Costa Rica-Antigua & Barbuda
After a long battle in the first set, Costa Rica dominated the actions for the rest of the encounter despite periods of inconsistency.
The winners held a 17-9 margin in the blocking category and both teams made 27 unforced errors.
Richard Smith led Costa Rica with 21 points followed by Jeffrey Calderon and Jose Pablo Zumbado with 15 and 11 respectively. Antigua’s Thomas Collin had a match-high 24 points and James Jamarie finished with eleven.
The Central American side next meets Aruba on Sunday morning to conclude the preliminary phase of the tournament. Meanwhile, Antigua & Barbuda dropped to 0-2 and plays Curacao.
“The change of setters gave us a more dynamic game after the first set and we also pressed a lot with our serves, those were the keys for us,” Costa Rican coach Cesar Salas said. “Antigua showed a lot of power in the first set when we were also a little bit off.”
“All four sets were close most of the time but our first pass was the real difference,” Antigua & Barbuda coach Benjamin Fritzroy stated. “Our serve reception was not good and the players didn’t respond after the first set.”
Costa Rican Smith said: “We tried to improve from our mistakes in the morning match. We started a little bit off but then we caught the rhythm and were able to do the necessary to win with hard work.”
Antiguan Xavier Roberts commented: “It was a very hard battle in the first set but I must say their attackers capitalized on the good job done by the setter who always found number 11 (Smith) against a single blocker.”
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