NORCECA Junior Continental Championship 2010: Mexico vs. Martinque
The 2010 Junior Continental Championship kick-started on Monday, 16th August and progressed with an assortment of rocking competitions. The biennial international volleyball event is organised by North & Central American and Caribbean volleyball federation (NORCECA). It has opted for the Canadian city of Quebec this season and the matches are being held at newly built Centre Sportif de Gatineau.
The championship has 11 teams in the squad: Canada, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, Honduras, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Martinique, Cuba, USA, Puerto Rico and St. Lucia.
NORCECA Junior Continental Championship will determine the new continental champion on Saturday, 21st August 2010. The lucky winner will not only attain world ranking points but the triumph will also offer three berths to the winning team in 2011 FIVB World Junior Championship. Cuba is defending the title this year, as they defeated Canada in the final of Junior Men’s Championship in 2008. After finishing second, Canada earned one berth in the last summer’s 2009 FIVB championship in Pune, India.
Puerto Rico and St. Lucia opened the tournament by playing the first match on 16th August. Mexico and Martinique were next in line to play their first match of the tournament. Mexico had experience of many games but Martinique participated in the championship for the first time. The game entered the first set and Mexico served the ball with strong hands. Juan Revuelta led the team efficiently and appointed players at perfect positions. The amazing hits of Mexican wing spiker Juan Revuelta successfully made a huge impact on Martinique’s team.
Martinique suffered frequent drop shots and failed to judge the strategy of Mexico. As a result, Mexicans took a lead and continued putting more pressure on Martinique. Mexico posted a 25-15 win over Martinique in the first set.
The second set created the same impression as Martinique failed to stand on its feet. The shooting spikes cruised through Martiniquais’ court and pushed them behind on the points’ clock. The Mexicans moved forward with fast pace and were able to dominate the second set of the match. Martinique lost the set after receiving 25-15.
Afterwards they struggled to bring balance in the game but their efforts went futile as team totally crashed in the hands of Mexican players. Omar Lerma, Ricardo Galindo and Daniel Sanchez of Mexico scored many points and took the game to a higher level.
Mexico declared victory after winning the third set with little effort. Martinique lost the match after receiving 25-15, 25-15, and 25-16.
The happy Mexican coach appreciated the team-work and passed very good remarks about his team. Jimenez Espitia, the head coach said, “The team has been playing for a long time but you wouldn’t know it from today. We hope it will be better tomorrow”. Mexican captain Jorge Barajas was impressed by the appropriate passing among players. He said, “We were a little bit nervous at the beginning. We didn’t know what to expect from the other team but as the match unfolded we got better and less nervous”.
Since it was the very first match of Martinique in this championship, the head coach of team didn’t take the defeat as a bad omen but he expressed his optimistic views about the team progress. The coach Eddy Salmon said, “I’m very proud of my team. We had trouble getting into the match at the beginning but got progressively better. This was a whole new experience for us”. The Martinique’s Captain, Joffrey Zozol accepted defeat but explained the actual reason of their downfall. He said, “It was completely other level of play and we weren’t sure what to expect. We tended too rush our plays too much and we weren’t at our best”.
Tags: