CHITRÉ, Panama, October 16, 2024.- Costa Rica overcame Nicaragua 3-2 (16-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-17, 15-6) on the penultimate day of the 20th AFECAVOL Central American Men’s Championship at the Papa Francisco Gymnasium in Chitré, Panama.
Costa Rica improved their record to 3-2, while Nicaragua fell to 2-3.
This was Costa Rica’s third five-set match. Nicaragua also lost in five sets last night against Panama.
Nicaragua’s final opponent is the reigning champion Guatemala, with their match set for Thursday at 4:30 pm. The tournament’s 20th edition will conclude with Costa Rica facing Panama at 7:00 pm.
Costa Rica’s significant advantage in blocking (17-8) was crucial to their victory, and they also outperformed Nicaragua in serves (6-1). Nicaragua held advantage in attacks (59-54) and made fewer errors (23-26).
Four players led Costa Rica’s offense, scoring double digits: Denzel Jiménez (18), Johan Cerdas (16), Ignacio Morales (16), and Jeremy Vanega (11), the latter recording a match-high of 6 blocking points.
Nicaragua’s Edwin Humphreys was the game’s top scorer with 22 points, while Evans Solís contributed 13 points.
The match was a rollercoaster, with Costa Rica forcing a fifth set after taking control of the fourth set with 4 blocks and 3 aces, while Nicaragua had none in both skills. Costa Rica dominated the tie-break, capitalizing on 6 Nicaraguan errors and attacks from Johan Cerdas and Ignacio Morales.
Gabriel Ventura, captain of Costa Rica: “I feel like we gave away the first set too easily, but in the second, with some changes, we found ourselves as a team. It helped that we finished very strong in the fourth and fifth sets. I had to leave the game because my knee started hurting during a play, but my teammate who replaced me did an amazing job”.
Félix Palacios, captain of Nicaragua: “It was a tight game. We started off strong, but in the end, the team’s energy dropped. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the result, but we gave it our all on the court. Tomorrow, we face Guatemala, and we hope to beat them”.
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