Volleyball Update: Costa Rica earns second straight victory at the XVI Women’s Central American Cup
The defending champions Costa Rica beat Nicaragua in straight sets. They posted 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, and 25-20) victory over tough contenders Nicaragua on Tuesday, 30th November, 2010. Costa Rica is defending the XVI Women’s Central American Volleyball
Cup Title this year. They played their first match on Monday and clinched success in the opening encounter. The team confirmed its ambition for top ranking in the second match against Nicaragua. Costa Rica’s team enjoyed a great form and remained unbeaten
after two matches. They are determined to secure the title in their custody for another year.
Costa Rica’s Verania Willis added 18 important points in her team’s score. Her team mate Karen Cope followed her footsteps and registered 17 points via 15 attack attempts. In Nicaragua’s team, Claudia Noguera scored 12 points.
First set
The match started off with on a high note. Both sides were ready for clash. Costa Rica had earned a lot of confidence by winning the last match, while Nicaragua on the other hand was already down with the loss of one match against Panama. Verania Willis
was on serve in the first set and she floated the ball in air with great skill. The powerful serve moved like a bullet and crossed over the net. On the side of the net, Nicaragua’s Libero was in unique receiving position. She tackled the ball with care and
returned it in opponents’ court. Later on Verania Willis formed a good combination with her teammate Karen Cope and worked out great progress. They helped their score and tried to influence Nicaragua’s team.
Costa Rica led the game at the first technical timeout (FTT). The vital timeout provided a chance to the players to sit down and discuss the further game plan. The play resumed and Nicaragua attacked with more ferocity. They hit the ball from different angles
and added quick points in their score. Likewise, Costa Rica hit back and refused to accept the better status of Nicaragua. The excellent blocking of Costa Rica’s defenders saved critical points, which enabled them to remain ahead in the game. Costa Rican jumped
on every opportunity and claimed the set by polling 25-19.
Second set
After dropping the first set, Nicaragua was totally raged up. They called in the better substations in second set and threw everything in attack, in order to take revenge from Costa Rica. Nonetheless, Costa Rica was in better position after winning the first
set. The combination of good spiking and superb defence took Costa Rica’s score to a high stake. Despite of great effort and countless attack attempts, Nicaragua couldn’t achieve the desired results. The players looked suspiciously at each others’ faces but
it didn’t help the situation. Costa Rica became stronger and clipped second set by sending the same score of 25-19.
Third set
Costa Rica wanted to quickly finish the third set of the game. They had an excellent game plan to overpower the rival side. However, Nicaragua proved to be a hard candy. They resisted strongly to Costa Rica’s movement but most of their efforts went futile.
Costa Rica once again sparked on the scene and clinched success in third set.
Post match
The head coach of victorious team, Braulio Godinez expressed his views after the match, “We knew this was a key game. Our team started too relaxed and had to react quickly. Nicaragua always is a difficult opponent and we knew that.”
Likewise, Nicaragua’s head coach, Rene Quintana had his say, “Costa Rica failed at some moments of the match and we could capitalize those errors. We played without pressure and it helped us to play better.”
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