August 6, 2023.- The elimination rounds of the 2023 FIVB Girls’ U19 Volleyball World Championship are now set after the pool play stage was completed on Sunday with 60 matches held over the course of six days in Osijek, Croatia, and Szeged, Hungary.
The Round of 16 will be held on Monday in both cities, while the eight teams that didn’t make it out of their pools, finishing fifth and sixth in their groups, will now compete in the playoffs for 17th-24th places.
NORCECA representatives United States, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico advanced to the Round of 16, which feature: Türkiye vs. Korea, the United States vs. the Dominican Republic, Croatia vs. Poland, and Japan vs. Puerto Rico (in Osijek), China vs. Thailand, Italy vs. Egypt, Argentina vs. Brazil and Bulgaria vs. Hungary (in Szeged).
In Pool B, in Osijek, the dispute was still open for two of the four spots in play and Puerto Rico topped Germany 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-15) to advance in third place and send the Europeans to fifth. Their victory also benefited the Dominican Republic, who got a forfeit win over Nigeria and advanced in fourth place.
Back in Szeged, Thailand claimed the last spot available in Pool C with their 3-1 (25-11, 21-25, 25-22, 25-14) win over sixth-placed Canada.
Pool D had a direct battle between Korea and Serbia for the last spot in the playoffs. The Koreans did their homework, topping sixth-placed Mexico 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-22) and managed to finish fourth after Serbia fell to pool winners the United States 3-2 (25-15, 18-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-7) and ended in fifth place.
The tournament continues on Monday with the Round of 16 and will have one day off on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s quarterfinals, which will all be hosted in Osijek. The semifinals will be held on Thursday and the medal matches on Friday. Playoff matches will also be held in parallel to determine positions from 5th to 24th.
BELIZE CITY, Belize, August 6, 2023.. The Nicaraguan National Team started their campaign with a 3-1 victory over Honduras (25-13/19-25/25-18/25-19) in the XXII AFECAVOL Central American Men’s Volleyball Cup organized at the Belize City Civic Center.
The first set was dominated by Nicaragua, with a comfortable 12-point lead, securing the set at 25-13.
Honduras was determined to level the match and managed to win the second set with a score of 25-19.
In the third and fourth sets, Nicaragua maintained their dominance despite Honduras putting up a fight. The Nicaraguan team secured victories with scores of 25-18 and 25-19, winning the match 3-1.
Nicaragua outperformed Honduras in attacks (43-40), serves (14-4), and blocks (6-5). Nicaragua earned 31 points from opponent errors, while Honduras secured 26 points from their rival’s mistakes.
Outside hitter Jonny Zeledón emerged as Nicaragua’s top scorer with 14 points, including 10 from attacks, 1 from blocks, and 3 from serves. On the other side, also outside hitter David Villatoro from Honduras scored 16 points, making him the highest scorer with 14 points from attacks, one from blocks, and one from serves.
NCA VS HON VILLATORO (11)-XXII Copa Centroamericana Masculina
On Monday, August 7, Nicaragua will face Costa Rica at 2:30 PM, while Honduras will have a free day in the schedule.
Jorge Mena, Nicaragua’s coach: “The match got complicated for us; we lost a set, which wasn’t our intention. However, the players improved as the game progressed. This is just the beginning. What we wanted was to win the match. Tomorrow, we have another game against Costa Rica, and we’ll aim for the victory”.
Marco Sugiyama, Honduras’ coach: “We started the game a bit poorly, slow. We need to accelerate our process for the next match. I’ll be talking to the players, and I hope to bring about a change for the next game”.
BELIZE CITY, Belize, August 6, 2023.- The Panama Men’s Volleyball Team made a triumphant debut with a 3-1 victory over Costa Rica (25-17/25-20/22-25/25-15) at the XXII AFECAVOL Central American Men’s Volleyball Cup.
In the first match of the day and the tournament at the Belize City Civic Center, Panama displayed determination to secure the win. They clinched the first set with an eight-point lead (25-17).
Panama’s dominance continued into the second set. While Costa Rica occasionally closed in on the score, the Panamanian players persisted in their pursuit of victory, ultimately securing the set 25-20.
Costa Rica entered the third set determined to extend the match, taking the third set with a tight three-point lead over Panama, 25-22.
Coaches Horacio Angulo of Panama and Johan Morales of Costa Rica spoke with their players ahead of the fourth set, one hoping to win the match and the other aiming to tie it for a decisive fifth set.
Panama dominated the fourth set with a 10-point lead, finishing the match with a score of 3-1.
Panama’s offense attacking in the match was evident, with 50 points compared to Costa Rica’s 44. Panama also outperformed in blocks, 16-7, and serves, 8-4.
Panama earned 23 points from their opponent’s errors, while Costa Rica secured 22.
Panama’s opposite hitter Uriel Batista was determined, scoring 26 points, including 21 from attacks, 1 from blocks, and 4 from serves. For Costa Rica, opposite hitter Gilbert Solano scored 15 points, all from attacks.
CRC VS PAN URIEL BATISTA-XXII Copa Centroamericana Mayor Masc (25)
On Monday, August 7, Panama will face Belize at 7:30 PM, while Costa Rica will compete against Nicaragua at 2:30 PM.
Horacio Angulo, Panama’s coach: “We had two sets heavily in our favor that we were able to secure. Costa Rica is a challenging team, especially with coaches who understand volleyball and have worked a lot on their float serves, which somewhat gave difficulties to my team’s reception. We managed to take the third set, and in the fourth set, I made a couple of adjustments, subbing out one player and bringing in a young 19-year-old, Gherson Ortíz, who is a rising star in volleyball. The team played well with the system we’ve practiced in Panama, and thank God, we secured the victory”.
Johan Morales, Costa Rica’s coach: “We knew it wouldn’t be an easy match. Panama inflicted a lot of damage with their serves; we couldn’t control them. When we did manage to control them, we ended up one-on-one, but our attackers couldn’t close. These are things we need to change; in such a fast tournament, we can’t afford to stay down or give up. We know our purpose here, and we still have five matches to make certain changes to achieve it. I brought mobility to the team with significant changes, but in the end, it didn’t work out. We made too many unforced errors, and our defensive tactics were lacking. We weren’t at our best, so now we need to regroup and come to play against Nicaragua, another tough opponent”.
PONCE, PUERTO RICO, August 6, 2023.- The United States began the XX Senior Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup with a quick victory against Costa Rica in three sets (25-12, 25-12, 25-17) on Sunday at Juan Juan “Pachín” Vicens in Ponce.
The United States offense made itself felt from the beginning of the game and had three players in double figures to get the important victory. Mims Taylor was the top scorer with 17 points (13 attacks, 4 blocks); Logan Eggleston with 14 points (13 attacks, one ace); and Danielle Hart with 13 points (8 attacks, 3 blocks, 2 aces).
The Americans made nine blocks against two by Costa Rica. In serves, the United States dominated 5-1.
For Costa Rica, Tatiana Sayles Marín was the best scorer with 11 points (11 on kills) and Marcela Ayara with six (6 on kills).
The United States will face Peru tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. and Costa Rica, will face Canada at 2:00 p.m.
Costa Rica will face Canada tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. and the United States will play Peru at 4:00 p.m.
United States vs Costa Rica Women’s Pan American Cup
Brad Rostratter, Coach of United States of America: “It’s good to start off the tournament that way and to have our team come in and play well. And we definitely had some jitters and started the first set, so it was nice to get settled. We really were just focused on ourselves and how we’re playing and us. In continuity together. And that’s our focus throughout. Tomorrow, we got Peru. So we gotta watch some video prepare, watch ourselves and and upgrade some things”.
Sarah Wilhite Parsons, Captain of United States of America: “I think overall it was a great win. Costa Rica brings a lot of different things at us and I think we did a good job of managing it and just staying together as a team. But it was my first time playing against Costa Rica and I think that they challenged us in a lot of ways and it was a fun match”.
Pablo Acuña, Coach of Costa Rica: “Pablo Acuña, Coach of Costa Rica: “We had no information about this team playing together. We knew of some individuals. It was a difficult start. We were adapting set by set, getting to know the opponent a little more. We told the players that focus was what we could control. Set by set we gave more competition to the United States. We took a step forward, but there is still a lot to improve.”
PONCE, Puerto Rico (August 5, 2023).- The coaches of the National Teams agreed that participating in the XX Women Volleyball Pan American Cup is very important for the pending competitions for the rest of the year.
The tournament will grant two spaces for the NORCECA teams to the XIX Pan American Games in Santiago 2023, that will take place from October 20 to November 5. These two teams will complete the list of four representatives of the NORCECA Confederation in the Pan American Games, the Dominican Republic and Mexico are already classified.
The current champion Dominican Republic, winner of the last two editions (2021, 2022) with a total of six titles, along with Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States, represent the NORCECA Volleyball Confederation. And Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru are the teams that represent the South American Volleyball Confederation.
In the history of the event, the United States has won the tournament seven times, followed by the Dominican Republic with six gold medals, Cuba with four and Brazil with three.
Without Cuba and Suriname, the teams were divided into two groups, in Group A are Canada, Colombia, Peru, the United States and Costa Rica. In Group B will play Argentina, Chile, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
The first place of each group will advance directly to the semifinals.
Coach Shannon Winzer of Canada
Nicola Negro, Coach of Mexico: “We came to this competition with a small team. It is a very articulated competition, with many games, and that will help us to have a better result”.
Francisco Manuel Hervas, coach of Peru: It’s a very beneficial tournament for us because it’s the first tournament we’ve played this year with the Senior team, and it puts us at the gates of the South American Championship (August) and the Olympic qualifiers (September). This tournament is very important for us to see how the team is facing these two official FIVB tournaments with great weight in our planning.
Alejandro Marín Hormazábal, Coach of Chile: “It is very important to be here after 2017, which was our last participation in this competition. Today we are lucky to compete with world-class teams, with teams that come from the Olympic Games and VNL. They are world-class teams and it will help us a lot to prepare for the 2023 Pan American Games”.
Marcos Kwiek, Coach of the Dominican Republic: “It is an important competition for us because it is prior to the Continental Championship and the Olympic qualifier. This tournament contributes a lot to gain game rhythm and experience; and it is a good opportunity for other players to enter the court and gain that experience, which we are going to need. We are 100% focused. All games are important. We have to win”.
Antonio Rizola Neto, Coach of Colombia: “It is a tournament that we respect a lot and we are careful to present ourselves well. Last year we finished in third position, and we hope to improve on that ranking. This is the last tournament before the South American Championship, and it is followed by the Olympic qualification. They are two very important competitions and I come to seek experience for my team, which is very different from last year”.
Fernando Morales, Coach of Puerto Rico: “Our goal is to qualify for the Pan American Games. We know we are at home and we want to give our people a good show. We come from two good tournaments (Final Four and Central American and Caribbean Games), and we know that this tournament is of a higher level and we want to expose our players at this level, and that they continue to have good results. We want to start the second cycle of the year on the right foot”.
Puerto Rico during preliminary inquiry
Pablo Acuña, Coach of Costa Rica: “Being here is very important for us because in a month we will be in the Central American Cup, which is our main competition and our goal is to win first place. The Pan American Cup allows us to concentrate the team and prepare with high-level rivals. The players are very excited to be able to compete. We hope to improve game by game”.
Shannon Winzer, Coach of Canada: “I think this is a really good opportunity for, you know, some of our senior A team to who maybe didn’t play as much at VNL. And for some of our younger players who are trying to push into the senior A team, we’ve got a really important end of summer with NORCECA Championships being hosted in Canada and with Olympic qualifiers in China. So this is very much a part of our preparation. We’ve come with the what I think is a really strong team and we’re we’re 100% trying to win this competition. Anytime you play in your region, you wanna do a good job”.
Daniel Jorge Castellani, Coach of Argentina: “It is a very important tournament for us. We played some friendly matches in Argentina before arriving. This tournament has a higher level, and, in the programming, it is a tournament that will give us competition and feedback, to continue growing for the South American Championship and Olympic qualifiers. We never have expectations. We always go out to play 100%, to give our best, and to be prepared for whatever arises on the field of play”.
Brad Rostratter, Coach of USA: “We have a really exciting team. We have a mixture of girls who have played a lot with the USA jersey and logo on the jersey and we also have some girls will be their first time wearing the jersey and representing our country, and some of them are fresh and out of college and some of them have been playing pro for a few years and have been able to get an opportunity to represent our country. So, it’s a really exciting mix of young and experienced athletes. Our expectation is to really grow throughout this next month that we’re together. We’ve had two weeks of training and now we’ll be on the road for a month with this tournament here and then the Final Six afterwards. So, the expectation for us is just keep going. Getting better and obviously compete for every single point in every single match and see where that gets us”.
BELIZE CITY, Belize, August 5, 2023 – On August 6, 2023, the competition for the XXII Central American Cup Belize 2023 will begin, and the teams want to earn a place on the podium, as expressed by the coaches during the preliminary inquiries held on Saturday, August 5.
During the presentation, the Control Committee verified the paperwork and official uniforms that will be used during the competition, which will take place at the Belize City Civic Center.
In the last edition, Guatemala took first place, Costa Rica came second, and Nicaragua was third, these last ones made history after 30 years of not stepping onto the Central American podium.
As the defending champion, Guatemala will seek to become a four-time champion, having won the 2017, 2018, and 2021 editions, aiming to catchup with Costa Rica with six titles and approaching Panama, the country that has won the most titles in the region with eight gold medals in total.
Albert Humes, Belize Coach: “Our tournament objective, being the host, definitely means we want to win. That’s the primary goal of this Belizean team. But we also want our country to feel proud and ensure that our fans, our families, and everyone enjoys the quality that Belize has to show to the world”.
Reider Lucas, Guatemala Coach: “Our goal is to try to have a good competition. We come to give our all in each match. It’s a very close competition, and there’s a lot of rivalry among the Central American countries, which makes it more emotional and much more competitive. We will try to fight in every match and perform well in the competition. The players are eager to play, and we believe it will be a good competition”.
Gabriel Linares, El Salvador Coach: “We have been preparing to regain the space we had lost within the elite of Central American volleyball. We are aware that the tournament will be tough, and we have high expectations of being among the top three on the podium”.
Marco Sugiyama, Honduras Coach: “I am happy, and we are ready. We will fight to pave the way for future achievements”. “Our objective is to compete for a medal, and we will give it our all. We have prepared well, with a united group, and expect a surprise from us”, added Marvin Ulloa Molina, assistant coach.
Jorge Mena, Nicaragua Coach: “The purpose is to be on the podium and try to improve our position we achieved last time. We come to compete and give it our all on the court as a team and bring Nicaragua forward without returning empty-handed to our country”.
Johan Morales, Costa Rica Coach: “We come to this new Central American Cup with great enthusiasm. We did very well last time but fell short. The goal this year is to win the gold, which is extremely difficult with well-prepared teams. But in the end, I believe we have what it takes to compete, and the boys are highly motivated with a strong sense of unity”.
Horacio Angulo, Panama Coach: “Our expectation is to make it to the medal standings, something we haven’t achieved in many years. We have a young team, from a group that ranges from U21 to U23. We will try to bring something back to our country, God willing”.
SAN JUAN, Argentina, August 5, 2023.- Argentina packed the arena while the United States packed on the points and swept their hosts (25-19, 25-18, 25-20) on Saturday at the FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship in San Juan.
An estimated crowd of 5,100 watched the United States fight back from early scoring deficits to win the first two sets before taking a big lead and coasting to victory in the third set.
U.S. outside hitter Sterling Foley led all scorers with 18 points on 16 kills and two blocks. Outside hitter Sean Kelly added 16 points on 15 kills and one block.
The U.S. led Argentina in kills (41-32) and blocks (12-5). Argentina led in aces (4-1). The U.S. scored 21 points on Argentina’s errors and gave up 16.
Costa Rica fell to Egypt 0-3 (20-25, 21-25, 21-25). Egypt led Costa Rica 42-29 in attacks, 11-6 in blocks and 3-1 in aces. Costa Rica scored 26 points on Egypt’s errors and handed out 19.
Opposite Yulius Brown and outside hitter Stanley Grant led Costa Rica with 13 points each.
The preliminary round concludes on Sunday with Puerto Rico (1-2) against Colombia (1-2), Mexico (1-2) against Belgium (2-1) and USA (3-0 against Serbia (1-2).
Costa Rica (0-4) ended the preliminary round and will move into the round for positions 17 to 20.
August 5, 2023.- The United States rebounded from a first-set loss to defeat Poland on Saturday 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-15) at the FIVB Girls U19 World Championship in Osijek, Croatia.
U.S. players fired up after losing the first set and they returned to the court at the top of their game, winning the last three sets and guaranteeing to move into the elimination round.
Opposite Abigail Mullen led all scorers with 18 points on 11 kills, one ace and six blocks. Outside hitter Teraya Sigler scored 16 points on 16 kills and middle blocker Ayden Ames had 12 points on 11 kills and an ace.
In Pool D, Mexico fell 0-3 (14-25, 11-25, 13-25) to Japan who booked their ticket to the elimination round.
Mexico had outside hitter Isabella Ocampo, with seven points, as their most efficient offensive player. Japan dominated every skill, kills (48-20), blocks (6-2) and aces (11-1).
Dominican Republic fell to host Croatia 1-3 (21-25, 15-25, 25-17, 19-25) and is guaranteed a forfeit win to Nigeria on Sunday , to end the preliminary round 3-3.
Dominicans led 42-40 in attacks, while Croatia led 12-8 in blocks and 10-8 in points from serves. The leading scorers for Dominican Republic were outside hitter Katielle Alonzo and Ariana Rodríguez with 17 and 16 points respectively.
Canada in Szeged, Hungary suffered a tough five-set loss 3-2 (25-20, 22-25, 16-25, 25-22, 15-12) to Peru in Pool C.
Canada and Peru both scored 62 attacking points. Canada led 10-3 in blocks and 9-7 in aces.
Canadian opposite Abagayle Guezen led all scorers with 27 points on 21 kills, three blocks and three aces. Middle blocker Veronica Dickson and outside hitter Megan Hawkins added 14 points each.
Puerto Rico and Nigeria, ended with a forfeit win by the Caribbeans (1-3).
The first phase of the event ends on Sunday with Mexico (0-4) against Korea (1-3), USA (4-0) first place in Pool D plays Serbia (1-3), Puerto Rico (1-3) plays Germany (2-2) and Canada (0-4) against Thailand (1-3).
PONCE, Puerto Rico (August 5, 2023).- The National Teams of Cuba and Suriname could not arrive to Puerto Rico to play the XX Women’s Senior Pan American Cup, which begins tomorrow Sunday at the Juan “Pachín” Vicens Auditorium.
Causes of major force prevented the Cuban delegation from completing their immigration process to travel to Puerto Rico; and Suriname, was left stranded in Guyana due to flight cancellations.
With the absence of both teams, the official competition schedule of the Pan American Cup changed. Each team will have one day of rest in the preliminary round.
PONCE, Puerto Rico (August 4, 2023). – The president of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA), Mr. Cristobal Marte Hoffiz, and the Control Committee, carried out the inspection of the Juan “Pachín” Vicéns Auditorium in Ponce, venue of the XX Women’s Senior Pan American Cup.
The Control Committee also visited the training fields for the 12 teams that will compete in the Pan American Cup from August 6 to 13, 2023, were presented by the local organizing committee under the supervision of the National Volleyball Federation of Puerto Rico.
the preliminary meeting of the teams will take place tomorrow for the official registration of their players.
The Pan American Cup will grant two spots to the women’s volleyball tournament of the XIX Pan American Games in Santiago 2023, which will take place from October 20 to November 5 in Chile. These two will complete the list of four representatives from the NORCECA Confederation in the Pan American Games, Dominican Republic and Mexico are already qualified.
In Group A are the United States, Suriname, Colombia, Peru, Cuba and Canada. Group B is made up of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica and Chile.
SAN JUAN, Argentina, August 4, 2023.- Mexico defeated Chile in their first victory and the United States prevailed on 16 blocks over Egypt to move 2-0 at the FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship in San Juan, Argentina.
Mexico in Pool D defeated Chile 3-1 (25-14, 25-19, 20-25, 25-22) with advantages in attacks (48-36), in blocks (9-6) and points from serves (6-3). Chille committed fewer errors than Mexico (32-25).
Mexican outside hitter Ines Vargas topped all scorers with 23 points on 21 points from attacks, one block and once ace. Two other players finished with double digits, outside hitter Brandon Ramirez and opposite hitter Julio Serrano with 13 and 10 points respectively.
The U.S. in Pool A continued its strong start with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 26-24) win over Egypt, with a 37-33 advantage in kills, but a commanding 16-4 advantage in blocks was the key statistic. Four of those blocks came from setter Tread Rosenthal with middle blockers Tristan Whitfield and Kaumana Carreira each recording four also.
Outside hitter Sterling Foley led all scorers with 16 points on 13 kills, two blocks and one ace. Outside hitter Sean Kelly matched Foley with 13 kills.
Opposite Finn Kearney also reached double digits with 10 points on eight kills, one block and one ace.
In other results, Puerto Rico fell to Korea 0-3 (13-25, 18-25, 11-25) in Pool C and Costa Rica to Serbia 0-3 (13-25, 18-25, 15-25) in Pool A.
The action continues Saturday for Costa Rica (0-3) facing Egypt (1-1), and USA (2-0) faces host Argentina (2-0). Puerto Rico (1-2) and Mexico (1-2) will rest.
SAN JUAN, Argentina, August 3, 2023.- The United States started the FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship in San Juan, Argentina with a victory over Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Mexico to Iran and Italy respectively.
United States defeated Costa Rica 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-15) in Pool A, on the second day of the event. Costa Rica lost their first match to Argentina.
The U.S. recorded significant advantages in kills (39-28), blocks (12-5), and aces (6-0). Opposite Finn Kearney led the way with 14 points on 10 kills, two blocks, and two aces. Outside hitter Sterling Foley also reached double digits with 11 points on 10 kills and one block.
Iran beat Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-12) in Pool C. Puerto Rico stands 1-1, yesterday they earned a win to Nigeria who didn’t show for the competition.
Iran led 37 to 21 in points from attacks and 10-2 in points from serves. Each team scored 8 points on blocks.
Puerto Rico v Iran
In Pool D, Italy prevailed 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-21) over Mexico who fell to Brazil yesterday. Italy was dominant in kills (35-28), in blocks (7-3) and in serves (5-0).
August 3, 2023.- The United States gave a big step toward the elimination rounds of the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U19 World Championship on Thursday by securing their third victory in the tournament in Osijek, Croatia.
With three wins in as many matches, the Americans are in first place in Pool D and only an extremely unlikely combination of results in the remaining matches wouldn’t have them among the top four teams in the pool.
After triumphs against Asian opponents Korea and Japan, the USA faced NORCECA rivals Mexico on Thursday at the Osijek Sports Hall and claimed a 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-20) victory.
Middle blocker Jaela Auguste was the top American scorer with 13 points, followed by outside hitters Emerson Sellman and Teraya Sigler, who had 12 and 11 respectively. Outside hitter Isabella Ocampo was the main Mexican offensive player with 12 points.
“We played good volleyball today,” Sellman commented. “Credits to Mexico, their defense was amazing, they were digging a lot of balls. But we also did very well on defense. We had a lot of amazing plays on this element. I am really proud of the team, because there were some points that were tough, but we started to take off. This is what made the difference today – we knew that we wanted this game, and we did it.”
Pool B also had a pair of matches during the day, with Türkiye securing a 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-15) win over the Dominican Republic and hosts Croatia topping Puerto Rico 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-20).
Setter Ariana Rodriguez was once again the top scorer for Dominican Republic with 10 points, followed by middle blocker Estrella Puente added 8 points.
Outside hitters Chareika Carrion (19 points), Grace López (17 points) and Elena García (12 points) led Puerto Rico.
SAN JUAN, Argentina, August 2, 2023.- Mexico and Costa Rica the first NORCECA teams to hit the court at the 18th edition of the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U19 World Championship that got underway in San Juan on Wednesday.
In Pool D, Brazil delivered a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-23) win over Mexico despite a 21-point match high from Mexican outside hitter Ines Lares. Brazil led 7-2 in blocks and 4-2 in points from serves. Mexico held a slim 36 to 35 advantage in attacks.
Host Argentina won 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-13) sweep in their opening match against Costa Rica in Pool A. Stanley Grant was the best performer for Costa Rica with 11 attacking points.
In pool C A 3-0 (25-0, 25-0, 25-0) forfeit win was awarded to Puerto Rico in the fixture against Nigeria. 2023 FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U19 World Championship: full schedule and results
United States will make their first appearance on Thursday against NORCECA opponent Costa Rica, while Puerto Rico and Mexico will face Iran and Italy respectively.
August 2, 2023.- United States move 2-0 in Pool D at the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U19 World Championship on Wednesday with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 26-24) victory over Japan in Osijek, Croatia.
United States was dominant with a 13-4 advantage in blocks, both teams scored on 34 kills. The U.S. also led 5-3 in serves.
Outside hitter Abby Vander Wal led the U.S. again with 14 points on 12 kills, one block, and one ace. Middle blocker Ayden Ames totaled 12 points, combining six kills with her six blocks. Middle blocker Anyanwu Favor finished with nine points on five kills, two blocks, and two aces.
Also in Pool D, Serbia overcame Mexico 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-17). Serbia finished with a huge 40-28 advantage in kills and 7-4 in aces. Mexico led 5-4 in blocks, allowing 24 points on errors.
Mexico v Serbia
Türkiye downed Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-16) in Pool B. The Europeans led in every skill, attacks (37-28), blocks (5-4) and serves (8-5), scoring on 24 opponent errors against 14.
Dominican Republic are 1-1 after falling 3-1 (26-24, 15-25, 25-16, 25-23) in Pool B to Germany. Dominicans outplayed Germany 10-9 in blocks and 7-6 in serves. Germany led in kills 47-44. Dominican Ariana Rodriguez led all scorers with 21 points on 16 kills, 2 blocks and three aces.
In Pool C Szeged, Hungary, Italy won their duel to Canada 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-19), leading 40-22 in kills, 9-4 in blocks and 11-1 in serves.
On Thursday, United States plays Mexico, Dominicans go up against Türkiye, Puerto Rico battles Croatia and Canada faces Bulgaria.
OSIJET, Croatia, August 1, 2023 – The Dominican Republic’s women’s volleyball team started on the right foot by securing a 3-1 victory (21-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-22) against Puerto Rico in Group B, during the first match of the U19 World Championship held in this city.
The winners’ attack was led by Ariana Rodríguez with 20 points, followed by Katielle Alonzo with 16, and Salanny Puente who scored 10 points. For Puerto Rico, Chareika Carrión was the best performer with 13 points, Grace López scored 12, and Elena García contributed with 10.
Dominican Republic will play against Germany on Wednesday at 3:00 PM (Dominican time).
In the first set, Puerto Rico took control of the scoreboard 17-14 with strong hits from López and Valencia. The match became highly contested between both teams who didn’t want to give up ground to their opponent. However, the Dominican players, led by Ariana Rodríguez and Katielle Alonzo, managed to lead a rebellion that granted the first set victory 25-21.
The second set seemed like a copy of the first, as the Dominican team took control of the scoreboard 13-10 with strong hits from Ariana Rodríguez, Alonzo, and Ramírez. The game was tied on several occasions due to the high technical level of both teams. Puerto Rico took advantage of a poor reception from the Dominican team to take the lead 21-10 and went on to win the set 25-21, leveling the match at one set each.
In the third set, the Dominicans allowed their opponents only 13 points and dominated the set almost entirely. The Puerto Rican players made unforced errors that were capitalized upon by their opponents to increase their advantage on the scoreboard. Towards the end of the set, Ariana Rodríguez scored several consecutive points from her serves, putting pressure on the Puerto Rican girls.
Other players from the Dominican Republic who contributed were Puente and Katielle Alonzo, as well as Mía Liberato in setting.
SAN JUAN, Argentina, August 1, 2023.- The 18th edition of the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U19 World Championship will take place in San Juan over the next 10 days. The northwestern Argentinean city is set to welcome the world’s best 20 youth national teams from Wednesday, August 2, through Friday, August 11.
The U19 World Championship will get underway at 11:00 local time (14:00 UTC) on Wednesday with two simultaneous matches on the two competition courts. India will take on France in a Pool B game, while Nigeria and Puerto Rico lock horns in a Pool C encounter.
The 20 participating teams were split into four single round-robin pools of five for the pool stage of the championship to be played over the first five competition days. Representing NORCECA are the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica.
On each of the five days, the matches in Pool B (Bulgaria, France, India, Japan, Slovenia) and Pool C (Colombia, Iran, Korea, Nigeria, Puerto Rico) will be played with starting times 11:00 local (14:00 UTC) and 14:00 (17:00). The games in Pool D (Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Mexico) will start at 17:00 (20:00) and 20:00 (23:00), while those in Pool A (Argentina, Costa Rica, Egypt, Serbia, United States) will serve off at 18:00 (21:00) and 21:00 (00:00).
The top four teams from each pool will progress to the eighthfinals to start the direct elimination phase, during which each win means advancement to the upper tier of the next stage in the bracket and each loss means moving down to the lower tier of the next stage in the bracket until the final classification matches on August 11, which will fill up the places from first to sixteenth in the final standings.
The remaining four teams, those that finish fifth in their pools, will play a single round-robin to determine the final standings from 17th to 20th place.
The previous 17 editions of the youth boys’ world championships were held from 1989 to 2021. Argentina will host the event for the third time (2011, 2015) and are the first country to do so in the history of the competition. Mexico and Iran have welcomed the tournament twice each.
Brazil is the most decorated team in the competition, with six titles and a silver. However, they have not reached the podium since 2005. Iran also has seven medals (two gold, two silver and three bronze), while Russia has six, but three of them are gold. Italy, Poland and Serbia have also triumphed as youth world champions, twice each.
The most recent winners from 2021, Poland, however, will not be back to defend their title, but the other two medalists, runners-up Bulgaria and third-placed Iran, will compete in San Juan hoping for more honors, starting off as leaders of Pools B and C, respectively. Hosts Argentina, who are reigning South American youth champions from 2022, headline Pool A, while continental runners-up Brazil and current European youth champions Italy will go head to head in Pool D.
The list of past Most Valuable Player awardees in the history of the U19 World Championships starts with the first laureate in 1993 Gilberto Godoy Filho (Giba) of Brazil, Aleksandar Atanasijevic, Uros Kovacevic, Bartosz Kwolek and several others who went on to shine as top international stars in senior men’s volleyball.
August 1, 2023.- United States and Dominican Republic triumphed over Korea and Puerto Rico on the opening day of the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U19 World Championship in Croatia and Hungary.
The two national teams were among the 12 sides that triumphed on the first day of competition, which featured six matches in Osijek, Croatia, and another six in Szeged, Hungary.
The tournament continues on Wednesday, with USA vs Japan and Puerto Rico vs Türkiye, Mexico vs Serbia and Dominican Republic vs Germany in Osiejek . Canada will face Italy in Szeged.
BELIZE CITY, Belize, August 1, 2023.- Belize will be hosting the twenty second AFECAVOL Men’s Senior Central American Championship from August 6 to 12 at the Belize City Civic Center.
Reigning champion Guatemala will seek their fourth consecutive title, after winning the past three editions of the tournament (2017, 2018, 2021), for an overall five Central American titles in the history of the event.
In the last edition held in Guatemala City in 2021, Costa Rica finished second, and Nicaragua finished third. After 30 years of not making it to the Central American podium, Nicaragua won the bronze medal, their first-ever medal in the history of the event was also a bronze, during the sixth edition of the Cup held in Honduras in 1991.
Panama is the country with the most titles in the region, with a total of eight, followed by Costa Rica with six.
Teams will arrive in Belize City on Friday, August 4th. The Preliminary inquiries will take place on Saturday, August 5th, and the competition will kick off on Sunday, August 6th, with three daily matches.
PONCE, Puerto Rico, July 31, 2023.- Twelve teams are ready to compete at the twentieth Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup running from August 6-13 at the Juan “Pachín” Vicéns Auditorium in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
The tournament will grant two berths for NORCECA teams to the XIX Pan American Games of Santiago 2023 to be held from October 20 to November 5. These two will complete the list of four representatives from the NORCECA Confederation in the Pan American Games, Dominican Republic and Mexico are already qualified.
Reigning champion Dominican Republic winner of the past two editions (2021, 2022) with an overall of six titles, along with Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Suriname and United States represent the NORCECA Volleyball Confederation, while Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru are the teams representing the South American Volleyball Confederation.
In the history of the event, the United States has won the event on seven occasions, followed by Dominican Republic with six gold medals, Cuba with four and Brazil with three.
Teams are divided in two groups, with Group A consisting of Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Peru, United States and Suriname, and in Group B of Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico and host Puerto Rico.
First place of each group will advance directly into semifinals, second and third places will play in the quarterfinal round.
The preliminary round runs from August 6-10 with six daily matches; quarterfinals, classification round for positions 7-10 and final classification for positions 11-12 will be played on August 11. The semifinals, classification round for positions 5-8 and final classification for positions 9-10 on August 12. The final day of competition on August 13 will start with the final classification for positions 7-10 and 5-6, followed by the bronze and gold medal matches.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 23, 2023.- Dominican setter Ariana Rodríguez was selected as the Most Valuable Player MVP of the sixth edition of the Women’s U23 Pan American Cup that concluded on Sunday at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo, Mexico.
The MVP award was handed to Ariana Rodriguez after her team won the Championship match to Mexico 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-12, 26-24) and she scored the dramatic match point from the service line when the ball tipped over the net.
Ariana was also the Best Setter of the tournament. Other three awards were granted to the Dominican Republic, with Flormarie Heredia as the 2nd Best Spiker, Geraldine González as the 1st Best Blocker and the 2nd Best Blocker went to Florangel Terrero.
U23 Women’s Pan American Cup Individual Awards
Mexican Sofía Maldonado received the recognitions for 1st Best Spiker and Top Scorer. Her teammate Ximena Cruz was awarded as the Best Service.
Pamela Cuya of Peru was the Best Libero and Best Defense. Also from Peru, María Paula Rodriguez, was distinguished as the Best Opposite.
From Argentina, libero Victoria Caballero was the Best Receiver of the event.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 23, 2023.- Dominican Republic remains the U23 Women’s Pan American Champions winning the gold medal match to Mexico 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-12, 26-24) on Sunday at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo, Mexico.
This was the second consecutive time that Dominican Republic beat Mexico in the championship match of the event. Dominicans won first place undefeated (5-0), earning their sixth U23 Pan American Cup title and Mexico (4-1) won their second silver medal.
Dominicans led in blocks by a huge 14 to 5 advantage, a comfortable 8 to 4 margin in points from serves and scored on 28 unforced opponent errors while giving up 14. Mexico did better in attacking points 51 to 49.
The dramatic match point came from Ariana Rodriguez, whose service dropped over the net.
Outside hitter Flormarie led Dominican Republic with 18 points (17 kills, one ace), followed by outside hitter Madeline Guillen who produced 16 points (14 kills, two blocks) and opposite hitter Alondra Tapia with 13 points (9 kills, three blocks, one ace).
Mexico’s outside hitter Sofia Maldonado was the top scorer of the match with 21 points (20 kills, one ace) and opposite hitter Katherine Ramírez added 15 points (13 kills, one block, one ace).
Award Ceremony
Flormarie Heredia, top scorer of the Dominican Republic: “We reached our goal, and I feel very happy for the effort of the whole team, each one fought hard. The decisive factor was the support among us and following the instructions of our coaches”.
Wagner Pacheco, coach of the Dominican Republic: “That last point from the serve was surprising. The team felt a lot of pressure from the crowd, and we struggled a lot. But we remain champions”.
Luis Alberto, coach of Mexico: “I’m happy because most of the players on the team are from the under-21 category , and we continue preparing for the world championship in August. I am satisfied with the team’s performance against a very good opponent that has been working together for a longer time. In the last set, some bad decisions cost us two or three actions. It was a surprise to see the last two plays from the Dominican Republic, with the libero’s defense and the final point from the serve that dropped over the net”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 23, 2023.- Argentina defeated Peru 3-1 (24-26, 25-19, 25-21, 25-21) to win the Bronze Medal at the sixth edition of U23 Women’s Pan American Cup on Sunday at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Argentina ends the event in third place with 4-2 record and Peru in fourth with 3-3.
This Argentina’s second bronze medal in the history of the event, they finished third in 2012 and in 2016 they won the silver medal.
Argentina recovered from losing the first set to win the second coming from a four-point deficit (15-19) to win the set 25-19 scoring 10 consecutive points. Peru trailed in the third 16-24 but came off short with Argentina finishing 25-21. Argentina won the fourth and final set 25-21.
Argentina led 53-48 in attacking points. They held a slight 10-9 margin in blocks and finished with a comfortable 11-6 advantage in points from serves. Argentina committed 24 unforced errors and Peru 25.
Monster block from Argentina to Peru
Middle blocker Avril Garcia of Argentina led all scorers with 24 points, on 17 attacks, five blocks and three aces. The other Argentinean player who scored double digits was outside hitter Milena Margaria who contibuted with 13 points.
Three players from Peru finished with double digits, led by opposite Maria Paula Rodriguez (17 points), team captain Alondra Alarcon (15 points) and outside hitter Aixa Vigil (12 points).
Martin Ambrosini, coach of Argentina: “We lost the first set playing better than Peru, but we were a bit shaky in crucial moments, and it cost us. We were trailing in the second set, and some of the girls felt the fatigue from the previous matches, so we rotated the team, and the players who came in did well. That gave us some breathing, and we were able to play our game, which we could sustain in the following sets”.
Julieta Aruga, captain of Argentina: “I’m happy with the bronze medal. We started well in the first set, but at one point, we stopped fighting, and they took advantage. We were able to turn the match around by playing well from the second set forward. The serving helped us a lot”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 23, 2023.- Canada beat Cuba 3-0 (25-18, 25-9, 25-20) for fifth place at the Women’s U23 Pan American Cup on Saturday at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Canada ended the event with a 3-3 record for fifth place and Cuba with 1-4 record in sixth. Canada also beat Cuba in the preliminary round in four sets.
Canada outperformed Cuba in every skill of the game, in attacks (33-22), in blocks (11-3) and points from serves (9-0). Both teams gave away 22 points from unforced errors.
Canada’s leading scorers were middle blockers Kaylee Plouffe and Jessica Andrews with 13 and 10 points respectively. Plouffe on 11 kills and two blocks and Andrews on 6 blocks and 4 aces. Opposite Lucy Borowski added 10 points on 6 kills, one block and three aces.
Opposite hitter Claudia Tarin led Cuba with 7 points, and outside hitter Thainalien Castillo with 6 points.
Andrews (CAN) blocks Cuba
Isabella Noble, setter of Canada: “Our team came out really excited today and I think we performed really well. We came together as a team, and it felt so good to end the tournament on a high. Our serves were really aggressive, we kept Cuba low at the beginning of sets and that helped us later on”.
Carolyn O’Dwyer, coach of Canada: “I am really proud how we came out and we were in an aggressive mode to start, that’s how we wanted to serve this match. I think it’s really easy in these matches to not fight and battle, but I am proud my group did, making sure that every match matters”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 23, 2023.- Honduras finished seventh place at the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup with a five-set win 3-2 (13-25, 25-18, 25-23, 19-25, 15-13) over Costa Rica at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Honduras (1-4) previously lost to Costa Rica (1-5) in the preliminary round.
Honduras led in blocks 11 to 8 and scored 35 points on opponent errors, giving up 28. Costa Rica held advantage in points from attacks 56-45 and in points from serves 12-6.
Opposite Rocio Duron of Honduras. led all scorers with 27 points, producing 24 points on kills, two blocks and the final match point on an ace. Team captain, middle blocker Natalia Reyes and outside hitter Andrea Aceituno collected 13 points each; Reyes on 5 attacks, a match-high of 6 points on blocks and two aces, while Aceituno on 10 kills, two blocks and one ace.
Honduras celebrates victory over Costa Rica
Costa Rican team captain, middle blocker Lakysha Thompson led her team with 17 points (12 kills, four blocks, one ace), followed by outside hitter Nicole Mata with 15 points (11 kills, two blocks, two aces) and middle blocker Melina Abarca with 12 points (9 kills, one block, two aces).
Marvin Ulloa, coach of Honduras: “This is the representation of Central American volleyball up to last year. I think we weren’t at our level of play, we had better performances with other teams. It’s a mentality issue and we are going to work on it. Our goals must be higher now that we have a Japanese coach”.
Andrés Carvajal, coach of Costa Rica: “I am disappointed. The team had no attitude, they didn’t fight. It’s clear that we must restructure the team, there are under-21 and under-19 players who can be part of this team to compete at this year’s under-23 Central American championship. It wasn’t only this match; the players didn’t assume their role during the entire tournament. We must take radical decisions when things aren’t going well; in Costa Rica we are used to winning at a Central American level”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 22, 2023.- Mexico beat Peru in Saturday’s semifinals 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-21) to reach their second championship match at the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup being played at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo, Mexico, in addition to winning a ticket to the next Junior Pan American Games.
Mexico will battle in Sunday’s title match against five-time reigning champions Dominican Republic, who earlier prevailed in four sets over Argentina. This is the second occasion Mexicans face Dominicans to battle for gold, they met in the previous edition.
Mexico also won a berth to the 2025 Junior Pan American Games. Peru will face Argentina in the bronze medal match.
Despite the close scores, Mexico held the advantage in all three sets that had battled rallies. The crowd at the Sonora Arena cheered for their team enjoying their dominant force in every skill.
Mexico edged Peru with 43-37 advantage in attacks, 6-3 in blocks and 5-2 in aces. The host scored 20 points on Peruvian errors and while giving up 17.
Mexico celebrating
Outside hitter Sofía Maldonado led all scorers with 19 points on 15 kills, three blocks and on ace point. Middle blocker Arleth Marquez followed with 11 points and outside hitter Alexandra Goris chipped in with 7 points.
Aixa Vigil was the only player of Peru to score double digits, with 10 points on 9 kills and one ace. Opposite Maria Paula Rodriguez and team captain Alondra Alarcon produced 9 and 7 points respectively.
Luis Albero León, coach of Mexico: “It benefited us that we had a rest day yesterday, which we used for training, therapy, and rehabilitation. Today, the girls followed all the tactical instructions, which was reflected in the 3-0 score. Tomorrow will be a good match against the Dominican Republic, the girls are motivated, it’s a rival we know well, and we will go in to earn the medal”.
Francisco Hervas, coach of Peru: “Today, we didn’t play well. We were less responsive, and we had a more serious atmosphere on the court in our previous matches. Losing a semifinal is disappointing, but we’ll keep on working because that’s why we came here. Tomorrow, we’ll face Argentina for the bronze medal, a familiar rival”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 22, 2023.- Five-time champion Dominican Republic beat Argentina 3-1 (20-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-19) in semifinals to move into their sixth U23 Women’s Pan American Cup championship match in a row and qualified to the Junior Pan American Games.
Dominicans have dominated the event since its inception and are seeking their sixth title. Dominican Republic earned a berth to the 2025 Junior Pan American Games as one of the top two ranked NORCECA teams of the event.
On Sunday´s gold medal match, Dominicans will face the winner of the semifinal between host Mexico and Peru, while the loser will play for the bronze medal against Argentina.
Argentina controlled the actions of the first set, jumping to a comfortable 13-8 lead, scoring on several opponent errors, and dominating in blocks. The second set was balanced but Dominicans carried with the win and then they moved into the third set to an 8-0 point lead, their best set of the match. The fourth set was balanced up to an even 18, when Dominicans used their strength in attacks and block-defense for the victory.
The defending champions led Argentina in attacks 51 to 46, in blocks 14 to 11. Both teams scored three points on serves. Dominicans scored 28 points on Argentina’s errors while handing out 14 points from their own errors.
Dominican Republic celebrate after winning semifinal match to Argentina
Outside hitter Madeline Guillen led all scorers with 23 points on 21 kills and four blocks. Her teammate Flormarie added 21 points on 16 kills, four blocks and one ace. Middle blocker Florangel also contributed to the semifinal win with 10 points.
Outside hitter Milena Margaria and middle blocker Avril Garcia led Argentina with 14 points each. Garcia scored a match-high of seven blocks. Outside hitter Nicole Perez collected 10 points.
Wagner Pacheco, coach of the Dominican Republic: “We are two good teams, playing tactically. In the first set, Argentina scored points on our errors, but we balanced the game with the change of setter and opposite, and that’s when the game started to flow. In the second and third sets, we had few errors. The girls are happy”.
Matías Ambrosini, coach of Argentina: “We had to play a neat, well-organized match because we knew about the potential of the Dominican Republic. The girls entered the game convinced and executing our game plan as we had designed it. I think we played a great match until halfway through the second set, and then they changed the setter and the team´s structure, which worked for them, and we struggled to respond. We gave everything we had, giving it our all, but it slipped away from us”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 22, 2023.- Cuba beat Costa Rica in straight sets 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-20) to play for fifth place against Canada in the Women’s U23 Pan American Cup in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Sunday’s fifth place between Cuba and Canada will be a rematch of the preliminary round of the tournament where Canada topped Cuba in four sets. Costa Rica and Honduras will play for seventh place, who also met in the preliminary round won by the Costa Rican squad.
Cuba struggled to close all three sets. Cuba lost three set points before moving on top. In the second set, Costa Rica recovered from a seven-point deficit (12-23) edging Cuba up to a close 25-20 set finish for Cuba. Once again Costa Rica pressed hard in the final and third set but came off short.
Cuba’s serves were definitely a key element to beat Costa Rica, leading by a huge 11 to 3 advantage. The Caribbean team also led in attacks 38-34 and in blocks 9-5. Both teams scored on 17 opponent errors.
Grafort serves for Cuba against Costa Rica
Middle blocker Edisleidys Reyes led Cuba with 13 points on 11 attacks and two blocks. Opposite hitter Alejandra Gomez contributed with 12 points on 6 kills, two blocks and five impressive points on service aces.
Costa Rican team captain Lkysha Thompson was the leading scorer of her team with 12 points, scoring on 10 attacks and two blocks.
Wilfredo Robinson, coach of Cuba: “I made changes in the lineup to continue defining possible scenarios for the U21 World Championship and the aspiration to obtain fifth place tomorrow, which we would be satisfied with our performance here in the competition. We hope to show another level tomorrow; the team has the conditions to win it”.
Andrés Carvajal, coach of Costa Rica: “The team had a good attitude, showing a different face compared to previous matches. Some of the players come with a load of international games in the senior category and from our national league, so we were in a comfort zone without responding to the level of the competition and taking the responsibility to represent our country. Today, we enjoyed it, and we hope it gets even better, showing an evolution of the team for tomorrow against Honduras”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 22.- Canada defeated Honduras 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-12) and will battle for the fifth place of the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Canada will face the winner between Cuba and Costa Rica on Sunday and the losers go up against Honduras will go for seventh.
Canada outperformed Honduras in every skill, 46 to 15 in points from attacks, 5-3 in blocks and 7 to none in serves. Honduras committed fewer errors than Canada 17-20.
Canada blocks Honduras
Outside hitters Jane Austin and Raya Surinx led Canada’s offense with 15 and 13 points respectively; Austin with 11 kills, two blocks and two aces, and Surinx all on kills. Middle blocker Kaylee Plouffe added 10 points on 9 kills and one ace.
Rocío Duron was once again Honduras top scorer with 6 points.
Carolyn O’Dwyer coach of Canada: “Yesterday was a disappointing match for us, we didn’t get the result we wanted but it pressed us to come back today to show energy and life, which is a great opportunity for this young group. We try to teach our team that every game matters and tomorrow hopefully we’ll show up to be the team we want to be”.
Marvin Ulloa, coach of Honduras: “When the team feels they can win they get anxious. Today we played with an open mind, trying to do our best. Canada was more aggressive from the second set forward because the first set was closer in the beginning, they are physically superior than us and this is a great experience for improvement for my players”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 21, 2023.- Peru swept Costa Rica 3-0 (25-10, 25-14, 25-9) in quarterfinals on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Women’s U23 Pan American Cup in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Peru is set to meet host Mexico in Saturday’s semifinals and Costa Rica will play against Cuba in a classification match for positions 5 to 8.
Peru was dominant the entire match while pressing Costa Rica’s offense and defense. The South Americans led with a huge 41 to 18 points from attacks, 7 to one in blocks and 6-0 in aces. Peru committed 14 unforced errors and Costa Rica 21.
Peruvian outside hitter Kiara Vicente topped all scorers with 17 points on 13 kills, one block and three points from serves. Also joining the winning campaign were middle blocker Jade Rodriguez with 12 points and outside hitter Daniela Muñoz adding 10 attacking points.
Peru celebrating
Pamela Cuya, libero of Peru: “Every match is important, and this was an opportunity for everyone to show their abilities, practicing things that can come useful for future matches. Every team is different, and you need different strategies to win each match”.
Francisco Hervas, head coach of Peru: “We continue developing players and opportunities to have their own space, no match is the same. Tomorrow will be a different story against Mexico, it will be a complicated match, a tough team that plays at home, but that is what we want, play difficult matches”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 21, 2023.- Argentina beat Canada 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-18) to reach the semifinals at the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup being held at Sonora Arena in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Argentina will most likely face reigning champions Dominican Republic in semifinals, Peru and Costa Rica are yet to play in the other quarterfinal; while Canada will play classification matches for positions 5 to 8 starting with Honduras.
Argentina was dominant in the first set jumping to a 12-5 lead, Canada battled hard scoring six points in a row, but Argentina kept the lead. In the second set Argentina recovered from a three-point deficit (9-12) to an even 13 to finish with a comfortable lead. Argentina led from an even 14 point forward in the third and final set.
Argentina held a 38 to 28 advantage in kills, producing 9 points from blocks against 4 and a slight 4-3 margin in points from serves. Argentina committed 20 unforced errors and Canada 24.
Argentina blocks against Canada
Two players of Argentina scored double figures, outside hitter Milena Margaria with 11 attacking points and middle blocker Avril García adding 10 points, including a match-high of 5 blocks.
Lucy Burowski and Raya Surinx scored 9 and 8 points respectively for Canada.
Milena Margari, top scorer of Argentina: “What’s important is we came out of rough spots as a team, with a cold head and moved forward without thinking about the result or the opponent. Tomorrow’s semifinal will be tough, and it will be great to get experience, more time to play and we will enjoy it. Hopefully we can win a medal in the tournament”.
Lucy Burowski, captain of Canada: “We start off a bit slow in every set and we start getting momentum but lose a set and then just can’t get it back. I think we can get more aggressive in our attack”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 20, 2023.- Defending Champions Dominican Republic beat Cuba 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-23) to advance into the semifinals of the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup being played at the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo, Mexico.
Dominican Republic won Pool A undefeated 3-0, earning a berth in Saturday’s semifinals. Peru earlier beat Canada, both advance into quarterfinals as second and third place respectively. Cuba will play in classification matches for positions 5 to 8.
Cuba battled stronger forcing Dominicans to lose three-match points before their definitive 25-23 win.
Dominicans dominated thanks to their 11 to 3 advantage. The other skills were balanced, with Dominican Republic leading 37 to 35 in kills, a slim 2-1 in serves and scoring on 25 Cuban unforced errors against 20.
Arianna Rodriguez (DOM) attacks against Cuba
Dominican Republic’s offense was led by middle blocker Geraldine Gonzalez who scored 13 points on 8 kills and a match-high of 5 impressive blocks. Madeline Guillen added 11 points on 7 kills, two blocks and two aces, while Flormarie Heredia collected 10 points from attacks.
Middle blocker Lisania Grafort and opposite hitter Claudia Tarin led Cuba with 9 points each. Outside hitter Thainalien Castillo contributed with 7 points.
Ariana Rodríguez, setter of Dominican Republic: “I am playing a new position, it’s a challenge and a responsibility; sometimes things don’t come out like I want them, and I get frustrated. The team was stable, but we can improve. With each match I’m improving”.
Wagner Pacheco, coach of Dominican Republic: “Cuba served well, and we committed errors that we shouldn’t have failed. The players responded well. Now we have a day off to rest and wait for our opponents in semifinals”.
Edisleidys Reyes, middle blocker of Cuba: “Today we improved in strength and attitude, with more energy to look for the win. The last set was well contested, we had more confidence, we could have done it better from the beginning”.
Wilfredo Robinson, coach of Cuba: “We showed our strength and quality of play. I gave everyone a chance because we are here to develop them for the world championship”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 20, 2023.- Costa Rica beat Honduras 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-19) to move into the quarterfinals of the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Costa Rica recovered from losing the first set to finish in third place of Pool B with 1-2 win-loss record, advancing into Friday’s quarterfinal round. Honduras will play in classification matches for positions 5 to 8.
In the first set, Honduras suffered the loss of Genesis Oyuela due to an ankle injury, one of their key players, but managed a close win. Costa Rica came back stronger earning their first tournament win.
Costa Rica controlled every element of the game, leading 57-40 in kills, 9-4 in blocks and 9-2 in points from serves. Honduras handed out fewer points from unforced errors 23-28.
Costa Rica celebrates
Middle blocker and team captain Lakysha Thomspon of Costa Rica led all scorers with 21 points from 18 attacks, two blocks and one ace. Also contributing to Costa Rica’s victory were outside hitter Sofía Arroyo with 17 points on 13 kills, one block and three aces, joined by outside hitter Nicole Mata with 15 points on 12 kills and 3 aces.
Honduras top scorers were opposite Rocío Duron with 15 points on 13 kills and two blocks, outside hitter Andrea Aceituno with 14 points and middle blocker Shantte Clarke with 11 points.
Andrés Carvajal, coach of Costa Rica: “We must study with our players why we lost the first set. I think we were in a comfort zone; we didn’t respect our opponent as they deserved. We let Honduras set the rhythm of play and not the other way around. We adjusted, we made changes and improved as the match developed”.
Andrea Zúñiga, libero of Honduras: “We won the first set well. Genesis is a key piece of our team, and we needed her the rest of the match. We must improve in confidence while attacking, in passing and reading the game”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 20, 2023.- Peru defeated Canada 3-1 (25-14, 25-19, 20-25, 25-17) to finish Pool A with 2-1 record at the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup in Hermosillo, México.
Peru advanced into the quarterfinal round and Canada with 1-2 record will wait for the result of the match between Dominican Republic (2-0) and Cuba (0-2) for their final position in Pool A.
Peru was superior in 44 to 28 in points from attacks and 8-4 in aces. Canada held the advantage in blocks 8-6. Both committed a similar number of unforced errors, Peru 35 and Canada 37.
Pefuvian Libero Cuya digging for the ball
Peruvian outside hitter Aixa Vigil led all attackers with 22 points from 20 attacks, one block and one ace. Opposite hitter Maria Paula Rodriguez followed with 13 points, including a match-high of 5 points from serves. Outside hitter and team captain Alondra Alarcon added 10 points.
Outside hitter Raya Surinix led Canada with 12 points on 11 kills and one ace.
Aixa Vigil, top scorer of Peru: “We were able to execute what we’ve been working for the past six months. We were overconfident in the third set. Today we limited our errors compared to yesterday’s match. We have an interesting group that will fight in the next round to win a medal”.
Francisco Hervas, coach of Peru: “I think that leading by two sets we relaxed a bit. It’s good because we learn that we must keep the game rhythm, our philosophy here is to learn. The girls got back their velocity and level of play”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 19, 2023.- Mexico prevailed over Costa Rica in straight sets 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-21) to remain undefeated at the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup being played at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Mexico with 2-0 record will face Argentina (2-0) on Thursday to decide first place in Pool B and a ticket into semifinals, while Costa Rica (0-2) will battle Honduras (0-2) for a spot in quarterfinals.
Mexico controlled the first two sets, but in the third set, Costa Rica with a better rhythm of play reached an even 15. The hosts recovered after numerous errors and sealed the win in three sets.
Both teams used all their players where Mexico was dominant in kills (46-26) and in points from serves (8-2). The Central Americans were better in blocks (5-2). Mexico scored 22 points from Costa Rican errors, against 14.
Arleth Marquez (MEX) spikes against Costa Rica
The only player who scored double digits was Mexican outside hitter Alexandra Goris, with 10 points (7 kills, 3 aces). Her teammates outside hitter Sofía Maldonado and opposite Katherine Ramírez added 9 and 6 points respectively.
Outside hitter Krystel Vargas was the leading scorer for Costa Rica with 9 points. María Torres added 6 points.
Argentina Ung, captain of Mexico: “We were overconfident in the third set, we got out of our system, and we allowed them to play their game, improving their level of play. We are happy with the win but not satisfied. For tomorrow we must improve in communicating better at critical moments, not let Argentina to set their rhythm of play”.
María José Castro, libero of Costa Rica: “In the third set we were determined to let go. I think we put a lot of pressure, which was reflected in the score. Tomorrow, we want to improve and beat Honduras for a ticket in the quarterfinals”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 19, 2023.- Dominican Republic beat Peru 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 22-25, 25-19) to remain undefeated at the Women’s U23 Pan American Cup on Wednesday at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Dominican Republic (2-0) in Pool A will face Cuba (0-2) to finish the preliminary round, while Peru (1-1) goes up against Canada (1-1). The top ranked of each pool advance directly into semifinals.
Dominicans blocked Peru the entire match with a huge 13 to two advantage. Both teams scored on 58 points from attacks, and both handed out 22 points from errors. Peru held a slight 5-4 advantage in points from serves.
Heredia (DOM) digs for the ball
Dominican outside hitter Flormarie Heredia led all scorers with 21 points, from 18 attacking points, two blocks and one ace. Outside hitter Madeline Guillen also chipped in producing 15 points and middle blocker Geraldine Gonzalez added 14 points while scoring a match-high of 7 monster blocks.
Peru’s team captain Alondra Alarcon and outside hitter Aixa Vigil led with 14 points each. Opposite Shanaiya Ayme collected 10 points.
Flormarie Heredia, top scorer of Dominican Republic: “We lacked concentration in the set we lost, we couldn’t adjust our game and positions, they took advantage, we lost our rhythm of play. Peru serves well but our good passing helped us”.
Yadhira Anchante, setter of Peru: “In the first and second sets we committed innocent errors which cost us the match because we were close. In the third set we limited our errors and it worked, but in the fourth we failed again. Tomorrow, we finish pool-play against Canada, another strong opponent and we will come out with our all”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 19, 2023.- Argentina defeated Honduras 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-11) to keep their winning streak at the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup being held at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Argentina has a 2-0 win-loss record in Pool B and will finish the preliminary round against the host Mexico on Thursday, while Honduras is 0-2 and will play their Central American rival Costa Rica.
Argentina held a huge advantage in kills (49-13) and serves (13-2), and a 5-3 margin in blocks. Honduras only committed 8 unforced errors and Argentina 22.
Argentina’s Libero LLanos
Three players scored double figures for Argentina, Nicole Perez (11), Magali Marquez (11) and Milena Margaria (10).
Rocio Duron and Genesis Oyuela scored 4 points for Honduras.
Emilia Balague, setter of Argentina: “We are focused in our game, in executing what we’ve been training. This tournament is a preparation for the U21 World Championship. Tomorrow we close against the host and it will be exciting with the support of the crowd, we must play hard”.
Rocío Duron, opuesta de Honduras: “Siento que nos falta mayor comunicación entre nosotras. Dadas las condiciones lo hicimos bien, tuvimos buena actitud y motivación para dar más”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 18, 2023.- Mexico took down Honduras 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-14) on opening day of the sixth edition of the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Mexico started the first set jumping to an early 8-0 advantage. The host moved into the next two sets with overwhelming superiority against Honduras in their Pool B opening match.
Mexico held a huge 47 to 19 advantage in points from attacks as well as a 16-2 margin in points from serves. Honduras scored 2 points from blocks against one from Mexico. Both teams committed similar unforced errors, Honduras a total of 11 and Mexico 14.
Sofía Maldonado (MEX) spikes
Outside hitters Carla Esquer and Sofía Maldonado led Mexico with 13 and 10 points respectively. Middle blocker Arleth Marquez scored a match-high of 6 aces.
Opposite hitter Rocío Duron topped Honduras with 10 points.
Mexico (1-0) will meet Costa Rica (0-1) on Wednesday and Honduras (0-1) against Argentina (1-0).
Luis Alberto León, coach of Mexico: “The pool we’re in is made to come from less to more, the level of play will be more demanding, and we will get into rhythm for the last matches. It’s always good to start with a win, and even more when it’s 3-0”.
Marvin Ulloa, coach of Honduras: “There were good frames during the game. This is a spectacle and in the second set we were one on one, it was nice. Unfortunately, we failed a lot, it’s fine when the opponent plays better than us but not thanks to our errors, it’s something we must improve on”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 20, 2023.- Mexico won Pool B and the ticket to semifinals winning a five-set thriller to Argentina 3-2 (25-17, 23-25, 27-25, 11-25, 15-12) at the sixth edition of the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup in Hermosillo.
México was confident in the first set and Argentina responded winning the second. Argentina reached set point in the third, but Sofia Maldonado’s attacks, who went on to be the leading scorer of the match (28pts) pushed Mexico on top again. Argentina overwhelmed Mexico in the fourth leading 18-6 and closing with a huge 14 point advantage (25-11) . México took the tie-break with María Ximena Cruz serves were decisive.
Argentina led in kills 59-51, in blocks 9-6 and in points from serves 8-6, but their 36 errors against 26 from Mexico made the difference.
Mexico celebrates against Argentina
The leading scorer of the match, Sofía Maldonado scored 28 points from 25 powerful kills, two blocks and two aces. María Ximena Cruz added 14 points on 8 kills, three blocks and three aces.
Constanza Pérez led Argentina with 25 points on 18 kills, the most blocks with 5 and two aces. She was joined by Dalma Pérez with 16 and Milena Margaria with 16.
Luis Alberto León, coach of Mexico: “We had a bad fourth set, we made changes and they didn’t go well. Argentina defended everything. In the fifth set the key element of sealing the win was our serves and a play we hadn’t executed was the surprise element as well”.
Martín Ambrosini, coach of Argentina: “In general the match was balanced; we had troubles in the first set because the girls were too anxious, and Mexico plays well. We started the fourth set very well, and they had difficulties”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 18, 2023.- Defending champion Dominican Republic beat Canada 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-15) in their debut at the sixth edition of the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup debut on Tuesday at Sonora Arena in Hermosillo, Mexico.
The party of points in the first set was tied on numerous occasions, reaching an even 23 while Canada snatched a set point before the Dominicans started on top 26-24. Dominican Republic came back stronger to finish with comfortable advantages in the last two sets.
All the elements of the game were balanced, with Dominican Republic leading 37 to 31 in attacks, 8 to 6 in blocks and 7 to 4 in points from serves. Dominicans scored 24 points on errors from Canada and committed 16.
Three Dominican players scored double digits, led by outside hitter Madeline Guillen with 14 points (9 kills, 2 blocks, 3 aces), outside hitter Flormarie Heredia with 12 points (10 kills, one block, one ace) and opposite hitter Alondra Tapia with 10 points (9 kills, one block).
Canada’s outside hitters Raya Surinx and Jasmine Rivest topped with 11 and 10 points respectively. Team captain, opposite Lucy Borrowski added 7 points.
On Wednesday, Dominican Republic (1-0) will face Peru (1-0), while Canada (0-1) goes up against Cuba (0-1).
Gonzalez (DOM) overtakes Canada’s block
Camila De la Rosa, captain of Dominican Republic: “We didn’t know Canada’s players and how they played. We did a great job in analyzing what they were doing, that’s how we managed to win the game. I think our block was very important for our victory”.
Lucy Borrowski, captain of Canada: ““We came out strong. Dominican Republic is a tough team, and we lost a bit of our fight, we were playing it smart, and I think we can come out stronger tomorrow”.
Wagner Pacheco, coach of Dominican Republic: “The first set was battled because I didn’t know Canada’s team, we came out blind. After the first set we played really well, the serves were strong and out counterattack. We leaned fast how to face Canada and that made things easier. We failed in some things, which is normal in a debut”.
Carolyn O’Dwyer, coach of Canada: “We came out strong but struggled a bit on our side with first contact and making a few too many errors. With a new team we will get better and better. There’s definitely room for improvement”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 18, 2023.- Argentina started the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup with a straight set win 3-0 (25-12, 25-10, 25-14) over Costa Rica at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
Argentina managed to control the entire game from start to finish in their opening victory in Pool B.
Argentina’s advantages in attacks, 39 to 10 and in points from serves, 17 to one, were to thank for their strong debut. They also held a slim 1-0 in blocks. Costa Rica committed fewer errors (18-25).
Outside hitter Nicole Perez of Argentina was the leading scorer of the match with 10 points, from 8 kills and two points from serves. Her teammates opposite Constanza Perez and middle blocker Josefina Ossvald registered nine points each. Ossvald scored a match-high of 4 aces.
Outside hitter Nicole Mata topped Costa Rica with 4 points.
On Wednesday, Argentina goes against the other Central American team of the event, Honduras. Costa Rica will face hosts Mexico.
Margaria (ARG) spikes facking Costa Rica’s blockers
Julieta Aruga, captain of Argentina: “To start a tournament winning is positive, we executed what we’ve been planning during our training and with the coaching staff we’ve been changing our system, it worked. We did well in all the elements of the game, we pressed with our serves, and it made a difference”.
Lahisha Thompson, captain of Costa Rica: “This tournament is to prepare for the U23 Central American championship in November. We can improve our togetherness as a team. The experienced players stood out with their attacks”.
Martín Ambrosini, coach of Argentina: “We played well, we were able to make changes. There were too many nerves because this was the first match for some players with the national team. We were able to serve well, the attack worked well too. When you have an advantage, you must keep your concentration. The team must play point by point, sometimes in favor and sometimes down”.
Andrés Carvajal, coach of Costa Rica: “The opponent is very capable, they had a higher level. The tournament has just begun. We must continue to battle, and we know what we are here for, and the players understand it”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 19, 2023.- Canada earned their first win beating Cuba 3-1 (25-18, 24-26, 25-19, 26-24) in Pool A at the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup being held at Hermosillo, Mexico.
It was a rollercoaster performance for both teams. Despite leading, Canada struggled to close the first set. In the second set Canada reached set point but Cuba evened the actions on a block and kill. Canada’s best set was the third, while in the fourth they battled hard coming from behind recovering two Cuban sets points before sealing with a block by Raya Surinx.
Canada led in every skill, in kills 49 to 41, in blocks with a comfortable 13-8 margin and in serves 9-6. Cuba committed fewer unforced errors, 29 to 32.
Middle blocker Jessica Andrews and outside hitter Raya Surinx led Canada’s attackers with 17 points each, with Andrews leading with 4 points from blocks and as well in serves with 4 from aces.
Canada’s setter Noble
Outside hitter Yalain De La Peña and opposite hitter Claudia Tarin scored double digits for Cuba; De La Peña contributed with 11 points and Tarin with 10.
Canada (1-1) will face Peru on Thursday to resume the preliminary round and Cuba (0-2) goes against defending champions Dominican Republic.
Isabella Noble, setter of Canada: “We had a competitive mind-set and it set us up for success really well. We came together as a team well and it feels really good. We hope to bring the same energy for our next match, we’re ready for it”.
Carolyn O’Dwyer, coach of Canada: “It feels good to get the result. We made a lot of improvement from yesterday and we’re getting better every day. At times we were still a little shaky on our side, but we were able to pull off the win and that shows a lot of fight from us”.
Wilfredo Robinson, coach of Cuba: “We recover balls, but we can’t’ keep the advantage. In the offense we were weak. We keep failing and handing out opportunities to our rival”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 18, 2023.- Peru opened the U23 Women’s Pan American Cup defeating Cuba 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-20) at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo Mexico.
Peru led the first set with a five-point advantage, while Cuba earned their way to move on top on opposite Claudia Tarin serves. Peru battled to recover and earn their first win in Pool A.
The South Americans held a 50 to 46 advantage in points from attacks and a comfortable 11-7 margin in blocks. Cuba did better in points from serves 7 to 3. Peru scored 34 points from Cuban errors and handed out 26.
With impressive 27 points, opposite Maria Paula Rodriguez of Peru led all scorers on 23 kills and four blocks. Outside hitter Daniela Muñoz and team captain Alondra Alarcon contributed in the win with 11 and 10 points respectively.
On Cuba’s side, outside hitter and team captain Hhitney James led with 15 points (13 kills and two aces), joined by outside hitter Yalain De La Peña with 14 points (13 kills and one block) and opposite Claudia Tarin who finished with 12 points (10 kills and two aces).
On day two of the event, Peru faces defending champion Dominican Republic and Cuba plays against Canada.
PERU’S OP RODRIGUEZ SPIKES FACING CUBA’S BLOCKERS
Alondra Alarcon, captain of Peru: “We had difficulties in the first set because we were too anxious to start the competition. We were able to move forward in the next three sets. There are errors we need to work on and improve our game, but in practice we will get it right. We were able to get the win as a team, united and helping each other”.
Francisco Hervas, coach of Peru: “Our goal is to learn. The first match is always hard, it’s hard to get into rhythm. We kept the lead in every set and the first set got away. That is what we need to improve”.
Hhitney James, captain of Cuba: “We were aware that Peru isn’t an easy opponent, they are a disciplined team on the court, something we lack a bit of. We lost the match for bad decisions; in easy points we couldn’t get the point. The beginning isn’t easy, and we will battle harder the next matches”.
Wilfredo Robinson, coach of Cuba: “We recovered the set by scoring, but Peru did the same in the next ones. We recognize that Peru has an excellent defense and with our strong attacks we couldn’t break it. We failed in serves; we made their complex one easy by serving to the libero. And we had bad decisions in defense”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 17, 2023.- The head coaches of the eight participating teams speak ahead of the U23 Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup that starts on Tuesday July 18 at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
NORCECA teams are aiming for two berths to the 2025 Junior Pan American Games.
Matches will be streamed on Telemax Sonora on Facebook live and YouTube.
Martin Ambrosini, Head Coach of Argentina: “The team is good. We are bringing a young team, it’s a U-21 team that is preparing for the world championship in a month, so this comes great for our preparation. The Pan American Cup gives a chance to play against teams that we normally don’t and with a great level of play, and that’s just what Argentina’s volleyball needs. We think it will be a good tournament”.
Carolyn O’Dwyer, Head Coach of Canada: “We’ve been fortunate to be able to train a group of us for the last few weeks, so we had a longer training block than normal. For several athletes this is their first international competition, which is very exciting. I think we have a really strong group to do our best, we are well prepared for sure”.
Andres Carvajal, Head Coach of Costa Rica: “We are excited after becoming Central American champions for the fifth time in this age-group. We are using this competition to prepare for the Central American championship in November in El Salvador. Our intentions are to compete at our highest level according to this highly leveled competition”.
Wilfredo Robinson, Head Coach of Cuba: “The has the aspirations to win a berth to the Junior Pan American Games. We have worked hard; we have some players who are bringing experience after competing in other events”.
Wagner Pacheco, Head Coach of Dominican Republic: “This team is a mix of our youth and junior categories, this is because of several international competitions and visa arrangements to be here. The combination is good, we will do a good job and we will battle for a medal”.
Marvin Ulloa, Head Coach of Honduras: “We weren’t sure to come, so the preparation was short. Three players who are abroad were able to make the team and we’re bringing four new ones who trained with the U-19 team that is competing at the Central American event in Belize, because we are working on renewing our senior team. This competition will help our preparation for the U-23 Central American championship in November”.
Head Coach of Mexico: “Exciting to start another competition here in Mexico. The team we’re bringing is the U21 that’s preparing for the upcoming world championship in Leon. Our expectations are high, we hope to be in the finals and win a berth to the 2025 Junior Pan American Games in Asuncion”.
Head Coach of Peru: “We expect a lot of learning. We come to these championships with a clear idea to work for the future and improve our players’ performance who begin their international journey”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, July 15, 2023.- Reigning champions Dominican Republic will be seeking for their sixth consecutive title at the U23 Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup to be held from July 18 to 23 at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.
Five-time defending champions Dominican Republic have won the event in as many editions since its inception in 2012. Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru have one silver medal each, while Cuba has finished third in the past three editions. Argentina also has one bronze medal.
The 2023 U23 Women’s Pan American Cup marks the beginning of the qualification process towards the 2025 Pan American Junior Games.
Two (2) vacancies will be granted here in Hermosillo, in the final ranking of the event among NORCECA teams for the 2025 Pan American Junior Games. The South American Volleyball Confederation, CSV, will establish its own qualification system.
The eight participating teams have been divided in two pools, with Pool A consisting of Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Peru; while host Mexico is joined by Argentina, Costa Rica and Honduras in Pool B.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 8, 2023.- Dominican middle blocker Jineiry Martinez was named the Most Valuable Player MVP of the Women’s Volleyball Tournament at the twenty fourth edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023.
Jineiry Martínez received the MVP recognition and the 1st Best Blocker award during the closing ceremony after “Las Reinas del Caribe” won their Sixth consecutive Gold Medal at the CAC Games.
Dominican Republic was distinguished with the awards for 1st Best Spiker to Brayelin Martinez, 2nd Best Blocker to Geraldine Gonzalez, Best Setter to Niverka Marte, Best Opposite and Best Scorer to Gaila Gonzalez, and the Best Receiver to Brenda Castillo.
Elaine Vazquez of Puerto Rico, who won the silver medal of the Games, was named the 2nd Best Spiker.
Colombian Juliana Toro was distinguished with the awards of Best Libero and Best Digger; and Mexican Jocelyn Urías as the Best Server.
Women’s Individual Awards San Salvador 2023 CAC Games
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 8, 2023.- Dominican Republic beat Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-16) to win their Sixth Women’s Volleyball consecutive Title in a row in Central American and Caribbean Games at the 24th edition of San Salvador 2023 at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
This is “Las Reinas del Caribe” overall eighth title, with a winning streak of sixth in a row that started here in San Salvador in 2002. Dominican Republic is now tied in the historical record of gold medals at the CAC Games with Cuba.
This is Puerto Rico’s sixth silver medal, having lost to Dominican Republic on five occasions and one to Mexico.
Dominican Republic celebrates
Dominican Republic outplayed Puerto Rico with a comfortable 43 to 35 margin in attacks and a huge advantage of 13 to three in blocks. Both teams scored one point on serves. Dominicans handed out 15 points on unforced errors and Puerto Rico totalized 18.
Marcos Kweik, Head Coach of Dominican Republic: “We are happy, we came with a big responsibility to defend our title because of the team we brought. We have done serious work to keep the gold medal”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 8, 2023.- Cuba beat Colombia 3-0 (25-22, 28-26, 25-22) to win the Bronze Medal in Women’s Volleyball at the 24th Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023 at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Cuba with a 3-2 record won their second bronze medal in the history of the event, their first was during the 2014 Veracruz Games.
Cuba won a battled first set and then went on to win the second coming from a two-point deficit the entire set in a thrilling party of points, with Ailama Cese scoring the winning point 28-26 on a kill. Cuba again came from behind in the third set, recovering from a six-point deficit (12-18) and reaching an even 21, with Diaris Perez scoring the match point on a block.
Cuba led on a huge 56 to 33 attacking point advantage and on a comfortable 10 to 6 margins in blocks. Colombia did better in points from serves (5-1) and limited their errors to 11 against 26.
Three players scored double digits in Cuba’s bronze medal win, outside hitters Diaris Perez and Ailama Cese with 16 points each, and middle blocker Dezirett Madan who contributed with 13 points.
Cuba celebrates winning the Bronze Medal
Colombia’s offense was led by outside hitter Ana Karina Olaya with 16 points, followed by Melissa Rangel and Valerin Carabali with 9 and 7 points respectively.
Tomás Fernández Arteaga, Head Coach of Cuba: “We were coming for a medal, and we reached our goal. Yesterday during the semifinal, it went uphill against one of the best teams in the world and what we did was to recover the team so they could battle in a more accessible match today for the bronze medal. We prepared the group in every element of the game to reach our goal”.
María Alejandra Marin, Captain of Colombia: “Cuba was offensive in serves and we failed a lot in receiving. They were more aggressive in attacks than us and that’s today’s result. Congratulations to Cuba that did well”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 8, 2023.- Mexico beat Costa Rica 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-18) to finish fifth place in Women’s Volleyball at the 24th Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023.
Mexico finished with a 3-2 record and Costa Rica with 1-4 for fifth and sixth place respectively.
Middle blocker Jocelyn Urias led Mexico with 14 points (11 kills, one block, two aces) , followed by outside hitter Melanie Parra who added 13 attacking points.
Costa Rica’s leading scorers were outside hitter Tamara Espinoza with 13 points (12 kills, one ace) and opposite Tatiana Sayles with 10 points from kills.
Mexico held advantages in every element of the game, kills (49-33), blocks (8-0) and points from serves (7-1). Costa Rica limited their errors to 11 against 21 from Mexico.
Andrea Rangel, MEX, attacks
Joseline Landeros, Libero of Mexico: “This wasn’t the tournament we expected, we had other results in mind. We are leaving with the things we must work on, and we will do it with all the energy towards what’s next. We are in a new process with a new coach, we only have one month together, and we are all adjusting to his vision of what he expects from us”.
Pablo Acuña, Head Coach of Costa Rica: “After yesterday’s match against El Salvador the players and myself weren’t satisfied so for today each one had personal goals. Today we were able to have a presence on the court and improve in executing”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 8, 2023.- Trinidad & Tobago took seventh place at the Women’s Volleyball tournament of the 24th Central American and Caribbean Games of San Salvador after defeating El Salvador 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-23).
Both teams end the event with 1-4 win-loss record, Trinidad & Tobago seventh and host El Salvador eighth.
Trinidad & Tobago faced off El Salvador in their opening match, but today was a different outcome. Trinidad & Tobago overwhelmed El Salvador with a huge 12 to 4 points from blocks and 11 to two in aces. They also held a 56 to 41 advantage in attacks but handed out 36 points from unforced errors against 19.
Outside hitter Channon Thompson of Trinidad & Tobago led all scorers with 23 points on 18 kills and five impressive aces. Opposite Krystle Esdele joined in the victory with 19 points, followed by middle blocker Kaylon Cruickshank with 12 points, including a match-high of 6 blocks.
Outside hitter Gabriela Funes and team captain Adriana Flores led El Salvador with 15 and 11 points respectively.
Saleem Ali, Head Coach of Trinidad & Tobago: “Coming here was a little difficult, in the first match against El Salvador we lacked practice. Today we shivered all together, we improved our level to finish”.
Andrea Genova, Entrenador de El Salvador: “We gained a lot of experience. We won the first match against Trinidad & Tobago and today it was a more balanced performance, in the world ranking they are higher than us. It’s a beginning for us, we are satisfied with the work because we have a little time together”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 7, 2023.- Puerto Rico beat Colombia 3-1 (25-23, 25-15, 8-25, 25-18) in semifinals to reach the Women’s Volleyball tournament Gold Medal match at the 2023 San Salvador Central American Games.
Puerto Rico (4-1) will battle for the CAC gold against reigning champions Dominican Republic who earlier won their semifinal match to Cuba who will play Colombia (3-2) in the bronze medal match.
Puerto Rico has reached the title match on five other occasions since the inception of the Games, losing four of them to the Dominican Republic and one to Mexico.
Puerto Rico trailed on six points (19-23) to win the first set 25-23 with spectacular defense only to go on into the second to storm past Colombia with a comfortable advantage. The third set was a totally different story, where Colombia entirely controlled after showing a significant improvement finishing with a huge advantage 25-8. In the fourth and final set, Puerto Rico reached a comfortable five-point lead (18-13) , impossible for Colombia to catch up.
Despite Colombia’s comfortable 12 to 6 margin in blocks, a slight advantage in points from aces 3-2 and committing fewer unforced errors, 22 against 26, Puerto Rico was the one to progress into the gold medal match scoring 53 attacking points against 40.
Puerto Rico celebrates moving into the Gold Medal Match
Opposite Brittany Abercrombie of Puerto Rico scored a match-high of 21 points on 20 kills and one ace. Outside hitter Elaine Vazquez also contributed to the win with 14 attacking points. Middle blocker Paola Rojas added 9 points, 4 of them from blocks.
Colombia’s opposite hitter Dayana Segovia and outside hitter Ana Karina Olaya scored 16 points each. Dayana on 10 kills and four blocks; Ana Karina on 15 kills and one ace. Middle blocker Valerin Carabali also scored double digits, adding 10 points from kills.
Shara Venegas, Captain of Puerto Rico: “We had a good preparation, the team was focused, and we didn’t lose composure, even if we lost the third set by a huge score, they played well. In the fourth set we showed experience, we were calm and confident to come out with the victory”.
Fernando Morales, Head Coach of Puerto Rico: “Goal succeeded, we wanted to reach the final and rematch Dominican Republic, we are going to give our all against a great team. I told my girls that they needed to be aggressive from the first set because we were used to it coming out of a competitive group, it worked to move forward. I don’t know what happened in the third set, but the bench did a good job giving our starters a rest so they could mentally reset and come back strong”.
Antonio Rizola, Head Coach of Colombia: “We were up by four points in the first set, that first set represented a lot for the team, it decided the outcome. I am happy with the team; we have four athletes who aren’t starters and they represented Colombia well”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 7, 2023.- The North, Central American and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation NORCECA, handed out new uniforms for International Referees from the NORCECA Confederation during the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023.
The idea was presented by the NORCECA Referee Commission and approved by the Executive Committee and Board of Administration of NORCECA who decided to create the new uniform for International NORCECA Referees.
The new design is due to modernize the Referee’s clothing, which went through a selection of several designs which will give greater comfort and attractiveness to International Referees during continental championships organized by the NORCECA Confederation.
On the occasion of the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games the first uniforms were delivered to the International Referees appointed to the Games by NORCECA First Vice President Ariel Sainz and General Director of NORCECA Arateide Cáceres.
The uniform delivery will be carried out progressively to all National Federations members of NORCECA and so that all NORCECA International Referees wear the new clothing during all NORCECA continental championships.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 7, 2023.- Reigning champion Dominican Republic is headed to win their eighth Central American and Caribbean Games Gold Medal, sixth in a row after defeating Cuba 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-15) in semifinals of the twenty fourth edition of the Games San Salvador 2023.
Dominicans remains undefeated (4-0) and will battle for their eighth Gold Medal against the winner of the other semifinal between Colombia and Puerto Rico. If they face Colombia, it will be a rematch of the past editions’ final in Barranquilla 2018 Games. Cuba will play for the bronze medal against the losers.
The stats of the match were all tipped to the Dominican side. “Las Reinas del Caribe” were two points short in doubling over Cuba in points from attacks (40-24), they held a huge 16 to 5 advantage in blocks and scored five points from serves to none. Cuba committed fewer unforced errors, 14 against 18.
Middle blocker Jineiry Martinez scored an impressive 11 points from blocks of her overall 16 points, carrying her team into the final match. Opposite hitter Gaila Gonzalez added 15 points on 14 kills and three blocks, while outside hitter Yonkaira Peña contributed with 14 points on 11 kills, one block and two aces.
Cuban outside hitter Ailama Cese led her team with seven points, joined by Diaris Pérez and middle blocker Dayana Martínez with 6 and 5 respectively.
Yonkaira Peña, DOM, spikes
Niverka Marte, Captain of Dominican Republic: “We tried to commit the smallest number of unforced errors as possible, we tried to keep Cuba under pressure because they have an aggressive attack. Today Dominican Republic played well, we kept the control”.
Marcos Kwiek, Head Coach of Dominican Republic: “We have worked won match at a time, for today we studied Cuba. We always believe that the next match is harder. Now we must rest, study videos of our opponents and perform well tomorrow”.
Gretell Moreno, Captain of Cuba: “We must keep on growing in volleyball up to Dominicans level. We must continue to work, be patient and limit our unforced errors. We learn from facing opponents that challenge us. Physically we are at the same level, our disadvantage against them is the time they have on court”.
Tomás Fernández Arteaga, Head Coach of Cuba: “The team had intensity for moments during the match, showing they can, but the opponent that had a better level of play didn’t let them keep it. My players tried, but they committed unforced errors, and they moved forward, which then it’s harder to recover from when they go back to their intensity. We are going to see the next semifinal to study our next opponent”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 7, 2023.- Costa Rica beat El Salvador 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-14) to face Mexico for fifth place of the Women’s Volleyball tournament at the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Costa Rica dominated the classification match for positions 5 to 8 against host El Salvador and on Saturday they will battle Mexico for fifth place in the Games. El Salvador will face Trinidad & Tobago for positions seven and eight.
Costa Rica held superiority scoring 32 points from attacks, against 12; they also held a huge 11 to three margin in points from serves. Both teams scored 2 points on blocks. Costa Rica committed two points less from unforced errors than El Salvador (28-30).
Outside hitter Tamara Espinoza led Costa Rica with 13 points, scoring 5 points from aces, in addition to 7 kills and one block. Middle blocker María Fernanda Alfaro contributed with 11, also on 5 points from serves, 5 kills and one block. Opposite hitter Tatiana Sayles added 10 points.
Melissa Campos, CRC, pass the ball
Marcela Araya, Captain of Costa Rica: “We are glad to have won the match that progressed us to battle for the fifth place of the Games. At moments we lack consistency, sometimes we play well and sometimes we don’t. We found a better rhythm of play compared to our previous outings, I hope that helps us for tomorrow”.
Adriana Flores, Captain of El Salvador: “This helps us to have a better view of the team because our main competition is Central America. Our is new and it helps him to know the type of volleyball in our area and that way we can improve our tactical game. Our reception failed too much in this game”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 7, 2023.- Mexico defeated Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-22) and aims to a fifth place finish in Women’s Volleyball of the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games.
Mexico will play for fifth place in the event on Saturday, against the winner between host El Salvador and Costa Rica, and the losers go up against Trinidad & Tobago for seventh place.
Trinidad & Tobago had momentum in leading the third set with a four-point advantage (11-7) until Mexico gained territory once again to finish in straight sets.
Mexico finished with a huge 47 to 20 advantage in points from attacks and an 8-1 margin in aces. Trinidad & Tobago outplayed Mexico in blocks 7-4 and committed fewer errors, 16 against 27.
Three players from Mexico scored double digits, led by outside hitter Melanie Parra (15 points), middle blocker Karina Flores (13 points) and outside hitter Grecia Castro (10 points). Middle blocker Jocelyn Urias scored a match-high of 4 aces.
Opposite hitter Krystle Esdelle led Trinidad & Tobago with 8 points and team captain, middle blocker Jalicia Ross added 7.
Melanie Parra, MEX attacks
Karina Flores, Middle blocker of Mexico: “Trinidad & Tobago improved in system in the third set, and we lacked focus, they took advantage of that. Tomorrow we are going for fifth place, we wanted to win a medal, but it wasn’t possible because of different circumstances. We must improve, we have a long summer of seven tournaments, and we want to take out the most of our new coach Nicola Negro”.
Krystle Esdelle, Top scorer of Trinidad & Tobago: “We didn’t want to give in, I was motivating the team to keep pushing for every point, to play and enjoy the game. Tomorrow I would like our team to bring higher energy, to focus and give one hundred percent no matter what the outcome is”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 6, 2023.- Colombia beat El Salvador 3-0 (25-6, 25-11, 25-5) to reach the semifinal against Puerto Rico undefeated in the Women’s Volleyball tournament of the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Colombia topped Pool B with a 3-0 record to advance into the semifinals to face Puerto Rico who finished second in Pool A. Host El Salvador 1-2 finished third place and will play in the classification round for positions 5 to 8, starting against Central American rival Costa Rica.
In the other semifinal, defending champion Dominican Republic plays against Cuba.
Colombia’s serves were too much for El Salvador, totalizing with 12 aces to none. The South Americans also held a huge 32-16 advantage in attacking points and in points from blocks 7-0, while scoring on 24 opponent errors to six.
Opposite Dayana Segovia of Colombia topped all scorers with 13 points on 11 kills and two points from serves. Middle blocker Melissa Rangel and outside hitter Laura Grajales added 7 and 6 points respectively.
Outside hitters Gabriela Funes and Daniela López scored 6 points each for El Salvador.
Dayana Segovia, COL, attacks
Antonio Rizola, Head Coach of Colombia: “We advanced in first place of our group. We performed seriously, with respect to all our opponents. We didn’t make changes just to make them, everyone played and contributed. Tomorrow is a new championship, the semifinal against Puerto Rico, who today didn’t play with all his team waiting to face us and we to face them”.
Andrea Genova, Head Coach of El Salvador: “We knew which was going to be today’s outcome, Colombia is number 14 in the world. It was hard. Our tournament was to compete against our direct opponents Trinidad & Tobago in the preliminary round and now in the next round against Costa Rica, an important match which we must battle hard to reach to play for the fifth place”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 6, 2023.- Defending champion Dominican Republic won Pool A over Puerto Rico 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 22-25, 25-21) and both move into the Women’s Volleyball semifinals of the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games.
Dominicans (3-0) undefeated and Puerto Rico (2-1) as first and second place of Pool A respectively reach the semifinals; it’s most likely they will face Cuba and Colombia respectively (second and first place of Pool B) as there is still one match left of that pool.
Dominican Republic used all its players while Puerto Rican setter Vilmarie Rivera and outside hitter Paola Santiago couldn’t perform due to minor health issues.
Dominicans outblocked Puerto Rico 15 to 9 and held a considerable 5-3 margin in aces. Puerto Rico finished with a slight 48 to 47 advantage in points from kills. Dominicans scored on 30 unforced opponent errors against 21.
Middle blocker Jineiry Martinez led Dominicans offense over the net, scoring 6 blocking points from her overall 18 points, in addition to 11 points from kills and one ace. Outside hitter Yonkaira Peña and opposite hitter Gaila Gonzalez contributed with 13 points each. Yonkaira produced 11 kills, one block and one ace, while Gaila scored 8 points from kills, three on blocks and two aces.
On Puerto Rico’s side, Outside hitter Pilar Victoria led her team with 17 points on 15 kills, one block and one ace, alongside opposite hitter Génesis Collazo who tallied 10 points. Outside hitter Elaine Vazquez added 9 points on kills.
Geraldine Gonzalez, DOM, celebrates
Marcos Kwiek, Head Coach of Dominican Republic: “Their coach moved his players and so did us, it was only a qualification match. What’s important is the next two days. It was good to give our bench players an opportunity because we’re going to need them”.
Fernando Morales, Head Coach of Puerto Rico: “Wilmarie has some stomach issues and we decided to preserve her for tomorrow’s semifinal, as well as Paola Santiago who has a muscle pain, we battled. We were able to see everyone in action. The six who were on court battled all the time. We know that Dominican Republic is one of the best teams in the world, we can’t ask for more. We hope to win our semifinal match tomorrow and have a rematch in the final”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 6, 2023.- Mexico finished Pool A in third place after defeating Costa Rica 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-13) in Women’s Volleyball at the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games.
Mexico earned their first tournament win to finish the preliminary round 1-2, Costa Rica 0-3. Both teams will play the classification round for positions 5 to 8. Mexico starts against Trinidad & Tobago and Costa Rica will confirm if they face El Salvador.
México had no difficulties in prevailing over the Central American team with a huge advantage in attacking points (37-19). The also led 6 to 4 in points from block and 7 to 1 in aces, handing out 16 points from unforced errors against 25.
Team captain Andrea Rangel, alongside outside hitter Melanie Parra scored 10 points each for Mexico. Aimé Topete, who came from the bench in the first set added 7 points.
Opposite hitter Tatiana Sayles of Costa Rica was the top scorer of the match with 13 points.
Grecia Castro, MEX, spikes
Nicola Negro, Head Coach of Mexico: “The team is growing every day, facing different opponents. I believe the first day against Puerto Rico we paid a high price. It was our first match together and the first of the season, we came with little rhythm, and we improved until the third set. Against Dominican Republic, it was a positive performance against an elite team and today the team was alert and focused”.
Pablo Acuña, Head Coach of Costa Rica: “These were three difficult matches, our attack is what has suffered the most, clearly because of the serves and the level of blocking of our opponents, we haven’t been effective. Now we must focus on El Salvador, a direct opponent of our zone and we must study them well, we will face it seriously”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 6, 2023.- Cuba beat Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-17) to improve their record 2-1 in Pool B of the Women’s Volleyball tournament at the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games on Thursday.
Cuba (2-1) is one step closer to reaching the semifinals, they have to wait for the result between Colombia (2-0) and El Salvador (1-1). Trinidad & Tobago ends Pool B in fourth place and will play the classification round for positions 5 to 8.
With a considerable improvement from their previous performances, Trinidad & Tobago was able to keep the score close to halfway in all three sets.
Cuba was superior in attacking points by far (48-23), while finishing with slight advantages in blocks (6-5) and points from serves (4-3). Trinidad & Tobago committed fewer errors (17-19).
Cuban opposite Yensy Kindelan, outside hitter Diaris Pérez and middle blocker Jessica Aguilera scored 10 points each for their teams’ victory.
Channon Thompson of Trinidad & Tobago led all scorers collecting 11 points (8 kills, 3 blocks).
Channon Thompson, TTO, spikes
Yensy Kindelan, Top scorer of Cuba: “I consider it was mostly errors on our side which kept the scores close; we committed 6 to 7 errors per set, that was the difficulty because after each error came consecutive points from their side. We adjusted and it will be harder in the next round because the opponent will be superior, Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico”.
Tomás Fernández Arteaga, Head Coach of Cuba: “My team was overconfident. Experienced players performed at our opponents’ level of play, and we committed unforced errors, which depended on our side. For me the next match is a transition to move into the bronze medal match because I believe we will face Dominican Republic, the best team in the competition”.
Channon Thomson, Top scorer of Trinidad & Tobago: “Our team had a considerable improvement. Now, we are in a process of development, rebuilding, after we qualified to the World Championship in 2018, unfortunately the continuity of the program broke. It’s going to take some time, it’s going to take losing many games, but in losing we can evaluate and go back to the drawing board and learn to play better”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 5, 2023.- Cuba claimed their first tournament win defeating ElSalvador 3-0 (25-19, 25-6, 25-10) in the Women’s Volleyball tournament of the Central American and Caribbean Games on Wednesday at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Cuba with a 1-1 record in Pool B will end the preliminary round on Thursday against Trinidad & Tobago 0-2. Host El Salvador 1-1 will face Colombia who stands first place with 2-0.
The first and second place of each Pool will advance into Saturday’s semifinals; third and fourth place will play a classification round for positions 5 to 8.
Cuba stormed past El Salvador with a huge 34 advantage in attacks against 18, an impressive blocking advantage of 17 to one and a 9-1 margin in points in serves.
Opposite Dezirett Madan led Cuba on a match-high of 13 points on 9 kills, three blocks and one ace, followed by middle blocker Jessica Aguilera with 10 points on 5 kills, the most blocking points with 4 and one ace. Outside hitter Ailama Cese with 9 points.
Team captain of El Salvador, outside hitter Adriana Flores scored 6 attacking points and middle blocker Fabiola Venegas added 5 points.
Diaris Perez, CUB, blocks
Gretell Moreno, Captain of Cuba: “Yesterday we didn’t perform to the best of our abilities and today we were confident to work much better, we played strong, but we committed too many unforced errors, we keep on working on them. We hope that advancing into the next round we can correct, because we are going to face a tough opponent, either the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico”.
Adriana Flores, Captain of El Salvador: “We were aware of the level of play we were going to face today. In the first set we were able to solve some aspects of the game and that helped them to control us better in the following sets. We did an honest job. Tomorrow we finish pool-play against another tough opponent, Colombia, we will do our best”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 5, 2023.- Dominican Republic remained undefeated after their 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-13) victory to Mexico in Women’s Volleyball at the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games on Wednesday.
First place in Pool A will be decided on Thursday between defending champion Dominican Republic 2-0 and Puerto Rico 2-0; Mexico 0-2 faces Costa Rica 0-2.
Mexico took advantage of Dominicans unforced errors in the first set and had momentum keeping the score close. Dominican Republic went on to lead the second set from start to finish and in the third came from a two-point deficit to perform their best set in the match.
Dominicans’ best skill was their blocking, with a 13 to 7 advantage; they also led 4-2 in points from serves. The match was balanced in points from attacks, with Dominican Republic leading 36 to 32. The winners committed fewer unforced errors (14-22).
Outside hitters Yonkaira Peña and Brayelin Martinez led Dominican Republic with 13 points each. Yonkaira on 12 kills and one block and Brayelin on 9 kills, one block and three aces. Middle blocker Jineiry Martinez, who only played in the first two sets, scored a match-high of six points on blocks.
Outside hitter Melanie Parra, making her return to the Mexican national team, was the leading attacker in the match with 14 points on 10 kills, 3 blocks and one ace. Her teammate Andrea Rangel contributed with 10 attacking points.
Vielka Perarlta, DOM, serves
Yonkaira Peña, top scorer for Dominican Republic: “Mexico did well in taking advantage of our errors, they adjusted their performance. We were able to come out on top without pressure and finished off controlling the third set by limiting our errors. When I had the responsibility to attack, I took it with responsibility as I always do”.
Melanie Parra, top scorer of Mexico: “I have some time without playing for the national team and coming back to a competition with opponents of great quality has its pressure, but my team has quality. Despite the loss we can rescue some good things, I am happy with what we can accomplish. Tomorrow we’re going against Costa Rica, and we can’t give them any opportunities because they have a good defense”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 5, 2023.- Puerto Rico defeated Costa Rica 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-9) improving 2-0 in Pool A in Women’s Volleyball at the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games on Wednesday at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Puerto Rico unbeaten (2-0) will meet defending champion Dominican Republic in their last preliminary round match on Thursday. Costa Rica is set to face Mexico.
The Caribbean team, with variations in their line-up, had no complications in prevailing over the Central American squad 38 to 20 in attacking points, 6 to 4 in points from blocks and a slim 4-3 margin in aces. Puerto Rico benefited from scoring 27 points from opponent errors while limiting their own to eight.
Puerto Rico’s scoring offense was led by three players with double digits. Opposite Genesis Collazo and outside hitter Pilar Victoria with 13 points each, and outside hitter Karla Santos tallied 10 points.
Costa Rica’s leading scorer was opposite hitter Tatiana Sayles with 7 attacking points.
Alba Hernandez, PUR, attacks
Wilmarie Rivera, Setter of Puerto Rico: “We are glad about our second victory, we were able to work on several things on our side of the court and we competed well. There were some variations in our lineup so we can improve and practice and be ready to advance into the next round”.
Marcela Araya, Captain of Costa Rica: “We started off the first points of each set well, but then we lost communication, our intensity was lower and in consequence the result. There is much to improve, but to put in practice. We didn’t play at our best and we must fix it immediately because the tournament is short”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 5, 2023.- Colombia beat Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 (25-9, 25-9, 25-6) in their second win in a row in Pool B at the Women’s Volleyball tournament of the 2023 San Salvador CAC Games on Wednesday in the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Colombia is 2-0 leading Pool B and will finish the preliminary round on Thursday against host El Salvador, and Trinidad & Tobago is 0-2, they will play Cuba.
Colombia was dominant with advantages in every element of the game; in attacks (32-16), in blocks (3-1) and in points from serves (7-0), in addition to scoring on 33 opponent errors against seven.
The South Americans used all their players where middle blocker Melissa Rangel led 9 points and outside hitter Ana Karina Olaya followed with 8.
Middle blocker Kaylon Cruickshank led Trinidad & Tobago with 6 points, opposite Alexis Aaliyah and outside hitter Desiree Donald added 5 points each.
Ana Olaya, COL, attacks
Melissa Rangel, Middle blocker of Colombia: “With two wins we are first in our group, it has been with team effort, and we are happy with the results. We have a new team, with young players, where each one does their role. We are helping the younger players to push Colombia’s volleyball forward”.
Antonio Rizola, Head Coach of Colombia: “We are giving one step forward, it’s an important win because everyone in the team performed today. Next, we face the home team, it will be hard, with the support of their fans. We are headed to semifinals”.
Rayquelle Dickson, setter of Trinidad & Tobago: “We had good defense for moments, we have to try to be more consistent and as a setter I have to be more ready when the balls are coming at me. We close against a tough opponent (Cuba) and Trinidad will come with heads up high as always”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 4, 2023.- Host El Salvador took down Trinidad & Tobago in straight sets 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-21) on opening day of Women’s Volleyball at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
El Salvador came from behind in 0-4 in the first set gaining confidence to start off winning. In the second set their impressive recovery from a seven-point deficit (3-10) shut down Trinidad & Tobago’s momentum for a close 25-23 win and went on to lead third set from start to finish.
El Salvador earned their first Pool B victory with advantage only in points from attacks 38 to 26, while Trinidad & Tobago led with a huge 12 to 4 in blocking points and a considerable 10 to 6 in points from aces. El Salvador scored on 27 opponent errors while committing 13.
Outside hitter Gabriela Funes of El Salvador was the match leading scorer with 16 points on 13 kills and three aces. Team captain Adriana Flores added 10 attacking points contributing in the win.
Opposite Krystle Esdelle led Trinidad & Tobago with 13 points followed by outside hitter Channon Thompson with 12 points. Team captain Jalicia Ross scored the most blocks with 5 points and middle blocker Kaylon Cruickshank led in aces with 5 points.
On Wednesday El Salvador (1-0) will play against Cuba (1-0) and Trinidad & Tobago (0-1) faces Colombia (1-0).
Gabriela Funes, ESA, attacks
Adriana Flores, Captain of El Salvador: “The first set helped to analyze our opponent and that helped us organize better to come from behind in the second set, with a better performance. Next is Cuba, a strong opponent, but facing a team of that level of play gets us out of our comfort zone and we will try to do our best. We have a game plan, just like today, let’s see what happens”.
Andrea Genova, Head Coach of El Salvador: “It’s motivating to start with a win, in front of such fantastic supporters. Tomorrow, we face a powerhouse, Cuba has an incredible history, and we will face the match with more confidence because of this match. In the second set, we were overconfident compared to the first and that’s why we failed too many serves; fortunately, with the changes, the players scored more, which was the key for winning the set and the match”.
Jalicia Ross, Captain of Trinidad & Tobago: “All matches in these Central American Games are an opportunity to learn and get together. We committed too many unforced errors in the second set while having the lead and we need to start finishing. Once we have the momentum, we must keep going with it”.
Saleem Ali, Head Coach of Trinidad & Tobago: “My team didn’t play tonight, they didn’t finish the balls and we were jumping too high, tapping just a little”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 4, 2023.- Colombia beat Cuba 3-1 (25-21, 25-18, 18-25, 26-24) to start their 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games campaign on Tuesday at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Cuba improved in defense to lead the third set from the beginning to keep up with Colombia’s 2-0 set lead and forcing a fourth set. Colombia with three kills in a row and two opponent errors came from behind (14-19) to an even 19 in the fourth set, for a dramatic 26-24 win while trailing a Cuban set point (23-24).
Colombia’s blocking was stronger than Cuba’s with a 13 to 8 advantage. Cuba dominated in kills 57 to 51, and both teams were leveled in aces (3-3). Colombia benefited from 27 unforced Cuban errors against 20.
Colombian opposite hitter Dayana Segovia led all scorers with 16 points on 14 kills and two blocks. Also standing out were outside hitters Ana Karina Olaya and Laura Grajales who tallied 12 and 11 points respectively. Middle blocker Melissa Rangel joined in with a match-high of 5 kills from blocks, out of her 11 scoring points.
Cuba’s outside hitter Ailama Cese topped her team with 15 points on 14 kills and one ace. Middle blocker Dayana Martinez contributed with 13 points on 10 kills and 3 blocks. Opposite Dezirett Madan scored 12 attacking points and outside hitter Diaris Perez added 10.
On day two of competition, Cuba faces the host country El Salvador and Colombia will play Trinidad & Tobago.
Colombia celebrates against Cuba
María Alejandra Marín, Captain of Colombia: “Colombia always battles up to the end; we battle every ball and that’s what made us win. Cuba has strength, a high block, and aggressive attacks, we were smart, touching balls, serving well and the double change worked out, and Karina responded as she should. The twelve of us are ready to contribute to any given moment”.
Antonio Rizola, Head Coach of Colombia: “This is a different team from last year, with great responsibility for outside hitters Ana Karina and Laura who contributed well; Valerin and Melissa in the middle, assumed their role knowing they are the only one to be on the court, it’s not easy for them. We played with heart”.
Tomás Fernández Arteaga, Head Coach of Cuba: “The players had a lot of nerves, they stole our initiative in serves and we couldn’t combine. But we won all the longer rallies and scored. We failed in serves and the tactical strategy of our setter was slow, according to the score she should have given the ball to the player who wasn’t marked”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 4, 2023.- Dominican Republic started the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games over Costa Rica 3-0 (25-7, 25-11 25-17) at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández on Tuesday.
Defending champion Dominican Republic, aiming for their eight CAC title, had no difficulties in earning their first Pool A victory prevailing 42-16 in points from kills, 10-6 in blocks and 3-1 in points from serves. Dominicans finished with 12 unforced errors and Costa Rica with 20.
Dominican Republic used all his players, with outside hitter Yonkaira Peña and opposite Gaila Gonzalez as top scorers with 11 points each. Gonzlez scored a match-high of 4 points on blocks. Outside hitter Brayelin Martinez added 8 points.
Outside hitter Tamara Espinoza and opposite hitter Tatiana Sayles led Costa Rica with 8 and 7 points respectively.
Dominican Republic (1-0) plays against Mexico (0-1) on Wednesday, and Costa Rica (0-1) faces Puerto Rico (1-0).
Brenda Castillo libero of Dominican Republic
Niverka Marte, Captain of Dominican Republic: “It’s an important win, we had personal goals during the match, we must get into rhythm and get used to the change of ball. We focused on not committing errors. The teams’ performance could have been better, but we are coming from a long competition (VNL), so we left Korea finishing our last match straight here. Alondra Tapia is one of the young prospects in the team and we are glad she’s here”.
Marcos Kwiek, Head Coach of Dominican Republic: “We have a big responsibility, we will try to defend our crown, knowing that each competition is different. We are coming from a long tournament, and we are tired with the time zone change, these are elements that interfere with our performance”.
Tatiana Sayles, Opposite of Costa Rica: “We were aware that the match was going to be hard. We set the goal of doing our best in every point and every set. They were hard points, we tried to be patient, stick together, and follow instructions. We improved with each set. Our goal is to compete, learn and do our best in every match”.
Pablo Acuña, Head Coach of Costa Rica: “It’s a challenge and an honor to start a tournament with the Central American champions, we take it with respect and seriously. There’s a big difference in their level of play and we must accept it, we did the best we could under the circumstances. I think we could have done better in the first two sets; Dominicans and we got relaxed in the third set. Dominican Republic is an elite team”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 4, 2023.- Puerto Rico defeated Mexico 3-1 (25-15, 25-20, 21-25, 25-23) in the opening match of the Women’s Volleyball tournament of the 2023 San Salvador Central American Games at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Puerto Rico stormed past Mexico in the first set and second sets, jumping an early six-point lead (12-6) and a four-point lead (13-9) respectively. Mexico’s offensive efforts kicked in the third, recovering from a four-point deficit (8-12) up to a 25-20 win and forcing a fourth close set win for Puerto Rico.
Both teams scored 10 points from blocks and Puerto Rico held a 3-1 advantage in points from serves, but Puerto Rico’s offense in points from attacks, 61 to 47, were the major difference in their Pool A opening win. Unforced errors were balanced, Puerto Rico with 25 and Mexico a total of 22.
Opposite hitter Brittanny Abercrombie of Puerto Rico scored a match-high of 26 points from 25 kills and one ace. Outside hitter Paola Santiago added 20 points on 16 kills, two blocks and two aces. Outside hitter Elaine Vazquez also contributed to the win with 18 points (16 kills, 2 blocks).
On Mexico’s side, outside hitter Melanie Parra and Grecia Castro led with 14 and 13 points respectively; Parra on 12 kills and one ace, and Grecia all on kills. Team captain Andrea Rangel and middle blocker Jocelyn Urias scored 10 points each.
On Wednesday, Puerto Rico faces Costa Rica and Mexico will play defending champion Dominican Republic.
Paola Santiago, PUR, spikes
Shara Venegas, Captain of Puerto Rico: “We have known each other since we were girls with Mexico, we know each other well. We prepared well and were strongly focused to come out with the victory. We are headed back to the Villa very happy after winning such an important match because of the competition format”.
Fernando Morales, Head Coach of Puerto Rico: “The Central American Games is an important event followed by many in Puerto Rico and we are celebrating this win with a lot of joy. Our aggressiveness in the beginning was important, Mexico was going to come out to pressure us from the beginning and being on top 2-0 gave us confidence. They (Mexico) responded strongly, and we were able to resist. I congratulate my young players Paola Santiago and Alondra Vázquez for a job well done”.
Andrea Rangel, Captain of Mexico: “Our performance was more stable in the third and fourth sets. We were pressured for the importance of the game, literally it was a classification match and I think it’s not good for anyone, having a first match that decides who moves in Central American Games and at 10:30 in the morning isn’t favorable for anybody. We continue to work, to learn and take advantage of every match to keep on improving”.
Nicola Negro, Head Coach of Mexico: “We didn’t start the game well. We lacked rhythm at the beginning, we weren’t organized. In the third set we were more balanced, and we played two sets well, but our block-defense wasn’t disciplined at the closing of the fourth set”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 3, 2023.- The Head Coaches of the eight women volleyball teams spoke ahead of the 24th edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games of San Salvador 2023 that starts on Tuesday July 4 at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Italian coaches Nicola Negro and Andrea Genova will have their first experience not only at the CAC Games but their first official event coaching the national teams of Mexico and El Salvador respectively.
Antonio Rizola, Head Coach of Colombia: “We are coming with the same motivation that we had in Barranquilla, where nobody was expecting Colombia to reach the final. But we are here in a different group, with Cuba, Trinidad & Tobago, and the host country, where every match is important, I always worry, but that motivates me. My team must not be confident that because they reached the finals four years ago, they will do the same here, we are working hard to be there”.
Pablo Acuña, Head Coach of Costa Rica: “We are coming after a good performance at the Final Four, we understand these are different teams, but it was good preparation for the team and to be more confident, as well as understand what we need tactically to take a bigger step. We are in a tough group, and we must compete with a lot of focus and discipline, the team is ready for that. More than results we want to have an optimal performance according to our statistics and our process”.
Tomás Fernández Arteaga, Head Coach of Cuba: “The teams’ preparation has been acceptable. Our sole goal is to obtain a respectable position, which includes a medal. We are well prepared, but the results will come from the court”.
Preliminary Inquiry
Wagner Pacheco, Assistant Coach of Dominican Republic: “The team is coming from competing at the VNL, with one change of a middle player. The team is coming strong after a very demanding competition, with two important victories to close the VNL, which I believe makes us the team with the highest level of play here. But we are aware that the players are tired from a whole month of competition, the changes in time zone and the long travel which we must manage”.
Andrea Genova, Head Coach of El Salvador: “We have been working for four months together, I came in February. For many players this will be their first experience and for me the first official match. We are here to gain experience as a team, to try to surprise and let’s see what comes out”.
Nicola Negro, Head Coach of Mexico: “I am really excited to be in the Norceca world, it’s an honor. I am enthusiastic and I am just starting with the Mexican national team to bring my experience to help the team grow. Like every beginning, it takes time. The Central American Games will be the first of many competitions for 2023, we are confident to do a good job”.
Saleem Ali, Head Coach of Trinidad & Tobago: “We have four players with experience and eight with not much experience; our two setters are young. This is all new for the team. We are fairly prepared, and our main goal is the Caribbean Cup that is in less than a month, so we are here to get the experience to use it at that level”.
Fernando Morales, Head Coach of Puerto Rico: “This is a young talented team, with the addition of Brittnay Abercrombie and Neira Ortiz, providing more experience to the group. We are aware that we play our all in every match, and we are starting with a tough opponent (Mexico), but our players have been in difficult situations, such as our Professional League and we know they will put up with the pressure”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 3, 2023.- Dominican Republic is aiming to conquer their eighth Women’s Volleyball Central American and Caribbean title, sixth in a row, at the twenty fourth edition of the Games San Salvador 2023 running from July 4 to 8 at Palacio de los Deportes Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Defending champions Dominican Republic, who arrived from finishing their 2023 Volleyball Nations League campaign, started their winning streak precisely here in El Salvador when they won the nineteenth edition of the Games San Salvador 2002.
In the history of the Games, Cuba has won the women’s tournament eight times, including seven in a row. The Dominican Republic is next with seven titles and Mexico has won the other three tournaments.
The eight competing teams are distributed in Pool A of defending champions Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Costa Rica; and Pool B with Cuba, Colombia, Trinidad & Tobago and host El Salvador.
First and second place of each pool will advance into the semifinals, third and fourth place will play for positions 5 to 8 of the event.
The competition consists of four daily matches, starting on July 4 with Puerto Rico against Mexico at 10:30 local time, followed by Dominican Republic facing Costa Rica at 13:30, Colombia against Cuba at 17:00 and closing with host El Salvador at 20:00 playing against Trinidad & Tobago.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 2, 2023.- The outstanding display in defense of Cuban Yonder García was recognized naming him the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in Men’s Volleyball at the twenty fourth edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023 on Sunday.
Cuba, in addition to the MVP recognition, dominated four of the 12 individual awards to take back home the following distinctions: 1st Best Blocker for José Masso, Best Setter for Lyvan Taboada and Best Server for Javier Concepción.
Mexico, also stood out with three individual awards: Josué López as 2nd Best Spiker and Hiram Bravo as Best Libero and Best Defense.
Puerto Rico was granted the awards of 1st Best Spiker for Pelegrin Vargas and Best Receiver for Dennis Del Valle.
The awards for 2nd Best Blocker and Best Opposite went to Rafael Brugos and Henry Tapia of Dominican Republic respectively.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Daynte Stewart received the recognition of Best Scorer.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 2, 2023.- Cuba was crowned Champion of the twenty fourth Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023 after winning the gold medal match to Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-22) at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Cuba won their eleventh Central American and Caribbean title undefeated (5-0) and remains the top winner of all time in Men’s Volleyball at the CAC Games. Since 1998 that Cuba hasn’t won the championship and the last occasion they reached a title match was in 2006 when they finished second.
For Dominican Republic, this is their third bronze medal in the history of the Games (1962, 1998). Dominicans finished second with a 3-2 record.
Cuba was dominant over their opponent, despite coming from behind in the third set from a four- point deficit (9-13).
Cuba’s serves were powerful and was their key element to win the gold medal match with an 11 to two advantage. Points from attacks were balanced, Cuba scoring with 33 and Dominican Republic totalizing 27. Cuba also led in blocks 9-3. In errors they too were similar, Dominicans committing fewer, 22 against 24.
Miguel Lopez, CUB, attacks
Cuba’s middle blocker Javier Concepción and teammate outside hitter Miguel Angel López shared as top scorers with 12 points each. Concepción scored the most points from serves with 4 aces. Middle blocker José Masso added 11 points.
Outside hitter Hector Cruz topped Dominicans offense with 10 points, followed by team captain Henry Tapia collecting 9 points.
Nicolás Vives, Head Coach of Cuba: “Our goal was clear, to win the Central American and Caribbean Games. Since 1998 that we haven’t been champions, and we won. Now we will continue to work for our next international competitions. Once again we showed that Cuba dominates all the elements of the game”.
Alexander Gutiérrez, Head Coach of Dominican Republic: “We are close to a higher level of play, that last set is proof of that. We are going to continue to execute, to go on improving and play against teams of the level of Cuba to reach that same level, if we don’t do that, it will be harder to reach. We are aware that we must continue to work. We took an important step, we improved our position at the Central American Games, soon we will consolidate what we’ve been doing”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 2, 2023.- Puerto Rico won the Bronze Medal at the twenty fourth Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023 with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-14) victory over the representatives of Centro Caribe Sports -Guatemala- at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández on Sunday.
Puerto Rico finished third place with a 4-1 win-loss record, to win their fourth bronze medal in the history of the Games (1950, 1959, 1986). For CCS (Guatemala), with a 2-3 record and fourth place is their best finish in Central American Games.
Puerto Rico set the pace in the first and third sets, while CCS couldn’t keep the advantage, they held the entire second set reaching a close 25-23 finish for Puerto Rico.
Middle blocker Johathan Rodriguez led his team to victory with 10 points from 9 kills and one ace. Outside hitter Pelegrin Vargas and opposite Jamal Ellis produced 8 and 6 points respectively.
Luis Garcia, PUR, attacks
On the CCS (GUA) side, team captain Carlos López scored a match-high of 13 points on 12 kills and one ace. Opposite Erik Flores contributed with 7 points.
Puerto Rico secured their victory with 37 points from kills against 28, a 7-3 margin in blocking points and a 4-2 advantage in aces. Both teams handed out a similar number of points from unforced errors, Puerto Rico (23) and Centro Caribe Sports (27).
Oswald Antonetti, Head Coach of Puerto Rico: “On this occasion our performance put us in the position to battle for third place in the Games; yesterday in semifinals, Dominican Republic performed well, organized, and disciplined, they have worked well. Our team must continue to grow, giving continuity to our young players and creating an identity. It will take us some time to get over the loss in semifinals. Today we responded”.
Reider Lucas, Head Coach of Centro Caribe Sports: “I am glad we reached as far as we could and I think the guys played well, performing the volleyball we have worked on. Having lost the second set that we could have won, affected the team emotionally in the third set”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 2, 2023.- Mexico defeated El Salvador 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-15) to finish fifth place of the Men’s Volleyball tournament at the twenty fourth Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023 on Sunday at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Mexico finished the tournament with a 4-1 win-loss record and fifth place. Host El Salvador ended sixth place, their best historic position in CAC Games with 2-3.
Mexico prevailed with a huge 48 advantage in attacking points against 16. They were also more effective in blocks 8-6 and in points from serves 5-2. El Salvador committed fewer errors than Mexico (14-25).
The only two players that finished with double digits were Mexicans opposite hitter Diego Gonzalez with 13 points on 8 kills, four blocks and one ace, and outside hitter Josué López who scored 10 points on 8 kills and two blocks.
Opposite hitter Gustavo Ortiz led El Salvador with 9 points on 7 kills and two blocks.
Pedro Rangel, Captain of Mexico: “We were mentalized in a different presentation. We had difficulties in technical aspects, and we must analyze what failed, adjust, and improve. We had too many things going wrong, but the team has talent to work with”.
Gabriel Linares, Head Coach of El Salvador: “Mexico was aware that we are a team that battles hard, and they needed to impose their authority; they attacked us with serves and we couldn’t respond. We had a good tournament despite the limitations during the process, we got into the top six in the event, a feat we didn’t have in the past 20 years. Now we must prepare for the Senior Central America Cup”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 2, 2023.- Suriname finished seventh place after defeating Trinidad & Tobago 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 26-24) at the Men’s Volleyball tournament of the twenty fourth Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023.
Suriname in seventh place ends the event 1-3 and Trinidad & Tobago 0-4 in position eight.
Suriname was superior in points from attacks 65-46 and in aces 7-1; both teams scored on six blocks. Suriname handed out less points from unforced errors (6-17).
Keven Sporkslede, team captain of Suriname scored a match-high of 20 points (19 kills, one ace). Middle blocker David Pinas added 19 points (18 kills, one block) and opposite Zefanio Brienburg contributed with 14 points (12 kills, one block, one ace).
Outside hitters Daynte Stweart and Brandon Legall led Trinidad & Tobago with 19 points and 13 points respectively.
Keven Sporkslede, SUR, attacks
Carlos Orta Fellove, Head Coach of Suriname: “I am happy, still, I wanted to win yesterday as well. For Suriname this was a good tournament, they learned a lot which for me is the most important thing. In the future we are going to perform better because they know the level of play at the Central American Games”.
Gideon Dickson, Head Coach of Trinidad & Tobago: “We started a bit too late, and the momentum was on Suriname’s side. We know what to work on, we have two weeks ahead of our Senior Zonal Championship and we will get it right”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 1, 2023.- Dominican Republic defeated Puerto Rico in semifinals in a five-set thriller 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 15-11) on Saturday to battle for the Men’s Volleyball Gold Medal Match of the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games against Cuba
Dominican Republic has reached the CAC Games title match in other three occasions (1962, 1986, 2014) winning it only once, at the 2014 Veracruz Games in Mexico when they beat Puerto Rico.
Dominican Republic will battle Cuba, who earlier won their semifinal to the representatives of Centro Caribe Sports -Guatemala-.
Puerto Rico started off strong and controlled the actions in the first set but missed two set points before reaching 25-21. Dominican Republic turned it around, winning the next two battled sets. In the fourth, Puerto Rico trailed up to an even 21 to play a tie-break which had to be delayed for over an hour due roof leak. Dominicans stormed past Puerto Rico after reaching an even 9 where team captain Henry Tapia scored the final point on a kill.
Henry Tapia (DOM) celebrates the win
Outside hitter Wilfrido Hernández was Dominican Republic’s top scorer with 19 kill points. Team captain, opposite Henry Tapia and outside hitter Hector Cruz both scored 17 points.
Puerto Rico’s team captain, outside hitter Pedro Molina scored a match-high of 22 points on 17 kills, three aces and one block. Other three players also finished with double-digits, outside hitter Pelegrin Vargas (17), middles Pedro Nieves (14) and Jonathan Rodriguez (11).
Henry Tapia, Captain of Dominican Republic: “I can’t express enough the joy I feel, we are concluding a difficult task. Being on court isn’t easy, there are moments when the opponents’ coordination changes our game structure, and you must make quick decisions. We lost the fourth set and we thought we were defeated; we were well coordinated to come back and win the fifth set. As of this moment we already have a medal on our neck, with my necklaces”.
Alexander Gutierrez, Head Coach of Dominican Republic: “Since the Final Four in Mexico we were focused on the Central American Games and today we are reaching the finals. Things have been planned, systemized, in order but above all patiently. The Dominican men’s volleyball is growing, we have many young players that need to mature, take decisions during the game, but this is the way. We have secured a medal”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 1, 2023.- Cuba became the first team to book their ticket the Gold Medal Match in Men’s Volleyball at the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games after winning their semifinal 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-17) to the representatives of Centro Caribes Sports -Guatemala- on Saturday.
The last time Cuba played for gold was in 2006 in Cartagena, Colombia when they lost to Puerto Rico. This is the fourteenth occasion that Cuba reaches the gold medal match of the CAC Games, winning an overall of ten titles.
Cuba will face the winner of the other semifinal between Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic. CSC (GUA) is going for the bronze medal for the first time in the history of the Games.
Cuba was dominant over CCS, giving its starters a rest and using Miguel Angel Lopez in the libero position. Cuba led by a huge 40-29 advantage in attacking points, as well as in blocks by a 10 to one difference. Both teams scored four points from serves. Cuba benefited from 21 opponent errors against 13.
Jose Miguel Gutierrez of Cuba scored a match-high of 15 points, on 13 kills, one block and one ace. Middle blocker Endriel Pedroso added 11 points on 6 kills, a match-high of four blocks and one ace.
Middle blocker Andy Leonardo led Guatemala with 9 points on eight kills and one ace. Team captain Carlos Lopez and opposite Erik Flores contributed with 8 points each.
José Guiterrez, CUB, blocks
Osniel Mergarejo, Captain of Cuba: “We are satisfied to battle in the gold medal match, our goal is to win it, we are going with our all. The most difficult part of the tournament has been that we are a little tired from performing at the VNL. We are here to compete, to do things well and then return to VNL”.
Carlos López, Captain of CSC: “It’s a historic feat to play for a medal, the fact of competing here and facing a team like Cuba is a success for us, we learn, we improve. Today we weren’t afraid of Cuba, we played with character and good attitude, that gives us confidence that we will battle hard for third place”.
Reider Lucas, Head Coach of CSC: “Performing at this level benefits our team. We went out to compete, we made errors, but that is part of the game; the guys have grown and aren’t scared of competing against teams of a higher level”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 1, 2023.- El Salvador defeated Suriname 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-22) and will face Mexico for fifth place in Men’s Volleyball at the Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023.
Host El Salvador came from behind in the last two sets to earn the straight set victory in a classification match for positions 5 to 8 of the event.
On Sunday, El Salvador goes up against Mexico, who earlier beat Trinidad & Tobago, for position five, while Suriname will face Trinidad & Tobago for seventh place.
Points from attacks were balanced, El Salvador with 36 and Suriname with 33. The host country led 11-9 in blocks and held a slight 5-4 margin in points from serves, allowing 18 points from unforced errors while scoring on 23 from Suriname.
Team captain Keven Sporkslede was the top scorer for Suriname with 13 points (9 kills, 4 blocks), joined by outside hitter Jonovan Wijngaarde who collected 10 points (9 kills, one serve).
Gabriel Vargas, ESA, attacks
Diego Guidos, middle blocker of El Salvador: “We are making history. Never before El Salvador had gone this far in recent tournaments. I am excited and proud of my team and its performance. Despite that in the preliminary round we didn’t get the results we wanted, we haven’t stopped fighting and keep on moving forward as a team, as a family helped by these spectacular supporters. Our warrior spirit didn’t allow us to give up”.
Gabriel Linares, Head coach of El Salvador: “Our opponent changed their serves and that got us in trouble in the second and third set, but we coordinated better our receiving line, and we came back slowly. It’s the first time El Salvador will play for fifth place at CAC Games”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 1, 2023.- Mexico beat Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-12) and will play for fifth place at the Men’s Volleyball Tournament of the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Mexico outperformed Trinidad & Tobago in a classification match for positions five to eight on Saturday, with a huge 42-25 advantage in attacking points, 12-4 in blocking points and 2-0 in aces. Both teams committed a similar number of unforced errors, Mexico with 15 and Trinidad & Tobago with 19.
Mexico will wait for the winner between Suriname and host El Salvador; Trinidad & Tobago will play for position seven.
Yasutaka Sanay topped Mexico with 8 points and Daynte Stewart of Trinidad & Tobago led all scorers with 10 points.
Josue López, MEX, attacks
Enrique Sandoval, outside hitter of Mexico: “In the first and second sets we analyzed our opponents and in the third we scored easier. Tomorrow we close and we will give our one hundred percent for the best place”.
Marley Davidson, libero of Trinidad & Tobago: “The energy of the team wasn’t there. We tried to push the team to get as many points as possible or even take a set, but unfortunately we didn’t execute well”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, June 30, 2023.- Puerto Rico beat El Salvador 3-0 (25-20, 28-26, 25-17) and will face Dominican Republic in the Men’s Volleyball tournament semifinals of the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games.
The defending champions of Central American Games won Pool B undefeated and will face Dominican Republic, who finished second in Pool A, in Saturday’s semifinals. El Salvador (1-2) will play for positions 5 to 8, starting Suriname.
In the other semifinal, Cuba will meet the team of Centro Caribe Sports CSC -Guatemala-
In the second set, El Salvador reached a four-point advantage with good defense over the net and on the court, forcing Puerto Rico to commit consecutive errors. Puerto Rico eventually tied at point 18 to extend the set to a 28-26 finish.
Puerto Rico finished with a huge advantage of 52 points from attacks against 32, as well as in blocks 6-1 and a 5-2 margin in aces but allowing 24 points from unforced errors against 15 from El Salvador.
Opposite Klistan Lawrence led Puerto Rico with 18 attacking points, joined by outside hitter Peligrin Vargas who added 16 points on 12 kills and a match-high of 4 points from serves. Omar Hoyos added 11 points.
Two players of El Salvador finished with double digits, outside hitter Rodrigo Chávez with 11 points in kills and opposite Gustavo Ortiz with 10 points from kills.
Dennis del Valle, PUR, celebrates
Klistan Lawrence, top scorer of Puerto Rico: “We almost lost the second set after a series of consecutive unforced errors, we relaxed, but we found the strategy to balance our performance and the result in our favor. In the semifinals we must improve, Dominican Republic will demand more of us, we are going in for the win”.
Oswald Antonetti, Head coach of Puerto Rico: “El Salvador is the host, and this was the most important match for them in a long time, it was symbolic. We are going to jump from one level of play to a different one in only a day and it will be challenging. We are eager to continue competing. The semifinal will be a great match, we are going in prepared and to keep a positive mind”.
Gustavo Ortiz, opposite of El Salvador : “In the second set we improved in defense-block, we closed their outside, unfortunately they scored from the middle, but we were able to face Puerto Rico and reach an advantage. It was a good match, and we benefited from the opportunity”.
Gabriel Linares, Head coach of El Salvador: “Unfortunately experience in these tournaments is crucial, we faced teams with more baggage than ours. It’s a great experience and we’ve improved our position from the last Games we played. We have matches left to play and we will battle to finish in the best position possible, adding ranking points”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, June 30, 2023.- Cuba defeated Mexico 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 19-25, 25-18) to win Pool A and move into the Men’s Volleyball semifinals at the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games on Friday at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Cuba undefeated 3-0 will play in Saturday’s semifinals against second place in Pool B, most likely the representatives of Centro Caribe Sports, as there’s still one match left of that pool.
Mexico with 1-2 record will play for positions 5 to 8.
Mexico was more effective winning the third set, the only occasion they were on top of Cuba and kept momentum while playing longer rallies to force a fourth set.
Cuba’s advantage in blocking (13-2) and points from serves (7-1) made the difference to come out on top. Both teams scored a similar number of points from attacks, with Mexico leading 47 to 43. Cuba committed 29 unforced errors and Mexico 31.
Middle blocker Javier Concepción led Cuba with 12 points, leading in blocks with 4 points, as well as in points from serves with 3. Outside hitter Marlon Yant contributed with 10 points and opposite Jesus Herrera, performing only in the first two sets, added 8 points.
Mexico’s top scorer was middle blocker Victor Parra with 11 attacking points. Outside hitter Josué López and opposite Luis Hernández score 9 points each.
Javier Concepción, CUB, spikes
Javier Concepción, top scorer of Cuba: “We were too relaxed in the third set because we thought we had already won the match, that cost us the set and we shouldn’t be overconfident against any team, no matter who the opponent is. We haven’t reached our goal; we are going for the gold. People say we are the tournament favorites, and we hope to prove it”.
Nicolás Vives, Head Coach of Cuba: “This is one step more for winning the Central American Games, this group hasn’t been champions. We lost the third set because the guys are used to getting relaxed, they lose concentration, just like they did against the Dominican Republic; they think their opponent won’t play, we lose focus and that makes us commit more errors”.
Said Bravo, libero of Mexico: “We have the potential; we have to work harder and believe we can be at the level of play as a team like Cuba”.
Jorge Azair, Head Coach of Mexico: “Our result in the competition is because of our first performance against Dominican Republic, that’ the reality. We must evaluate because we aren’t attacking nor serving; we don’t score from kills, and we don’t put difficulty with our serves. We must work harder and make a serious evaluation; we aren’t performing orderly”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, June 30, 2023.- The representatives of Centro Caribe Sports -Guatemala- in Men’s Volleyball of the Central American and Caribbean Games earned their second victory after defeating Trinidad & Tobago 3-1 (25-23, 25-27, 25-19, 25-21).
CCS (Guatemala) won their last outing in Pool B to finish the preliminary round 2-1 with great possibilities of moving into the semifinals. Trinidad & Tobago with 0-3 will play for positions 5 to 8.
Both teams battled strongly but set two was the most competitive one with CCS pressing in the closing points which Trinidad & Tobago dominated but missed three set points before their 27-25 set win.
The representatives of Centro Caribe Sports finished with a huge 72-54 advantage in attacking points. They also led 5-4 in blocks and 2-1 in aces. Trinidad & Tobago handed out 21 points from unforced errors and Guatemala totalized 31.
Team captain and outside hitter Carlos López was the most productive player in the match, with 24 points for CCS on 22 kills, two blocks and one ace. Middle blocker Brandon Chinchilla joined in scoring 12 points on 9 kills, two blocks and one ace. Outside hitter Wagner Chacon, who came off the bench in the third set, contributed with 11 kill points.
Outside hitter Daynte Stewart finished with 23 points (21 kills, two blocks) as Trinidad & Tobago’s top scorer. Mikheil Hoyte (Zebra) added 12 points (11 kills, one block).
Carlos Caballeros, CCS, defense
Carlos López, Captain of CCS: “The goal coming here was clear, to advance into the next round; a historic feat if it’s official. It was an important win to think about the semifinals, we had to secure our last match”.
Reider Lucas, Head Coach of CCS: “When we learned about the schedule of competition, we were aware of the possibility of moving into the next round, understanding that it was going to be hard because all the teams here came well prepared. We reached our goal, we are in another phase of competition, a more complex one”.
Ryan Stewart, Opposite of Trinidad & Tobago: “Guatemala is always a tough competition for us, over the past two years we have yet to get a victory against them, they play defense well and are very consistent, which we need. For what’s left of the competition we need to pass the ball well and be more current in offense, which is a little shaky”.
Gideon Dixon, Head Coach of Trinidad & Tobago: “Congratulations to Guatemala, they were a little bit more consistent than us. Today we had an improved performance by our guys, which is great because our zonal championship is in the next two weeks. We still have two more games to play and we are going to push it hard”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, June 30, 2023.- Dominican Republic defeated Suriname 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-21) to finish Pool A with a 2-1 win-loss record at the Men’s Volleyball Tournament of the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games on Friday.
Dominicans with 2-1 will wait for the result between Cuba (2-0) and Mexico (1-1) to learn if they advance into Saturday’s semifinals, while Suriname (0-3) ends in fourth place.
The winners jumped to huge advantages in the first and second sets. In the third set, Suriname jumped to an early three-point lead 10-7 which Dominicans battled to recover up to an even 16-16 and closed 25-21.
Dominican Republic gave a rest to its starters during the match, where both teams scored similar points from kills, 37 to 32 for the winning side. Dominicans also held advantage in blocks (3-1) and scored on 35 opponent errors against 14. Suriname led in points from serves (0-2).
Opposite Gerson Toribio of Dominican Republic led all scorers with 12 kill points. Also contributing to the win were outside hitters Henry Lopez and Wilfrido Hernández with 8 and 7 points respectively.
Suriname’s middle blocker Ethan Asimia led his team with 9 points, followed by opposite hitter Meson Anakaba with 5.
Henry Lopez, DOM, attacks
Gerson Toribio, top scorer of Dominican Republic: “This match helped the team adjust better for what is coming, today we finish the first phase. Everyone had a chance to play, and our regular players rested. I felt well with the team, to compete and support my team’s win”.
Alexander Gutiérrez, Head Coach of Dominican Republic: “We showed how much the team has grown, the good level we have reached and try to keep it. The match we played against Cuba proved we can compete at that level, and the challenge is to keep it the most we can, which will help us to have better results, this is our fourth victory in the year and last year, from 14 matches we only had 3 and in Barranquilla we finished sixth, we have given an important step”.
Meson Anakaba, top scorer of Suriname: “In the first and second sets we were playing too safe, but in the last set we stayed together, we could have won it, but we committed errors in serves”.
Carlos Orta Fellove, Head Coach of Suriname: “I was aware that our opponents were at a superior level. But I am satisfied, against Cuba we reached a set to point 20, against Mexico 21 and today against Dominican Republic, playing with my bench players we reached a set to point 21”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, June 29, 2023.- Cuba is undefeated after their 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-18) win over Dominican Republic in the Men’s Volleyball Tournament at the 2023 San Salvador Central American Games being played at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernandez.
With a combination of its regular players and subs, Cuba recovered from falling in the first set to earn their second victory in Pool A; Dominican Republic now has a 1-1 mark.
Dominican Republic took Cuba by surprise reaching a six-point lead (18-12) in the first set up to an even 21; Rafael Burgos-Guntin and Juan De Jesus ended the set blocking Miguel Angel Lopez. Middle blocker Jose Masso alongside opposite Jesus Herrera and team captain Osniel Mergarejo, were consistent in set two as Cuba evened the score with a strong resistance by the Dominicans captain Henry Tapia and Hector Cruz. Sets three and four were similar but with Cuba giving its subs a time on court in the fourth and final set.
Cuba held advantages in kills (57-49) and in blocks (8-6), Dominicans led 3-2 in points from serves.
Both teams committed 30 unforced errors.
Three Cuban players finished with double digits, opposite Jesus Herrera with 17 points (15 kills, two blocks), middle blocker José Masso with 14 points (10 kills, four blocks) and outside hitter Osniel Mergarejo with 11 points (10 kills, one ace). Herrera and Mergarejo didn’t perform in the fourth set.
Dominican captain Henry Tapia was the match leading scorer with 23 points on 21 kills and two blocks. Outside hitter Hector Curz added 15 points (14 kills and one ace).
Osniel Mergarejo (CUB) spikes against Dominican Republic
On the last day of the preliminary round, Cuba (2-0) plays Mexico (1-1) and Dominican Republic (1-1) faces Suriname (0-2).
Yonder García, Libero of Cuba: “I came from the VNL with a small injury, but I am ready to support my team. We lost the first set because we weren’t focused, we came back in the second and we won the match, it was our goal. Tomorrow against Mexico will be a similar match like today, with a lot of energy, but we must start focused and I am sure it will be a great match”.
Wilfrido Hernández, Outside hitter of Dominican Republic: “I think our serve and our performance over the net were more consistent in the first set, and Cuba didn’t use all their force; we were more aggressive than Cuba. We close the pool-play of the preliminary round against Suriname, and we must win from the beginning, we can’t be overconfident”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, June 29, 2023.- Mexico earned their first victory in Men’s Volleyball at the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games after defeating Suriname 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-13) on Thursday at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Mexico stands 1-1 in Pool A and will face Cuba to conclude the preliminary round on Friday. Suriname 0-2 goes up against Dominican Republic.
Mexico started off the strong 6-0 moving forward to a comfortable first set win. In the second set, Suriname had more energy up to an even 12-12 scoring on kill points and opponent errors, still Mexico recovered advantage with line-up changes to a close finish. Mexico dominated the third set.
Two Mexican players ended up scoring 11 points each, outside hitter Josué López and opposite Diego González. Suriname’s team captain Keven Sporkslede scored a match-high of 13 points.
Mexico held a 37-23 advantage in attacks, outblocking Suriname 6-4 and with a 4-2 margin in serve points. Suriname scored 28 points from Mexico’s unforced errors and allowed 19.
Victor Parra, MEX, attacks
Pedro Rangel, Captain of Mexico: “Yesterday was a tough loss, we didn’t perform like we’ve been performing, it mentally affects the team. We were aware that Suriname was coming to battle strong, they had nothing to lose, they showed their talent today and yesterday against Cuba. We solved against them and ourselves as well”.
Jorge Azair, Head Coach of Mexico: “Today the goal was a 3-0 win, with the lowest score possible. Tomorrow we are going out to die against Cuba”.
Meson Anakaba, Opposite hitter of Suriname: “This wasn’t how we wanted to perform today. We must take the loss and see what comes in the next matches. Tomorrow, we hope for a better match against Dominican Republic, our serves are strong”.
Carlos Orta Fellove, Head Coach of Suriname: “Today my players did their best. Our passing didn’t work in the first and third sets, it was better in the second set which we lost close; this is a problem I detected since my arrival to Suriname. We have potential, the players want to win but they need to learn more. We have faced Cuba and Mexico; two high level teams and it serves as a learning experience; it will help us for our zonal championship. I am happy with their performance”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, June 29, 2023.- The team of Centro Caribe Sports -Guatemala- beat El Salvador 3-1 (25-18, 25-22, 20-25, 25-18) in their first win at the Men’s Volleyball Tournament of the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games.
The CCS team managed to stop El Salvador who yesterday won against Trinidad & Tobago in Pool B. Both teams stand with 1-1 win-loss record.
Setter Daniel Ralon of CCS was a key element helping his team from the service line to close the first and second sets. El Salvador was patient in the third set and Middle blocker Diego Guidos forced their opponents into committing consecutive errors to extend the match to a fourth and final battled set that went to CCS.
Centro Caribe Sports led 61 in points from kills against 53, but their huge 11-4 margin in blocks made a difference to stop El Salvador. They also led 5-2 in service points but committed 24 unforced errors against 18 from their opponents.
Outside hitter and CCS team captain Carlos López led all scorers with 24 points from 21 kills and three blocks. Middle Andy Leonardo, who also competed in beach volleyball, followed with 15 points on 9 kills, three blocks and one ace. Opposite hitter Erik Flores added 13 points.
On El Salvador’s side, outside hitter Rodrigo Chavez produced 19 points on 17 kills and two blocks as their leading scorer. Opposite Diego Navarro contributed with 18 points also on 17 kills, but with one ace.
José Carrillo, CCS, attacks
On Friday, CCS (1-1) ends the preliminary round against Trinidad & Tobago (0-2) and host El Salvador (1-1) faces Puerto Rico (2-0).
Rodrigo Carrillo, opposite of CCS: “Our coach makes changes to help our blockers and improve our defense, it’s to have more effectiveness in front. Our team effort was crucial, and we knew this was an important match to win”.
Reider Lucas, Head Coach of CCS: “We were aware that this match was going to be difficult because El Salvador is the host, and they were highly motivated after yesterday’s win. My team was anxious, and we calmed them because things don’t always come out right. We were able to relax them, make changes and we got the match”.
Diego Chávez, top scorer of El Salvador: “We lacked experience and had better focus to close the sets. We must improve the attitude of the younger players; several are competing for the first time with the senior team. We must continue to train because Guatemala showed to be superior”.
Gabriel Linares, Head Coach of El Salvador: “We were facing the Central American champion. We stopped attacking and our opponent made some damage in the middle. We couldn’t block; it was small details. The set we won we were able to control our serves and succeed in blocking”.
June 29, 2023.- Canada came out on top of a huge five-set battle with volleyball powerhouse Brazil today in Thailand, while United States and Dominican Republic swept Bulgaria and Korea respectively in Korea.
Brazil led in attack (75-64) and service points (4-3), but Canada out blocked Brazil 21- 13 (with 8 of those from Canada’s Emily Maglio) as well as made fewer errors. Canada’s Alexa Gray led all scorers with 25 points.
Canada plays Italy on Friday and Netherlands on July 01 to close out the third and final preliminary phase in Thailand.
Brazil, reigning Olympic silver medalists, has seven VNL wins so far; this is Canada’s fifth win.
The No. 1 team in the world, the United States (9-1), swept Bulgaria 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-17) leading in attacks (30-25), in blocks (16-6) and service points (7-3).
Jordan Thompson scored a match-high of 16 points (11 kills, 4 blocks, one ace). Outside hitter Kara Bahema added 14 points, leading blocks with 5 points.
The U.S. will get back on court on July 1 against Germany and will close week 3 against China on July 2, before heading back home to play the Finals.
Dominican Republic outclassed Korea with 48 points from kills against 29. They also led 10-3 in blocks and 5-3 in aces.
Gaila Gonzalez led Dominican Republic with 17 points (12 kills, 4 blocks, one ace) as the top scorer in the match. Middle blocker Jineiry Martinez and outside hitter Yonkaira Peña also scored double digits with 14 and 13 points respectively.
Dominican Republic plays China and Serbia (with the time zone difference it’ll be the same day in our continent).
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, June 29, 2023.- Puerto Rico outplayed Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-19) on the second day of competition at the Men’s Volleyball Tournament of the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games.
Defending champion Puerto Rico set the match pace to earn their second Pool B victory against Trinidad & Tobago who is 0-2.
Trinidad & Tobago kept close in the first set 10-11, but Puerto Rico held the advantage the entire set. Puerto Rico quickly jumped to a seven-point lead (11-4) in the second set, keeping a comfortable distance as well as in the third, but Trinidad & Tobago had momentum scoring 4 points in a row (15-23) before their opponent could celebrate at 25-19.
Puerto Rico held advantages in all the elements of the game, 44 to 26 in kills, 6-3 in blocks and 6-2 in points from serves. Trinidad & Tobago committed fewer errors than Puerto Rico (19-23).
Outside hitter and team captain Pedro Molina scored a match-high of 13 points in Puerto Rico’s second win, on 12 kills and one ace. Outside hitter Omar Hoyos and middle blocker Pedro Nieves added 8 points each.
Middle blocker Mikheil Hoyte (Zebra) led Trinidad & Tobago with 9 points, followed by opposite hitter Ryan Stewart with seven.
Puerto Rico (2-0) finishes the preliminary round on Friday against host El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago against CCS (GUA).
Vidal Lawrence, PUR, attacks
Pedro Molina, captain of Puerto Rico: “We were better than yesterday, focused on working on our side and knowledge that we have long days ahead. We face El Salvador tomorrow; the atmosphere will be fun, and we are going to enjoy the moment”.
Oswald Antonetti, Head Coach of Puerto Rico: “We tried to gather a group of veterans with younger players for this tournament having in mind the importance of having solutions to this event to reach our goals. These matches help us to understand better which role each player will have because the next matches will be more demanding”.
Mikheil Hoyte (Zebra), top scorer of Trinidad & Tobago: “We need to perform with more effort and have a little more fun. This is a new group of guys who just must figure things out, so hopefully we can do that tomorrow and secure a win with more energy”.
Gideon Dixon, Head Coach of Trinidad & Tobago: “We improved today. We still have more to improve and it’s sad that this tournament is too short in terms of matches, but we hope to get a win tomorrow”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, June 28, 2023.- Host El Salvador defeated Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-23) in their opening match at the 24th Central American and Caribbean Games at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
After winning a strong first set, the home team El Salvador had a stronger resistance from Trinidad & Tobago who pulled off three match points (20-24) before their three-set finish in their first match of Pool B.
Both teams scored 34 points from attacks. El Salvador held a 5-0 advantage in serves, while Trinidad & Tobago led by a one point (5-4) in blocks. Trinidad & Tobago’s 33 unforced errors definitely made a difference against 17 from El Salvador.
The two players who finished with double digits were outside hitter Rodrigo Chavez who topped El Salvador with 14 points on 13 kills and one ace; and opposite Ryan Stewart from Trinidad & Tobago on a match-high of 17 points from 16 kills and one block.
El Salvador (1-0) meets on Thursday with Central American rival of team Centro Caribe Sports (Guatemala) 0-1, and Trinidad & Tobago (0-1) goes against defending champion Puerto Rico (1-0).
Diego Guidos, ESA, attacks
Juan Carlos Vargas, captain of El Salvador: “We had a notion of how Trinidad & Tobago performs. We were disciplined following our coaches’ instructions and we got our first result. Our goal in these Games is to be in the semifinals, this victory is the first step. Tomorrow, we have a strong match against CCS (GUA), a team that we know well because we are from the same area, and we will give our all”.
Akim Bushe, captain of Trinidad & Tobago: “It was a rollercoaster. We came with a game plan however, a lot of unforced errors on our end had us on the losing side of this match. We need to decide as a group to get over it, come back all fresh for our early game tomorrow. We need to have better communication on the court and a bit more energy and we should be fine for our match tomorrow”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, June 28, 2023.- Defending champion Puerto Rico began the 2023 San Salvador CAC Games with a win 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-18) over the team of Centro Caribe Sports (Guatemala) on Wednesday at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Puerto Rico was in control of the action in their first Pool B performance, still, the team of Centro Caribe Sports (CCS) jumped to a 10-7 lead in the second set and reached the third to an even 18 score.
The CAC title holders produced 38 points from kills, against 24 and were more consistent in blocking (10-2) and in aces (8-1). CCS benefited from Puerto Rico’s 24 unforced errors, while committing 14.
The leading scorer of the match was Puerto Rican opposite hitter Klistan Lawerence with 18 points on 12 kills, three blocks and three aces. Team captain Pedro Vargas followed with 12 points on 9 kills, one block and two aces.
Opposite Erik Flores led CCS with 10 points from 8 kills and 2 blocks.
Puerto Rico’s next opponent is Trinidad & Tobago, Centro Caribe Sports (Guatemala) faces the host country El Salvador.
Pre match protocol Puerto Rico v CCS (Guatemala)
Pedro Molina, Captain of Puerto Rico: “There was a little of everything, they improved, and we slowed our intensity, Guatemala is a good team. We are focused on our side, in our errors, going point by point to improve. Our goal is to defend our title, it’s a big weight on our shoulders, but we are working towards it”.
Oswald Antonetti, Head coach of Puerto Rico: “The team was a bit tense in the beginning. Our younger players did well, they got into a good pace. We lacked a better rhythm, but we were consistent emotionally and in our performance. Guatemala is a good team, they serve well, they play orderly”.
Carlos López, Captain CCS: “We lacked concentration at the beginning, we failed in scoring points we could have won and for moments we came back, then we were stopped by Puerto Rico’s strength, they are an experienced team. Now we think about tomorrow’s match”.
Reider Lucas, Head Coach of CCS: “Fue un juego muy inestable, cometimos muchos errores y esperamos resolverlos. Este (Puerto Rico) es el equipo más fuerte en nuestro grupo, con mucho nivel y experiencia. Vamos empezando la competencia, a ver qué sucede”.
SUWON, Korea, June 28, 2023.- The U.S. Women’s National Team moved into first place in the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) preliminary round with a thrilling 3-2 (17-25, 25-15, 27-25, 28-30, 16-14) victory over Poland in Suwon, Korea. Poland entered the contest in first place.
The U.S. Women (8-1), which entered the final week of preliminary round play as the No. 1 team in the world, return to the court at 11:30 p.m. PT on Thursday against Bulgaria (2-7).
Outside hitter Kelsey (Robinson) Cook made her 2023 VNL debut a memorable one, scoring the winning point and sharing the team lead with opposite Annie Drews with 20 points. Cook finished with 17 points and three blocks, while Drews paced the U.S. squad with 18 kills, adding a block and service ace.
Middle blocker Dana Rettke, who finished with 13 points (10 kills, three blocks) added three kills in the fifth set, including a kill on an overpass at 14-14. Outside hitter Ali Frantti recorded 12 kills and middle blocker Haleigh Washington totaled 10 points, including a team-high five blocks.
Captain and libero Justine Wong-Orantes totaled 23 digs with Cook and Frantti each adding 10.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, June 28, 2023.- Cuba started their 2023 CAC Games campaign defeating Suriname in straight sets 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-19) in Pool A of the Men’s Volleyball Tournament at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernandez in San Salvador.
Cuba, who finished week 2 at the Volleyball Nations League, rested some key players in their first performance while Suriname battled stronger in the first and third sets.
Cuba outplayed Suriname with 30 points from kills against 21, with a 9-6 advantage in blocks and a 5-0 margin in points from serves. Cuba allowed 31 points from unforced errors and Suriname 24.
Opposite Miguel Gutierrez and team captain Osniel Mergarejo led Cuba’s offense with 13 and 10 points respectively. Gutierrez scored from 10 kills and 3 aces, while Mergarejo had 8 kills, one block and one ace.
Suriname’s leading scorer was Zefanio Breinburg with eight points on 6 kills and two blocks.
On thursday Cuba (1-0) will face Dominican Republic (1-0) and Suriname (0-1) meets with Mexico (0-1).
Miguel Guitierrez, CUB, serves
Osniel Mergarejo, captain of Cuba: “The Central American Games are very important for us. Some players rested today because we’re coming from VNL, and other bench players played so we can prepare as a team to reach the final. Suriname was excellent, they are improving and it was a good match, their coach is Cuban and we respect them”.
Zefanio Breinburg, top scorer of Suriname: “It was a good performance for us, we started great. We came to leave it all on the field, show what we got and to play hard, let’s see where we stand against Cuba. The team had good kills; it was a good start”.
Nicolás Vives, Head coach of Cuba: “I made some variations to preserve our libero who had a small injury in France, and we want him to be well for the final matches here. The game had a good Flow, our opponent didn’t ask much of us, but the guys did well. We are focused on improving some skills to have better results. We are coming for the gold; this group has never been Central American Champion”.
Carlos Orta Fellove, Head Coach of Suriname: “I told my guys that they had nothing to lose against Cuba, on the contrary, they had a lot to win. The team performed well against Cuba that has a better game level than ours. This team is amateur, facing a professional team and they did well, showing they can win one or two matches”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, June 28, 2023.- Dominican Republic beat Mexico 3-1 (25-17, 29-31, 25-20, 18-25) to open the Men’s Volleyball tournament at the 2023 San Salvador Central American and Caribbean Games at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
Dominican Republic started off strong jumping to a four-point lead (4-0) that went on growing the entire first set. Mexico came back to take the second set but with difficulties while Dominican Republic reached set point on four different occasions until Mexico won by a thrilling 31-29. It was Dominican Republic who kept their rhythm to beat Mexico in four sets.
Dominicans scored on Mexico’s 41 unforced errors against 16. Blocking also made a difference with Dominicans leading 14-6, in addition to a 4-2 margin in aces. Mexico led in kills 62-45.
Dominican Hector Cruz emerged as the leading scorer in the match with 22 points. The outside hitter scored on 17 kills, 3 blocks and two aces. Other standout players were opposite hitter and team captain Henry Tapia with 16 points (15 kills, one block) and outside hitter Henry López with 14 points, including a match-high of five blocks.
Outside hitter Mauro Fuentes topped Mexico with 18 kill points, followed by opposite hitter Diego Gonzalez with 16 points (15 kills, one block) and outside hitter Josué López with 11 kills points as well.
Dominican Republic’s next match in pool A is against Suriname and Mexico goes against Cuba.
Juan de Jesus Hernandez, DOM, pass the ball
Henry López, outside hitter of Dominican Republic: “There were many emotions starting from the very first point. We have prepared hard, and we knew we could beat Mexico. We focused on blocking, and we kept our serves under control, that’s how we contained their leading players (López and González) far from the net”.
Alexander Gutiérrez, Head coach of Dominican Republic: “In this pool (the death pool) one match can make the difference to advance into the semifinals. For us this was an early semifinal match. Since the Final Four in Durango, I’ve been saying that our goals were the Central American Games, and today we capitalized what we did in Mexico, that gives us truth. The team kept their game level from start to finish, they didn’t lose concentration and that is really important because if you lose your head for an instant, you can lose the match”.
Mauro Fuentes, outside hitter of Mexico: “We failed to concentrate from the beginning, and we were too overconfident and in addition to that, Dominican Republic had a great performance”.
Jorge Azair, Head coach of Mexico: “We played badly, we didn’t attack, we didn’t score points from kills, and we must watch the video to analyze the game. Dominican Republic did their game, they didn’t make variations in what they usually do”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, June 27, 2023.- The Men’s Volleyball Tournament at the 24th edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games of San Salvador 2023 is ready to kick off on Wednesday June 28 at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández.
On the eve of the competition, members of the NORCECA control committee were divided in two groups to carry out the competition hall inspection, the practical clinic and the preliminary inquiries.
The general technical meeting took place at University of El Salvador (UES) where the seven of the eight coaches commented about their expectations. Cuba was expected to arrive later during the day.
Alexander Gutiérrez, Head Coach of Dominican Republic: “We are going to continue showing how much our team has improved and try to finish in the best position taking into account that we are in the toughest group of the tournament”.
Gabriel Linares, Head Coach of El Salvador: “Our gymnasium was being remodeled for the Games, so we had some difficulties to start training at the same court. We had friendly matches against teams that improved our development, in Colombia and Costa Rica. We are with great energy and optimism to give a step forward in improving El Salvador’s’ volleyball”.
Reider Lucas, Head Coach of Centro Caribe Sports (GUA): “This is a highly competitive tournament, the Central American and Caribbean Games is huge, and we want to advance with the group that was able to prepare a little more, our goal is to qualify to the next round, looking for the best possible result for Guatemala”.
Preliminary Inquiry
Jorge Azair, Head Coach of Mexico: “The goal is the gold medal, yes it will be hard, but we’ve worked, and the guys have improved their level of play and gained more confidence. The team is motivated, happy. Pedro Rangel is the only player who has been at the Central American Games, so they are all excited for their first time. This tournament is different, the players socialize with other sports and countries, the surroundings are motivating”.
Oswald Antonetti, Head Coach of Puerto Rico: “We are coming to defend our title, to keep on improving; it’s a long tournament. We are going to work on our unity, stress the importance of team effort and practice all the tactical-technical skills that we must improve during this tournament. We are bringing only two players from the generation that won in 2018, this is a group who we trust, and we are going to work to forge it”.
Carlos Orta Fellove, Head Coach of Surinam: “We are coming to play but most of all to learn from more experienced teams here, but we have some goals as well, winning at least two or three matches, maybe against El Salvador or Guatemala. This is a new squad, their first time here at CAC Games. It’s important that we are going to learn for the future and to prepare for our Caribbean Championship”.
Gideon Dickson, Head Coach of Trinidad & Tobago: “We had a four-month preparation cycle in expectation to come here and be competitive in every match, but we are also preparing for our most important tournament, the CVC Championship (CAZOVA Senior Championship) in one month’s time. This tournament will be a great first to measure where we are and where we want to go. Our guys are excited to be here”.
COSTA DEL SOL, El Salvador, June 27, 2023.- Juan Virgen and Miguel Sarabia of Mexico beat Ruben Mora and Jefferson Cascante 2-0 (21-10, 21-19) in the championship match of the Men’s Beach Volleyball tournament of the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games of San Salvador 2023.
This is the first gold medal for Mexico, and for Juan Virgen as well, who has two silver medals and one bronze; and he came here from losing the past edition of the Games in Barranquilla 2018 against Cuba.
In the final match, Mexico was completely dominant in the first set, where Nicaragua couldn’t read Mexico’s serves and both Virgen and Sarabia’s attacks.
Mora and Cascante were stronger in the second set, battling every point, and fighting up to the end when a bad serve and a Mexican block stopped their intentions.
This is Nicaragua’s first medal in Beach Volleyball at the CAC Games.
Juan Virgen (2) and Miguel Sarabia (1) of Mexico
Juan Virgen said “the gold medal was missing and today we won it with Miguel. We are glad, we continue to make history for Mexico with our results and we want to thank all the people supporting us back home. I had two silver medals and one bronze and now winning a gold medal motivated me to continue to fight, continue our preparation for what lies ahead”.
“Our goal was the gold medal; we had our minds sets for a long time” expressed Miguel Sarabia. “We are happy with the result. With Juan, we complement each other, my youth, and his experience. During the match I told him that he gave me confidence and that helps me grow and maybe I can help him to reach better results”.
Noslen Diaz and Jorge Luis Alayo of Cuba won the bronze medal after beating Kevin Rodriguez and Josué Rivera of Puerto Rico 2-0 (21-16, 21-14).
COSTA DEL SOL, El Salvador, June 27, 2023.- María González and Allanis Navas of Puerto Rico beat Dominicans Julibeth Payano and Bethania Almanza 2-1 (19-21, 21-11, 15-12) to climb to glory winning the gold medal of the Women’s Beach Volleyball tournament at the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023.
González/Navas won the first gold medal for Puerto Rico in the history of Central American and Caribbean Games. Puerto Rico has a silver medal won by Yarleen Santiago and Dariam Acevedo during the 2010 CAC Games of Mayagüez.
The first set went to the Dominican duo controlling Puerto Rico with Payano’s kills and Almanza’s blocks, as well as anticipating their opponents moves. In the second and third sets, González/Navas adjusted with side out touches and made their opponents lose focus while attacking long shots.
Navas said “I am super proud, it’s an honor for us to take so much happiness to Puerto Rico and even more with a gold medal. For me, it’s just the beginning of our plans, we have the idea to work hard every single day”.
“We were off in the first set, out of rhythm, but the key was to find our rhythm, calm down to come out to win the second and third sets. We are satisfied for sure, mission accomplished”, said María González.
Allanis Navas of Puerto Rico spikes
Mexicans Abril Flores and Atenas Gutiérrez prevailed 2-0 (21-16, 21-9) over Yenifer Rivera and Amanda Armenteros of Cuba, to win the bronze medal.
Flores and Gutiérrez showed their strength on the court, jumping to an early four point lead that grew to come out with the victory over Cuba.
This is Mexico’s first bronze medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games. Previously they had won three gold medals and two silvers, to continue to be top winners in the history of the CAC Games.
Atenas Gutierrez (1) and Abril Flores (2)of Mexico
Tuesday’s results
Position 7-8: ESA 2-0 GUA (DNS). Position 5-6 : VEN 2-0 NCA (21-13, 21-12); Bronze Medal Match: MEX 2-1 CUB (21-16, 12-9). Gold Medal Match: PUR 2-1 CUB (19-21, 21-11, 15-12)
June 27, 2023.- Canada kicked off its third phase of Volleyball Nations League with a 3-0 win over Croatia in Bangkok, Thailand while Dominican Republic fell 1-3 to Germany in Suwon, Korea.
Croatia came out determined, gaining a large lead (10-3) partway in the first set, but a composed Canada came back and despite a late charge by their opponents, closed the match in three sets (21-25, 21-25, 26-28).
Croatia and Canada were almost even in attack points (43-42), but Canada’s (13-6) block and service were difference makers today (4-2). Canada was led by Alexa Gray with 20 points (17 attack kills and 3 blocks). Gray is among the top attackers of the tournament so far.
This is Canada’s fourth win of the tournament. Canada plays Brazil next (June 29).
Pool 5 action in Suwon started earlier on Tuesday with Germany’s 3-1 (25-19, 25-18, 18-25, 25-21) win over the Dominican Republic.
Dominican Republic against Germany
The Caribbean Queens stand 11th on 3-6 and seven.
Brayelin Martinez topped the chart with 21 points for Dominican Republic. Gaila González also helped Dominicans with 17 points.
Both teams scored on a similar number of kills, with Germany leading 49-47. The Europeans also led in aces 9-3, while the Caribbeans led 8-6 in blocks.
Dominican Republic will face the home team on June 29.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, June 26, 2023. – Puerto Rico aiming to defend their title at the Men’s Volleyball tournament of the 24th edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, El Salvador to be played at the Sports Palace Carlos El Famoso Hernández from June 28 to July 2.
Puerto Rico is one of the eight teams competing in men’s volleyball, who recovered their title in the past edition of the Games held in Barranquilla, Colombia in 2018. Puerto had Rico lost to the Dominican Republic in 2014 in Veracruz, Mexico, coming from winning three titles in a row (2002, 2006, 2010), for an overall of five titles.
Defending champion Puerto Rico will play in Pool B alongside the team of Centro Caribe Sports (Guatemala), Trinidad &Tobago, and host country El Salvador. Pool A consists of Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Suriname.
The winners from each pool will advance directly into the tournaments’ semifinals, while teams place in second and third place will compete in the quarterfinals.
Speaking about the historic winners of the Games, Cuba has won on ten occasions, including nine in a row from 1966 to 1998; in the past edition of 2018 they finished fourth falling to Mexico in the bronze medal match. Mexico follows Cuba with six titles.
Four daily matches are scheduled and the opening match is set to start at 10:30 local time on Wednesday June 28, between Mexico and Dominican Republic, followed by Cuba and Suriname at 13:30. Current champion Puerto Rico will follow at 17:00 against Guatemala, and host El Salvador will face Trinidad & Tobago at 20:00.
COSTA DEL SOL, El Salvador, June 26, 2023.- Nicaragua and Mexico advanced to the men’s beach volleyball final match at the 2023 San Salvador Central American Games after beating Puerto Rico and Cuba respectively, in dramatic three set semifinals.
Nicaragua’s Ruben Mora alongside Jefferson Cascante made history qualifying to the finals after defeating Kevin Rodriguez and Josué Rivera a Puerto Rico who won the first set but couldn’t keep their rhythm in the second and in the third set Mora/Cascante tied at point 14 and from there on the advantage changed for Nicaragua.
Rubén Mora said “this is a victory for everyone who supports us, our coach Erasmo Palomo has been a key element and thanks to his work we are here. Nicaragua had never finished in the top four and we have secured a medal”.
“We are satisfied with our result; Nicaragua had never before won a medal in these Games, and advancing to the final is to put Nicaragua’s name up high” added Cascante.
Ruben Mora (1) and Jefferson Cascante (2) Nicaragua celebrate semifinal win over Puerto Rico
Mexicans Juan Virgen and Miguel Sarabia prevailed 2-1 (21-23, 21-15, 26-24) over Cubans Noslen Diaz and Jorge Luis Alayo in a marathonic match, under a persistent rain that didn’t stop the fans to cheer “let’s go Cuba” and “viva México”.
After losing an advantage in the first set, Virgen/Sarabia witnessed how Cuba had a partial victory, but they came from behind to win the second and in the third set, there were consecutive “match points” that in the end was decided by a serve from Sarabia which made it difficult for Cuba and they left the ball on the net.
The match for third place will be on Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. between Puerto Rico and Cuba, and the final match between Mexico and Nicaragua will be at 3:00 p.m.
Virgen, who has two silver medals and one bronze at CAC Games, of an overall four silver medals and two bronze of Mexico, said to feel very excited and with part of their goal complete, “we came for a medal, we wanted to reach the final, we knew that Cuba is a strong, hard; at the end of some sets things god complicated, but we were able to come out with the win”.
After the last point, Juan Virgen stayed lying on the sand, with his face down, maybe crying, for several minutes. “I only thought it’s over, we made it, I was exhausted, and I just kept on the sand” he said.
Sarabia said “in the end I didn’t know whether to jump, run, I didn’t know what to do… There are no words to describe the feeling. We were able to beat a tough Cuban team, we knew who they were as a team, we had faced them on other occasions and today we came out victorious. Nicaragua is coming like every team, eager to win, they want the medal just like we do, but we will both battle hard to win it”.
Miguel Sarabia of Mexico celebrates beating Cuba in semifinals
COSTA DEL SOL, El Salvador, June 26, 2023.- Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic advance to the women’s beach volleyball tournament of the Central American and Caribbean Games after defeating Mexico and Cuba respectively.
Puerto Rico with María González and Allanis Navas defeated Mexicans Abril Flores and Atenas Gutiérrez 2-1 (20-22, 21-18, 15-9) in battled match where both tandems fought hard to reach the finals.
The gold medal match will be played at the soccer beach National Stadium in Costa del Sol at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday following the definition of the bronze medal at noon between Mexico and Cuba.
Mexico recovered from a 3-point deficit in the first set to win 22-20, but in the second set, Puerto Rico reached a 5-point advantage (15-10) which they kept up to point 20 with Mexico trying to recover with three consecutive points. María González won the set for Puerto Rico 21-18 with a block.
Allanis Navas (2) digs and Maria Gonzalez (1) of Puerto Rico
In the third set, González and Navas came out with determination and jumped to a 5-1 lead which the Mexican duo was unable to overcome falling 9-15.
Allanis Navas said “every time we come out on the court, we want to leave our skins for our country, and this wasn’t the exception. We were strongly prepared for this, and we made it, it has been a great effort and we reached once again a final match”.
“In the past Games (Barranquilla) we came off short, we finished fourth, but we knew we could give more”, said María González.
In the other semifinal, Dominicans Julibeth Payano and Bethania Almanza controlled Cuba’s attack of Yenifer Rivera and Amanda Armenteros, beating them 2-0 (1-18, 21-17), to advance in the first ever final match for a Dominican team.
Cuba jumped to a 12-9 lead in the first set, but Payano’s good defense and Almanza’s kills helped them recover and put distance after point 16 to win the first set and get on track to win the game.
“We are proud and excited to be in a final match for the first time. It has been a mentally demanding, we have prepared physically for this, we practiced yesterday with this match on our mind,” said Julibeth Payano.
Her partner, Almanza, stated “we dedicate this victory to all Dominicans, to all the working team that supports us, to our families, for everybody’s sacrifice. Now we must focus on Puerto Rico who is a great opponent, but we know we can aspire for more”.
Julibeth Payano (1) and Bethania Almanza (2) of Dominican Republic
COSTA DEL SOL, El Salvador, June 25, 2023.- The men’s Beach Volleyball semifinals at the 2023 San Salvador Central American Games will be exciting and hot just like the sand and sun at the beach soccer National Stadium in Costa del Sol, that has been the home for athletes, volunteers and technical supervisors for a week.
Juan Virgen and Miguel Sarabia of Mexico are looking to dethrone Cuba, who has won four gold medals in the history of the Games, while Mexico has four silver medals and two bronze. Juan Virgen has won two of the silver medals for Mexico and one bronze medal.
This is the first time that Cubans Noslen Diaz and Jorge Luis Alayo reached a Central American and Caribbean semifinal, but their predecessors have won the past two editions consecutively.
The semifinal match between Mexico and Cuba will be on Monday June 26 at 7:00 p.m.
Rubén Mora and Jefferson Cascante de Nicaragua, the tournament’s surprise, after qualifying to their first medal round, will face (6:00 p.m.) Puerto Ricans Kevin Rodriguez and Josué Rivera who want to put Puerto Rico back at the beach volleyball podium. Puerto Rico won the gold medal in 2002 and two bronze medals (1998 and 2010).
In Sunday’s classification matches for positions results, Ryck Webb/Martin Blake (JAM) won 2-1 (19-21, 21-15, 15-10) over Jesario Ebanks/Casey Santamaria (CAY) and will battle for position 13 against Sheldon Descartes/Joseph Clercent (LCA) who prevailed 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) to Irvens Benjamin/Joseph Olando (HAI). Haiti and Cayman Islands will play for position 15.
Hayerling De Jesús/Oscar Martínez (DOM) won 2-0 (21-15, 21-13) over St. Clair Hodge/Shaw Seabrookes (SKN) and will play against Franklin Flores y Armando Guatemala (ESA) for position 9, who beat Marc Lomeli/Austin Pippen (ISV) 2-0 (21-18, 21-12 ) who will face St. Kitts and Nevis for position 11.
José González/Jason Quintero (PAN) won 2-0 (23-21, 21-19) over Ernest Broaster/ Gabriel Nuñez (BIZ) and finished 19. Small Jahmal/ Cluevvan Cumberbatch of St. Vincent won 2-0 (21.-13, 21-12) against Dwight Bonnie /Cairon David (ANT) to finish in position 17.
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