team that seemed to lose its way on the court.
Nicaragua outperformed Honduras in net attacks with a significant margin, scoring 72 against 47 from Honduras. Both teams were evenly matched in blocks, each with 7, but Nicaragua had a slight edge in serving, leading 5 to 4.
Dalia Conto and Brittany Forbes were the standout attackers for Nicaragua, contributing 28 and 20 points respectively. Hellen Traña also made a double-digit contribution, finishing with 13 points.
For Honduras, the attack was more distributed among four players, Andrea Aceituno with 13 points, Ana Gabriela Marcelin with 12, Rocio Duron with 11, and Cecille Johnson with 10.
Rene Quintana, coach of Nicaragua, commented, “We realized we were struggling with blocking, so we changed our tactics to neutralize their attack, allowing us to counterattack. This helped us take control of the game. I’m not sure what happened to Honduras, but their level of play dropped significantly after the first two sets”.
Marcos Sugiyama, coach of Honduras, said, “Nicaragua played a great match against us. We lost our focus after the second set. Our serving faltered, we lost our blocking, and we left openings for Nicaragua’s middle attackers. This is just the start of the tournament, and we still have two matches to improve and get back in the fight for the top positions.”
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