Mexico and USA advance to semi finals in NORCECA Girls’ Youth Champs

Defending champions USA and NORCECA No.1 ranked Mexico qualified for the semifinals of the NORCECA Girls’ Youth Championship as pool winners with the best points-ratio on Thursday as the battle continues for a place at the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore from August 14-26 and the 2011 FIVB Girl’s Youth World Championship in Turkey.
The champions from NORCECA will represent the region at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games later this year with the top three teams qualifying for the Youth World Championships. Puerto Rico will play Costa Rica, the best second placed team, in the quarterfinals while the Dominican Republic face hosts Guatemala. Mexico and USA qualified directly for the semifinals with points-ratios of 2.344 and 2.250 respectively.
USA v. Canada
Defending champions USA advanced to the semifinals after recording a 3-0 (25-14, 25-12, 25-12) victory over Canada. The U.S. beat Canada in both the blocking category (11-0) and service winners (5-2) with Mallory McCage claiming 11 points, including four blocks, to top the scores.
“Tonight we played our most inconsistent match,” USA Coach Jim Stone said following the victory. “I am glad we are moving on but we need to play better in the upcoming matches. We need to raise the level of play.”
Puerto Rico v. Guatemala
Puerto Rico overcame Guatemala in straight sets (25-19, 25-16, 25-11) to win Pool B but failed to move directly to the semifinals as their points-ratio was 1.984, less than Mexico and USA.
After a slow start, the Puerto Ricans made adjustments and dictated the pace of the game with their offense and advantage at the net. Daly Santana and Pilar Victoria were the top scorers with 11 and 10 points respectively for the victors, with Lucia Castro scoring eight. Leticia Alarcon won seven points for Guatemala.
“Guatemala was a tough rival but we improved our game after the first set,” Puerto Rico’s Santana said. “I think we still have room to improve in our blocking.”
Mexico v. Costa Rica
Mexico finished at the top of Pool A after a straight sets victory over Costa Rica (25-9, 25-10, 25-11).
The Mexicans used their potent spikes, a good floor defense and the performance and leadership of setter Alicia Castro to guide them into the semifinals. Samantha Bricio was the only Mexican in double figures with 22 points. Castro added seven points including six aces and Gabriela Zazueta claimed another seven points all through spikes.

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