Belize City, Belize, July 19, 2024.- Guatemala earned a comfortable victory over Honduras 3-0 (25-14, 25-8, 25-13), keeping them in the running for medals in the 20th Central American U21 Women’s Championship.
With one match remaining, Guatemala has secured their place on the podium with a record of 2-1 in wins and losses. Their upcoming match against Belize will determine the color of their medal.
Guatemala played at their own pace and had little difficulties defeating Honduras, which suffered its third loss of the competition.
María Santa Cruz was the top scorer for Guatemala with 11 points, eight on attacks and three on serves. Her teammate, Dulce Trigueño, also performed notably with nine points, five on attacks and four on serves.
For Honduras, Victoria Aparicio was the best with four points from attacks, while Ivanna Almendarez scored three points.
Guatemala completely dominated all aspects of the match with 30 points in attacks compared to 15 from Honduras, serves 16-1, and blocks 2-0. They also committed fewer unforced errors, 19 against 27 from Honduras.
Regarding the victory, Guatemala’s captain María Santa Cruz stated: “We are still in the fight for medals. After this match, we all feel more united. Now we must give our all in our match against Belize. After the defeat against Nicaragua, we had to rebuild and see what we needed to fix”.
Meanwhile, Honduras’ captain Mónica Vásquez commented: “We had ups and downs in the match. In the midst of everything, we did well according to our capabilities. For us, this event is a very good experience ahead of the U17 Central American Championship. We are all very aware that the plays in which we failed are ones we can execute. We have to learn from our mistakes”.
English 
Spanish