TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, July 28, 2022 – Belize started with a 3-0 victory (25-14, 25-11. 25-12) against Panama to open the V Women’s Afecavol U23 Central American Championship, at the Jorge Galeano Gymnasium of the Olympic Village of Tegucigalpa.
The Belizean team rotated players, with Blessed Omamurhe with 11 points, Khaya Gordon and Nisaan Martínez with 10; while for Panama, captain Karla Ortíz was left with 8 and six from Krisleen González. Belize outscored 41-16 in spikes, 8-2 in blocks and 5-2 in aces, with 21 errors from Panama to 17 from the winners.
Sofía Solano, captain of Belize: “We are happy with the result, Panama was not a very demanding team, it was not what we expected, it was good to win in three sets. I think we are playing at a high level, tomorrow is a great game against Costa Rica and we know it will be a very tough game”.
José Fontés, coach of Belize: “It was a game that did not have a great level, even we started a little nervous. The lack of competitions in recent years takes its toll on Panama… for us to start winning is very important, we know that the rest of the games will be very difficult”.
Karla Ortiz, Captain of Panama: “We see this participation in a good way, because the vast majority of the girls are inexperienced players and this is a high-level tournament, where we are short and below the tournament age. We will give our very best, they played a good game and we were a little nervous as it was the first game”.
Eliot Clark: “Belize used to be Cinderella, but they have put a lot of work into it and now it is a great team and you have to respect them. They played very well (Belize), they won their game well played and we lacked experience. Expect a lot from us in the next games, we will grow little by little”.
Panama will play this Friday at 2:00 p.m. against Nicaragua, while Belize has a clash against Costa Rica at 4:30 p.m.
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