SANTA ROSA DE COPAN, Honduras, September 13, 2022.- Guatemala scored its first win at the XIV Boys’ U19 Central American Championship of AFECAVOL after defeating El Salvador 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-22) at the Santa Rosa de Copan Gymnasium.
Guatemala improved their record to 1-2, for a total of seven points and El Salvador has the same record but with six points.
Guatemala dominated the first set, but in the following two sets they needed great effort to come from behind after El Salvador’s fast response.
The Guatemalan team prevailed over El Salvador 33-30 in attacks, 7-3 in blocks and 5-3 in aces, while committing 22 errors against 30 from El Salvador.
Outside hitter Pedro Villatoro with 10 points, middle blocker Sergio Paz with 9 points and outside hitter Roberto Recinos with 8 points led Guatemala’s attacks.
Outside hitter Rafael Vargas and middle blocker Ricardo Alegria were El Salvador’s leading scorers with 9 and 8 points respectively.
On the penultimate day of competition Guatemala (1-2) will face Honduras (0-2) and El Salvador (1-2) against Nicaragua (1-1).
Pedro Villatoro, top scorer of Guatemala: “we had a different mentality from the other two matches, we were determined to win 3-0 to add the necessary points to give us a chance to reach the podium. Our attitude was crucial, we were motivated”.
Rafael Vargas, top scorer of Nicaragua: “We didn’t react despite being ahead in the last two sets. I believe we were overconfident, and we lost energy. We couldn´t stabilize our serves like we did against Honduras. We need to be more focused for the next two matches, put the ball in play and try to score”.
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