GUATEMALA, September 5, 2024.- Nicaragua secured a 3-2 (21-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 15-12) victory over Guatemala, maintaining their unbeaten record in the inaugural AFECAVOL Men’s Final Four Championship, at the Alfonso Gordillo Gymnasium on December 7th.
This victory places Nicaragua at the top of the tournament standings, and they will face Belize this Friday, who has a record of two losses. If the Nicaraguans win, they will be crowned champions.
Meanwhile, Guatemala, with a record of one win and one loss, will face El Salvador, which has the same record. The winner will have a chance to contend for the silver medal, but if Belize wins the first game, the gold medal will depend on the result of that match.
Guatemala outperformed Nicaragua in attacks 64-53 and in serves 6-3, while blocks ended in a tie with 9 each. Nicaragua secured the victory thanks to the 44 unforced errors given by Guatemala throughout the game (equivalent to almost 2 sets).
Axel Gutiérrez of Nicaragua was the top scorer of the match with 23 points, and Jonny Zeledón contributed 16 points to the victory. For Guatemala, Carlos López was the top scorer with 20 points, supported in the attack by Yeferson Zavala with 19 points.
Axel Gutiérrez of Nicaragua said, “We came for the game, we fought until the last point, and tomorrow we will go for the gold, without a doubt”.
Yeferson Zavala of Guatemala commented, “We knew we were facing a very strong Nicaragua. We managed the first and third sets well. In the second set, we lost our rhythm and couldn’t close out the fourth and fifth sets. Tomorrow, we depend on the game between Nicaragua and Belize to see if we can make it to the podium”.
English 
Spanish