NORCECA Continental Championship Group C
- Oct. 11-16, 2017
- Trinidad & Tobago
- Schedule/Results
Mexico def. Costa Rica 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-21)
Trinidad & Tobago def. Dominica 3-0 (25-16, 25-7, 25-9)
Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago took the first steps toward qualifying for the 2018 World Championships with Day 1 victories at the NORCECA Group C tournament.
Mexico 3, Costa Rica 0
Mexico bested Costa Rica in kills (32-21), blocks (6-2) and aces (7-4) in a 72 minute sweep.
Samantha Bricio led the way with 14 points, tallying 11 kills, two blocks and an ace. Dulce Carranza followed with 12 points, nine kills, two aces and a block. Karla Sainz added two aces, while Bricio and Xitlali Herrera notched two blocks apiece.
“Andrea Rangel is recovering from a shoulder injury and we won’t take any risks, she will play only if necessary, if we reach a critical moment in the tournament,” Mexican coach Ricardo Naranjo said. “Rangel is this team’s leader and she brings motivation to the girls. We controlled Costa Rica attacking diagonally which is their handicap. This is a short tournament so I need all my players to be ready to perform, that’s why a made some variations. Samantha is a positive element for our team; she is also recovering from an injury.”
Yuliana Gonzalez Alfaro scored nine points to pace Costa Rica, accounting for a team-best six kills and three aces. Paola Ramirez added seven points, with six kills and a block. Johanna Gamboa chipped in six points, with four kills, a block and an ace.
“Our strongest asset is our defense and we lifted a lot of attacks, we performed well,” Costa Rican coach Cesar Salas said. “We wanted to be more effective counter attacking and I am pleases how the players regrouped. We must hold-off our defense longer, it´s our weapon and we must work on it more. We should also find better solutions while attacking, like Mexico did.”
Trinidad & Tobago 3, Dominica 0
Eighteen aces and a 36-4 lead in kills helped Trinidad & Tobago to an easy 55 minute victory over Dominica. Dominica was assisted by 25 T&T miscues in the match.
“I am very satisfied with the result,” T&T captain Krystle Esdelle said. “Technically speaking, our communication was impressive, we didn’t let anything get us down; if we lost a ball we kept on going and kept focused. We have many goals this weekend and we have to maintain moving. We will build on what we did today to continue with a powerful service and play hard; we won’t give up”.
Channon Thompson scored 20 points, with a match-high nine aces, 10 kills and a block. Sinead Jack turned in 14 points, notching eight kills, five aces and a block. Jalicia Ross was next on the team with eight points, including seven kills.
“We missed many serves because we are not adjusted to the court yet,” T&T coach Francisco Cruz said. “My athletes have a higher game level than this one; the thing is that our opponent did not challenge us. This victory adds, but tomorrow is a whole new game. I’ve been waiting for a long time for my players to have such good attitude; they have transformed their state of mind since playing Grand Prix”.
Anna Maria Xavier and Kyla Winston notched two points apiece to lead Dominica. Wiinston notched a kill and an ace, while Xavier posted a kill and a block.
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