USA moves to semi final of U-19 Continental Championship – Volleyball news
A quarter final match of the NORCECA Boys’ U-19 Continental Championship took place on Thursday, July 5, 2012 between USA and Costa Rica. The Mexican city of Tijuana is playing host to the tournament while the matches are being played at the Centro de Alto Rendimiento sports hall. The US were able to secure a spot in the semi final round of the championship by making a clean sweep over Costa Rica in front of an audience of 150.
The US was able to bag three straight sets in one hour and eight minutes at the following final set scores: 25-13, 25-13 and 25-16. US will now be heading for a semi final match with Cuba.
The coach of the American squad, Daniel Friend, expressed his happiness at the victory in the following manner, “This is a team of very young guys in their first International tournament. A ´W´ (for winning) is always good and it helps a lot. No matter against who you win.”
On the other hand, the Costa Rican coach Alberto Travieso commented in the following manner at the loss of his team, “We lost our focus, tried to make some changes and adjustments, and played better on the third set, but it was not enough. Now we have to prepare for our next match.”
The highest number of points registered in the match was by Earl Schultz of USA as he put up a score of 14. Schultz was helped by his team mate David Parker as he added 10 points of his own. On the Costa Rican side, the most active player was Luis Diego Abarca, who recorded eight points in all.
US started off the first set of the match with force as they were able to take the lead early on and kept the pressure on their opponents by extending their advantage. The Costa Ricans tried to keep up the chase but they could not keep pace for long as the US sped off to bag the opening set at 25-13.
The second set had the score level during the beginning but US eventually pulled away with a lead. The Costa Ricans fell to making errors that made it easier for the US to extend their advantage. Despite the fact that Costa Rica tired to close in the gap, by that time it was too late as the US squad was racing ahead to secure the frame at 25-13.
The third set saw the Costa Ricans take the lead in an attempt to avoid a clean sweep but they could not hold on to the advantage for long as US was able to tie the score and get the lead for themselves. Once they had the advantage, US pushed on to bag the third set at 25-16.
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