Belize Vs Guatemala in U-19 Female Central American Volleyball Championship
Three-zero – team Belize, in its winning streak, pummelled the u-nineteen female volleyball team from Nicaragua during the Central American Volleyball Championship being hosted in Belize. It brings Belize a step closer to the silver medal in the regional competition, which concludes on Saturday. Today, News Five’s Duane Moody caught up with the team as it concluded a practice session this morning, ahead of the matchup against Guatemala tonight. Here’s that report.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Going into tonight’s match against Guatemala, Belize’s national under-nineteenth female volleyball team was preparing earlier today at the Belize City Civic Center. This match comes on the heels of defeating Nicaragua on Thursday night.
Avianca Avila
Avianca Avila, Captain, Belize U-19 Female Volleyball Team
“We had morning practice before that game and we really tried to clean up everything that we need to clean up and I think we did really well on improving things that we needed to improve on during the game.”
Zanyah Hall
Zanyah Hall, Athlete, Belize U-19 Female Volleyball Team
“For the morning practice we always try to fix everything that we were lacking the game before. So for today, we also did the same and we are working on covering and everything so that we can really get the silver today.”
Allan Sharp
Allan Sharp, President, Belize Volleyball Association
“Nicaragua came in expecting that they would win, we went in expecting that we would win which made it a perfect match. Both sides want to battle and our girls came out fantastic. They played the game they should play; they played very well, consistent, focus, high efficiency, big boom by our big boomers.”
With Belize’s current standing, having lost only one game to Costa Rica, we are poised to be the second best team in the competition. It’s an added pressure for team Belize, but the president of the Belize Volleyball Association says that our female athletes are skilled and can come out on top.
Allan Sharp
“The win tonight is actually what puts us in the definite medal and then starts to determine the color. The game tonight and the game tomorrow night will determine what color of the medal we are going after. But the game tonight is going to define definitely that we are on the podium because Nicaragua has lost two, we have only lost one. Costa Rica has lost none; they still two matches to play, we still have two more matches to play and Nicaragua has one more match to play. So they’re pretty much set. Guatemala has two losses and so the match tonight is important to them. They are going to be coming with everything because they cannot afford to lose. Losing means likely not being on the podium which has not happened to them in a long time. So it would be sweet all the way around to win. There is Costa Rica and right on the heels is us and then there is the rest. So long as our girls remain relax, learn from the experience of Monday night playing against Costa Rica. How to manage your emotions, how to play for calm, stay within your game plan which I think the girls have learnt. They’ve done very well; this is an experienced team.”
Captain Avianca Avila says that the training has been intense, but they are on a mission to make the country proud.
Avianca Avila
“We had to practice really hard. We’ve been doing double practices every day for the past three months and like about two to three hours for each practice.”
Duane Moody
“So you’re ready for Guatemala?”
Avianca Avila
“We are ready. We are just gonna go on the court, put in our all and work hard and we hope that the crowd will also motivate us. Everybody come out, support us.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
