HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 28, 2022.- Setter and team captain Niverka Marte of the Dominican Republic was selected the Most Valuable Player of the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup after her team won their fifth gold medal match over Colombia at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
The closing ceremony was chaired by NORCECA President Cristobal Marte Hoffiz accompanied by the Guest of Honor Ana Guevara, Director of the Sports Council and Physical Culture (CONADE) of Mexico.
Niverka Marte shared the podium with her teammates Bethania De La Cruz, awarded 1st Best Spiker and Best Server, Geraldine Gonzalez 1st Best Blocker, Gaila Gonzalez the Best Opposite and Brenda Castillo awarded as Best Libero, Best Receiver and Best Digger.
Individual Awards
From the silver medalists team Colombia, Maria Alejandra Marin was chosen as the Best Setter and Darlevis Mosquera the 2nd Best Blocker.
Outside hitter Avery Skinner of the United States and bronze medalists, received the recognitions for 2nd Best Spiker and Best Scorer.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 28, 2022.- Dominican Republic won their fifth Women’s Pan American gold medal defeating Colombia 3-1 (21-25, 25-13, 25-21, 25-16) on Sunday at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
The Dominican Republic also won the Women’s Pan American Cup title, in 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2016. For Colombia, this is their first silver medal and second medal in the history of the event, having won the bronze medal in the past edition in 2019.
Dominicans blocking and service points seized Colombia by comfortable 14-9 and 4-0 margins respectively. The Caribbeans also led by a close 56-51 attacking advantage and scoring on 22 South American errors against 19.
Outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz scored a match-high of 23 points on 21 kills and two points from blocks in Dominican Republic’s gold medal victory. Opposite Gaila Gonzalez also contributed to the winning effort with 15 points from 11 kills, one block and three aces, joined by outside hitter Yonkaira Peña collecting 14 points from 12 kills and two blocks.
Three players also led Colombia’s attackers, outside hitter Ana Karina Olaya with 17 points on 16 kills and one block, outside hitter Amanda Coneo with 13 points on 10 kills and three blocks, and middle blocker Yeisy Soto tallied 10 points.
Dominican Republic celebrates winning fifth Pan American Cup gold medal
Niverka Marte, captain of Dominican Republic: “We have screamed and celebrated a lot, I am so happy and proud of my team. I am part of a team of leaders that doesn’t allow anyone to play bad because we are always pushing each other. Colombia has a fierce team, they never give up and we respect them, we faced a great opponent that played well and stood up to us. The joy and team union from the first day of the tournament is what gave us the crown today”.
María Alejandra Marín, captain of Colombia: “This is our first Pan American Cup final, we are happy and hoping for many more to come; we knew it was going to be hard. Colombia did its job, but things didn’t come out, it was a battling second place. We won the first set because we were tactically organized, the rest of the game we committed too many errors, we learn from everything”.
Marcos Kwiek, head coach of Dominican Republic: “After no concentration in the first set, we focused on what we had practiced, studied, and prepared for the game. I believe our discipline was key to win the game. The sets we lost during the tournament were all close, we must be more aggressive from the start”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 28, 2022.- The United States won the bronze medal over host Mexico 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 25-16, 25-11) at the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup on Sunday at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
This is the United States fourth bronze medal in the history of the Pan American Cup and they earned their qualification to the 2023 Pan American Games finishing as the top ranked NORCECA team not previously qualified, Dominican Republic and Mexico earned their tickets last year.
The U.S. fought four-set points (20-24) in the second set, but Mexico extended to overtime forcing the Americans to celebrate their victory in four sets.
United States topped every skill of the game, with 52-32 attacking margin, 11-8 in blocking points and 10-7 aces. The U.S. committed one less error than Mexico (25-26).
Outside hitters Veronica Jones-Perry of the United States led all scorers with 24 points from 20 kills and a match-high of four aces. Opposite Stephanie Samedy scored 15 points on 11 kills, three blocks and one ace, followed by outside hitter Avery Skinner with 13 points on 8 kills, a match-high of four blocks and one ace.
Outside hitter Samantha Bricio and Grecia Castro led Mexico producing 10 points each.
Mackenzie May, outside hitter of United States: “Mexico played an incredible game. This was a chaotic match for us, I am proud of my team for working through some adversity, some of us playing positions they’ve never played before, especially me, so having the team behind me and knowing we were good was great. Now we go to the Dominican Republic to play in the Final Six and hopefully we’ll medal as well”.
Bradley Rostratter, head coach of United States: “I am so proud of these girls, we had anything and everything going our way and the fact that we’re going away with a medal is outstanding; it speaks of their resiliency and their character. Adversity of not feeling too high for some players came and without the girl’s willingness to try new things this wouldn’t have been possible to overcome”.
HERMOSILLO, México, 28 de agosto de 2022.- Cuba venció a Puerto Rico 3-1 (14-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-21) por el quinto lugar de la XIX Copa Panamericana Femenina el domingo en la Arena Sonora de Hermosillo.
Cuba concluyó el evento con récord 3-3 en juegos ganados y Puerto Rico 2-4. Ambos equipos obtuvieron la clasificación a los Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe 2023 ubicándose entre los primeros tres lugares de los equipos no clasificados al evento; República Dominicana y México obtuvieron su boleto el año pasado.
Cuba sostuvo una cercana ventaja en ataques (53-51) y en bloqueos (10-7), en tanto que Puerto Rico controló los puntos de la línea de servicios (6-2) y cometió menor cantidad de errores no forzados (24-27).
La opuesta Dezirett Madan de Cuba fue la máxima anotadora del encuentro con 23 puntos. Las centrales Laura Suárez y Dayana Martínez aportaron 11 puntos cada una.
La atacante de esquina y capitana Pilar Victoria lideró Puerto Rico con 20 puntos y la opuesta Génesis Collazo contribuyó con 19 puntos.
Cuba celebrates beating Puerto Rico for fifth place
Gretell Moreno, acomodadora de Cuba: “Venimos en el torneo de menos a más, este es un equipo joven que está trabajando duro, está progresando en técnica, táctica y en la actitud en la cancha, creo que será un grupo que dará grandes resultados para Cuba pronto”.
Nomaris Velez, libero de Puerto Rico: “En el primer set mantuvimos el enfoque, nos mantuvimos unidas, luego nos costó un poco de trabajo. Aun así, dimos una buena batalla sin dejar escapar oportunidades de anotar, fue un evento largo y el cansancio afectó al equipo”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 27, 2022.- Dominican Republic won their semifinal match to Mexico 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-8, 25-14) on Saturday and will clash with Colombia for the 19th Women’s Pan American Gold at the Arena Sonora in Hermosillo.
Dominicans fell in a battled first set not before recovering from a five-point deficit (8-13) and struggled in the second to overcome Mexico’s offense, only to come out with a dominant force for the rest of the game and move into the gold medal match.
Host Mexico will face the United States in the bronze medal match.
Dominicans overpowered Mexico with a huge 15-1 margin in serves; they also led by a comfortable 10-6 margin in blocks and a close 50-48 advantage in attacks. Dominican Republic limited their errors to 13 points against 23.
Flores of Mexico and Marte of Dominican Republic fight the ball over the net
Opposite Gaila Gonzalez of Dominican Republic scored a match high of 23 points on 13 kills, and a match-high of 4 points from blocks and 6 aces. Outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz added 21 points on 14 kills, 2 blocks and 5 aces, followed by outside hitter Madeline Guillen with 13 points.
Two outside hitters led Mexico’s attackers, Samantha Bricio with 16 points and Aime Topete tallied 13 points.
Gaila González, top scorer of Dominican Republic: “We ended up committing too many errors in the first set, we needed to adjust better for the next sets; México took the opportunity very well. For the match against Colombia our concentration will be crucial to come out with the victory, the last time we played against them we came out victorious and the goal will be to do it again”.
Angela Crosetti, libero of Mexico: “In the first set our rhythm of play was fluent and we were speaking to one another about the strategy we wanted to execute. The support of the fans has been of great value for the team. We know we can win the bronze medal playing with a lot of energy, confidence about our game and good communication giving our all”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 27, 2022.- Colombia continued their winning streak reaching the gold medal match of the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup over the United States 3-1 (25-16, 25-27, 25-20, 25-20) in semifinals at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
Colombia remains undefeated and will face the winner between host Mexico and the Dominican Republic for the gold.
The U.S. battled off three set points (22-24) winning the second set, serving Colombia their first set-loss of the event.
Colombia held a close 59-57 advantage and a comfortable 6-1 in serves. The United States led 9-6 in blocking points. Colombia benefited from 29 U.S. errors against 16.
Maria Alejandra Marin (15) and Gomez (13) big celebration
Outside hitter Amanda Coneo led Colombia’s attackers with 20 points from 18 kills and two blocks. Middle blocker Yeisy Soto also contributed to the winning effort with 15 points from 12 kills, one block and two aces and opposite Dayana Segovia followed with 15 points on 13 kills and two aces.
Outside hitter Avery Skinner of the U.S. led all scorers with 21 points from 20 kills and one block. Two other players scored double-figures, outside hitter Veronica Jones-Perry with 17 points on 15 kills and two blocks, and middle blocker Alison Bastianelli with 10 points on 7 kills and three blocks.
Margarita Martínez, outside hitter of Colombia: “The team’s performance was stable, we were calm, and we knew how to solve at important moments during the game against an opponent who knows how to play. We lost the second set because the United States played faster, it was hard to adjust, but still it was a battled one”.
Victoria (Tori) Dilfer, setter of United States: “It’s always disappointing when we lose in this situation but plenty of good things happened in the match, it was a fun match. In the second set we did adjustments despite being well prepared, our middles pulled well to success but came too late in the match”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 27, 2022.- Peru took the seventh place at the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup defeating Costa Rica in straight sets 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-13) on Saturday at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
This was Peru’s second win over Costa Rica, they met in pool-play; Peru ended the event with a 3-3 win-loss record.
Peru prevailed on 42-26 attacking advantage, 2-0 points from blocks and 7-2 from service points; scoring on 24 Costa Rican errors against 16.
Peruvian outside hitter Ysabella Sanchez led with 13 points on 10 kills and three aces, followed by outside hitter Aixa Vigil and middle blocker Maricarmen Guerrero with 9 and 8 points respectively.
Opposite Angelica Rodriguez led Costa Rica’s attackers with 11 points.
Angélica Muñoz, setter of Peru: “We are glad to end with a win for Peru. The competition was long, hard and there are many things we need to improve, we are going step by step. I believe we did good teamwork and in shows on the court”.
Tamara Espinoza, captain of Costa Rica: “In this game we had difficulties to start and get into the rhythm of play we gained during the tournament. The tournament was of personal growth individually as players and as a team, we came here to prepare for the Central American Games, I am sure this will help us for following competitions”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 27, 2022.- Canada beat Nicaragua 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-22) for ninth place of the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup on Saturday at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
This was Canada’s second occasion beating Nicaragua, they also met in the preliminary round. Nicaragua put up a battle in the first and third set, but not enough for Canada’s straight set victory.
Canada led by a huge 52-25 advantage in attacks, they also held an 8-2 margin in blocks and a 5-1 in aces. Canada committed 10 unforced errors and Nicaragua a total of 29.
Three Canadians scored double-figures, opposite Natasha Calkins with 14 points, middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk with 13 points and outside hitter Trinity Solecki with 12 points.
Nicaraguan leading scorer was outside hitter Hellen Traña with 7 points.
Melissa Langegger, captain of Canada: “Nicaragua put up a good battle, we were trying to focus on our side and making it as clean as possible, grinding out every point. This was a tough competition, there is a lot to learn from it and we’re heading into another competition so it will be important”.
Lolette Rodríguez, setter of Nicaragua: “We came to the tournament to give our all, battle every match and we had a great one today against Canada; we improved in many aspects and now we must work on the negative to improve for upcoming tournaments”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 26, 2022.- Mexico won a dramatic quarterfinal five setter over Puerto Rico 3-2 (25-17, 25-19, 18-25, 20-25, 15-12) to advance into semifinals of the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup at the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
Host Mexico will face the Dominican Republic in semifinals and Puerto Rico will play for fifth place against Cuba. In the other semifinal, the United States goes up against Colombia.
Puerto Rico’s big comeback in the third set took Mexico by surprise, struggling to get back on track only to extend the match to a decisive fifth set.
Mexico overcame Puerto Rico with a consistent 67-49 advantage in attacks and a 4-3 margin in aces. Puerto Rico controlled 13-7 from blocking points and committed fewer errors (25-33).
Mexican players gather to celebrate their victory over Puerto Rico
Middle blocker Jocelyn Urias topped Mexico with 20 points on 16 kills, three blocks and one ace. Also contributing to Mexico’s victory were outside hitters Aime Topete and Samantha Bricio with 18 and 13 points respectively.
Opposite Genesis Collazo led Puerto Rico’s attackers with 20 points on 16 kills and 4 blocks, followed by outside hitters Genesis Miranda and Pilar Victoria with 17 and 15 points respectively.
Cecilia Rios, outside hitter of Mexico: “It was a dramatic victory, but we reached our goal, the team is happy. The support of our fans was valuable for Mexico to be in the semifinal. Our team work was crucial, we are a family and our mentality has been in evolution, we are coming from less to more, hoping for a good result tomorrow”.
Hector Soto, head coach of Puerto Rico: “As a team it doesn’t matter being behind because there is always a chance for the match to continue in our favor, until the last point of the game. I am proud of how the girls battled in a hostile atmosphere; they were cold and showed what it is to represent Puerto Rico with everything”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 26, 2022.- The United States beat Cuba 3-2 (27-29, 22-25, 25-22, 25-16, 19-17) in a comeback win to claim a semifinal spot at the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
The U.S. will play in semifinals to either Colombia or Dominican Republic depending on the result of the other semifinal between Mexico and Puerto Rico.
The United States and Cuba challenged each other the entire quarterfinal match, with the U.S. missing four-set points in the first set which only predicted the tough battle ahead.
The U.S. reached a comfortable seven-point lead (11-4) in the third set with Cuba catching up to even the score to seventeen points. The Americans won the fourth with a comfortable margin, and then captured a thrilling fifth set after Cuba let it slip away, losing two match-points and later the U.S. missing three.
The United States led 64-62 in attacks and scored from 36 Cuban errors against 24. Cuba did better in blocking points 16-13.
Outside hitter Avery Skinner scored 18 points as the U.S. leading scorer, from 14 kills, two blocks and two aces. Middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan contributed with 16 points, including 6 stuff blocks; and opposite Stephanie Samedy tallied 14 points.
Cuban Greisy Fine was the top attacker of the match with 20 points on 16 kills, three blocks and one ace, joined by outside hitter Claudia Tarin collected 19 points and outside hitter Ailama Cese added 11 points. Middle blocker Dayana Martinez topped in blocks with 7 points.
Stephanie Samedy, opposite of United States: “We were able to compensate and adjust, Cuba was great, they came out swinging and played good defense as well; props to them. We put up a great fight and we will do the same in the semifinal”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 26, 2022.- Peru defeated Canada 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-18) to play for seventh place of the Women’s Pan American Cup at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
Peru will play for seventh place against Costa Rica and Canada goes head-to-head against Nicaragua for ninth place.
After two battled sets, Peru finally found their way to force their game strategy and rhythm of play, leading 46-29 in attacks and scoring on 25 opponent errors against 20. Canada was better in blocks 10-3 and in aces 3-1.
Outside hitter Karla Ortiz topped Peru’s attackers, with 13 points on 9 kills, three blocks and one ace, accompanied by middle blocker Ginna Lopez and outside hitter Ysabella Sanchez with 10 points apiece (all from kills).
Middle blocker Avery Heppell led Canada with 10 points on 6 kills and a match-high of 4 blocks, outside hitter Melissa Langegger and middle blocker Allyssah Fitterer followed with 9 and 8 points respectively.
Francisco Hervas, head coach of Peru: “It was a difficult match for us, after falling to Puerto Rico, it’s emotionally hard for our team. Today we confirmed we can continue to compete; the result was in our favor. The team was disciplined in blocking, the players understood what we wanted them to do, sometimes that’s what matches are all about. Canada is a good team, with a lot of energy and dynamic, so we stood strong and stopped them, it wasn’t easy”.
Avery Heppell, top scorer of Canada: “The first two sets were much better, we came out strong, it was part of our game plan. It was unfortunate we gave them too many points in the third set, we weren’t as strong as we needed to be. We will close by giving our all tomorrow”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 26, 2022.- Costa Rica bounced back from an 0-2 set-deficit to beat Nicaragua 3-2 (19-25, 20-25, 25-14, 25-22, 15-13) in a placing match at the Women’s Pan American Cup in the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
Costa Rica will play for seventh place against the winner between Canada and Peru, while Nicaragua plays the loser for ninth place.
Costa Rica had a formidable comeback after falling in two closed sets and taking control of the third set jumping to an early eight-point lead (10-2); still they had difficulties overcoming Nicaragua missing two set-points in the third, three in the fourth set and coming from behind (8-10) in the fifth.
Costa prevailed 69-57 in attacks, 11-7 in blocks and 4-3 in aces. Nicaragua committed fewer errors (20-32).
Forbes of Nicaragua attacks against Costa Rica double block
Opposite hitter Angelica Rodriguez of Costa Rica led all scorers with 23 points on 20 kills, two blocks and one ace, followed by outside hitter Tamara Espinoza with 21 points and middle blocker Lakysha Thompson added 17 points including a match-high of 4 blocks.
Three players scored double-figures for Nicaragua, outside hitter and team captain of Nicaragua Ericka Calero with 15 points, middle blocker Brittany Forbes with 14 points and opposite hitter Hellen Traña with 12 points.
Pablo Acuña, head coach of Costa Rica: “It was a complex match, Nicaragua played very well the first two sets, they are a great opponent, and this has become a Central American classic. The player’s reaction took too long, emotionally, and tactically as well. The huge advantage in the third set was because of the team’s energy, our offense was effective, and we executed the game plan we practiced today”.
Ericka Calero, captain of Nicaragua: “We lost concentration as a team, we were uncertain on the court and our offense-defense communication couldn’t connect like in the first two sets. Our team’s energy couldn’t recover from losing the third set, we couldn’t pick ourselves up”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 25, 2022.- Host Mexico outclassed Canada in straight sets 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-21) to finish second in pool B of the Women’s Pan American Cup at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
Mexico, with an 3-1 overall record in the preliminary round, will face Puerto Rico in quarterfinals; Cuba, third place (2-2) goes up against the U.S. in the other quarterfinal match. Canada will play for classification matches for positions 7 to 10 starting against Peru.
Mexico led in attacks 35-30 and committed 16 errors against 32. Canada led by a huge 10-4 advantage in serves and a slim 5-4 margin in blocks.
Outside hitter Samantha Bricio once again led Mexico on a match-high of 12 points on 10 kills and two aces and Aime Topete tallied 11 points on 8 kills, two blocks and one ace. Middle blocker Karina Flores contributed with 8 points.
Canadian opposite hitter Sydney Grills scored 10 points from 6 kills and four aces, while outside hitter and team captain Melissa Langegger chipped in with 8 points.
Samantha Bricio of Mexico spikes high over Canada
Rafael Petry, head coach of México: “We earned an important victory, we struggled in receiving, a match that had ups and downs from both sides because of the responsibility of the result. Now we must think about our next game, rest; I believe Mexico will put up a fight against Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals”.
Jocelyn Urías, captain of Mexico: “The moments we lost focus complicated the dramatic finish of the match, but we solved quickly executing the elements of play, attacking with strength to overcome Canada that pressured with serves”.
Carolyn O’Dwyer, head coach of Canada: “It is a tough loss, we need to be more consistent in executing and limit the number of errors”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 25, 2022.- Dominican Republic recovered from an 0-2 set-deficit winning pool A over the United States 3-2 (23-25, 24-26, 25-16, 25-22, 15-8) and heading into semifinals of the Women’s Pan American Cup at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
The U.S. battled strong to win the first two sets, by close scores and missing one set point before grabbing the second. Dominicans’ reaction helped them jump to a comfortable four-point advantage in mid third set (14-10) and finished strong with a seven-point lead. The Dominican Republic forced the tie-break in a tough close fourth set, only to come out and dominate the fifth and final set.
Dominican Republic concludes pool-play undefeated (4-0) for their semifinal ticket and the U.S. second in pool A will play in quarterfinals, waiting for the result between Mexico and Canada
Dominicans scored on 37 opponent errors against 12, while the United States led in attacks (67-62), blocks (14-11) and aces (4-2).
Opposite hitter Gaila Gonzalez of Dominican Republic scored a tournament-high so far of 27 points on 24 kills, two blocks and one ace. Outside hitters Yonkaira Peña and Bethania De La Cruz added 17 and 14 points respectively.
Outside hitter Danielle Drews led the United States with 24 points from 23 kills and one ace, Avery Skinner contributed with 21 points and opposite hitter Nia Reed registered 15 points, including a match-high of 5 blocks.
Bethania De La Curz of Dominican Republic spikes tru USA block
Niverka Marte, captain of Dominican Republic: “We had a great opponent on the other side, it wasn’t easy. We started off slow and they were aggressive, so we had to find our rhythm of play to find a way out. We battled up to the last point, never giving up which helped us with the victory. We are in the semifinals, but the discipline to get prepared doesn’t stop until the tournament ends”.
Kendall White, captain of United States: “In the first two sets we had a better game, with great energy, great rallies and energy from the crowd cheering for both sides. The U.S. plays every game like a championship game, we will do the same in the play-offs, just like this one, we’ll come out to win and hopefully stop the next team”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 25, 2022.- Colombia beat Nicaragua 3-0 (25-8, 25-12, 25-12) to top pool B and move directly into semifinals of the Women’s Pan American Cup at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
Colombia with a solid 4-0 record in the preliminary round earned their semifinal spot of the competition. Nicaragua, fifth place of pool B will play classification matches for positions 7 to 10 starting with Costa Rica on Friday.
The South Americans controlled the Central Americans in every skill of the game, attacks (37-22), blocks (14-2) and serves (12-0). In errors, Colombia committed 8 and Nicaragua 12.
Middle blocker Melissa Rangel scored 12 points as Colombia’s top scorer, from 9 kills, 2 blocks and one ace, joined by outside hitter Ana Karina Olaya with 11 points from 7 kills and a match-high of 4 aces; outside hitter Laura Grajales added 9 points.
Opposite hitter Hellen Traña collected 11 points for Nicaragua, on 10 kills and one block.
Melissa Rangel of Colombia attacks against Nicaragua
Melissa Rangel, top scorer of Colombia: “Our main goal was to qualify to the semifinals, today the coach made some line-up variations because it was a quieter match than the previous ones, seeking that everyone should fulfill their job and always have the score in our favor. Colombia’s firm pace is because of our work, preparing for Worlds and having clear goals. We have a strengthened team, we showed it on the court, and we will play hard whoever we play against”.
Swan Mendoza, outside hitter of Nicaragua: “We came into the competition aware of facing the best teams of America, strong teams and with much height than ours, with the idea of performing our work and preparing for future competitions. Tomorrow, we face Costa Rica, we already have our strategy and I believe that our previous matches served us to prepare for a Central American derby, we will follow the instructions of our coach”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 25, 2022.- Puerto Rico defeated Costa Rica 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-12) to advance to quarterfinals of the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
Puerto Rico finished the preliminary round with a 2-2 win-loss record for third place in pool A, waiting for their opponent in the next round. Costa Rica will play classification matches for positions 7 to 10.
Puerto Rico outnumbered Costa Rica with a huge 41-17 advantage in attacks, 9-5 in blocks and 6-2 in aces, allowing 14 points from errors against 19.
Outside hitter and team captain Pilar Victoria led Puerto Rico with 13 points on 10 kills, two blocks and one ace. Setter Wilmarie Rivera and opposite hitter Genesis Collazo tallied 10 and 9 points respectively.
Opposite hitter Angelica Rodriguez topped Costa Rica with 11 points from 8 kills, two blocks and one ace.
Huge dig from libero Velez of Puerto Rico
Wilmarie Rivera, setter of Puerto Rico: “We are glad to move into the next round, I think we’ve improved from the beginning of the tournament and yesterdays and today’s victories were crucial to advance, which is good for the team and continue improving. Our expectations in the competition are continuing to work hard and advance the most because we are a young group. Today I liked our team’s unity, energy, and communication. No matter who we face tomorrow, first we will study our game and focus on our side of the court, continue with effort, energy, and communication, all the positive we’ve been doing”.
Angélica Rodríguez, top scorer of Costa Rica: “We’ve played against strong opponents, but we haven’t stayed behind, we’ve been growing as a team. We’ve improved in technique and following our coaches’ instructions. For what’s left of the tournament we hope to play with more intelligence and with confidence”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 24, 2022.- Colombia remained unbeaten with a straight set win 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-17) over Cuba in pool B at the Women’s Pan American Cup at the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
Colombia with 3-0 record in pool B is in route to top pool B and seal their qualification to the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games. The event grants three berths; Dominican Republic and Mexico are already qualified.
The South Americans face Nicaragua (0-3) in their last pool-play outing, while Cuba concludes a 2-2 record.
Colombia subdued powerhouse Cuba with a comfortable 13-7 advantage in blocks and a 44-34 margin in attacks. Cuba held a slim advantage of 4-3 in aces. Colombia allowed 10 points from unforced errors, scoring on 15 from Cuba.
Amanda Coneo of Colombia avoids Cuba´s double block
Opposite hitter Dayana Segovia of Colombia topped all scorers with 21 points on 15 kills and a match-high of 6 points from blocks. Middle blocker Darlevis Mosquera chipped in with 11 points on 6 kills and 5 blocks, and middle blocker Yeisy Soto contributed with 9 points.
Middle blocker Jessica Aguilera led Cuba with 10 points on 5 kills, 4 from blocks and one ace. Outside hitters Claudia Tarin and Sulian Matienzo added 9 and 8 points respectively.
Dayana Segovia, top scorer of Colombia: “We were well prepared to face Cuba, we did a great job for a positive result. More than technique, our unity and complicity when we play is our team’s strength; we understand each other well; it has been years of process that helps us to know us well. Cuba is not easy, we did our work, we studied them well”.
Antonio Rizola, head coach of Colombia: “We were expecting the victory because my team has been working well, focused and we are recovering players that we needed, that’s why the team has more confidence. I didn’t expect a decisive win, we thought it would be in five sets. With this victory we are in the position of winning our pool, but what is most important is that we are one step from qualifying to the Central American Games, our big goal, Colombia deserves it”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 24, 2022.- Puerto Rico won a vibrant five-setter 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 16-25, 25-17, 15-12) to Peru in their first tournament win in pool A of the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup in Hermosillo.
The roller coaster victory put Puerto Rico in a hopeful position, with a 1-2 record needing to win their last pool match to Costa Rica and move into the quarterfinal round.
Peru concludes the preliminary round with a 1-3 win-loss record and could play for positions seven to ten depending on Puerto Rico’s result on Thursday.
Puerto Rico prevailed with 15-12 advantage in blocking and committing fewer errors (28-30) errors than Peru. Both teams scored 57 points from attacks and two points from serves.
Puerto Rico celebrates defeating Peru
Outside hitter and team captain Pilar Victoria led Puerto Rico on a match-high of 24 points from 22 attacks and two blocks. Also contributing in the Caribbeans victory was middle blocker Paola Rojas with 16 points on a match-high of 7 blocks and 9 kills, while opposite hitter Genesis Collazo added 11 points on 10 kills and one block.
Peru’s top scorer was opposite hitter Maria Paula Rodriguez with 21 points on 17 kills and 4 blocks, accompanied by outside hitter Karla Ortiz contributing with 16 points on 14 kills and 2 blocks, and by middle blocker Ginna Lopez adding 11 points on 8 kills and 3 blocks.
Pilar Victoria, captain of Puerto Rico: “It’s our first win, we are super excited because it was an important match that gives us the possibility to move forward in the tournament, in addition that we are working in getting into rhythm of play. We must continue to fight, obviously we must win tomorrow and finish third in our pool. In style we are much like Peru and our intention was to be aggressive all the time, we fought a lot in defense and with consistency in attacks”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 24, 2022.- Canada grabbed their first win beating Nicaragua 3-0 (25-10, 25-19, 25-19) in pool B of the Women’s Pan American Cup being held at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
Despite Nicaragua’s good fight in the last two sets, Canada improved their record 1-2 and will face Mexico (2-1) in their last match of the preliminary round. Nicaragua (0-3) closes with Colombia (2-0).
Canada topped all stats with an impressive 46-29 in kills, a huge 11-0 margin in aces and a comfortable 8-4 advantage in blocks.
Canada’s team captain, outside hitter Melissa Langegger led with 12 points on 11 kills and one block, middle blocker Avery Heppell also contributed with 12 points on 8 kills, 2 blocks and 2 aces, joined by middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk with 11 points on 8 kills and a match-high in blocks (4) and aces (4).
Nicaraguan Hellen Traña led all scorers with 14 points on 13 kills and one block.
Canada celebrates a point against Nicaragua
Caroly O’Dwyer, head coach of Canada: “As we found out so far in the tournament, winning is hard, so getting this win under our belt feels nice. We moved our serving and put in trouble our opponent, defensively we did a better job by hitting different angles and finding different ways to score. We close with Mexico, it will be exciting, tough to face them in front of a full crowd but it’s a good chance to feel the pressure and try to use it to our advantage”.
René Quintana, head coach of Nicaragua: “My team did their best effort, I am optimistic, we have a great spectacle despite the differences in practice, experience, and force. What’s important is that Central American volleyball does not look bad in these competitions”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 24, 2022.- The United States beat Costa Rica 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-7) to remain undefeated at the Women’s Pan American Cup in Hermosillo.
The United States undefeated (3-0) will take on Dominican Republic (3-0) for first place in pool A on Thursday; Costa Rica (0-3) goes up against Puerto Rico (0-2).
The U.S. quickly dominated with a stronger offense to lead by a huge 39-9 in attacks over Costa Rica. The Americans also held a 7-2 margin in aces and a slim 6-5 margin in blocks, committing 22 errors against 24.
Outside hitter Veronica Jones-Perry of the United States led all scorers with 11 points on 10 kills and one ace. Outside hitter May Mackenzie and opposite hitter Stephanie Samedy contributed with 9 points each.
United States celebrates defeating Costa Rica
On Costa Rica’s side, outside hitter Nicole Mata led with 4 points.
Veronica Jones-Perry, top scorer of United States: “So far, our team is doing a good job, building every day, coming together as a team and we are excited to see what we can do tomorrow against Dominican Republic; we will put up a fight and leave everything we can on the court. Today we were patient, we kept calm when things weren’t going our way and kept playing”.
Nicole Mata, top scorer of Costa Rica: “The match started nice for us against a strong opponent, they are a world volleyball power. We had good moments in defense, we did the best possible, we enjoyed it and benefited from the opportunity because we don’t always play against teams of this level of play. These tournaments push us out of our comfort zone, allowing us to gain experience”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 23, 2022.- Colombia stopped host Mexico 3-0 (25-14, 27-25, 25-11) in pool B of the Women’s Pan American Cup on Tuesday night at the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
Colombia won by comfortable margins in the first and second sets; but their impressive comeback of a five-point deficit (15-20) in the second set surprised Mexico who failed two set points (24-23 and 25-24).
Colombia’s strong 45-26 advantage in kills was to thank for their second straight win in pool B. Both teams scored 5 points from blocks and 2 from serves. Colombia benefited from 25 Mexican errors and committed 17.
Outside hitter Amanda Coneo led Colombia with 14 points on 13 kills and one block, middle blocker Darlevis Mosquera and opposite hitter Dayana Segovia contributed with 10 points each.
Outside hitter Samantha Bricio scored 12 points all on kills for Mexico and Grecia Castro added 7 points.
Mosquera of Colombia spikes against Mexico
On Wednesday Colombia (2-0) will face Cuba (2-1) and Mexico (2-1) has the day off.
María Alejandra Marin, captain of Colombia: “It’s crucial to finish first in our pool and advance directly into semifinals. We had no connection in the second set, allowing Mexico to take advantage, nevertheless we came back quickly and executed our game plan. Our strength is our team’s unity to solve critical moments. Tomorrow, we face a tall Cuban block, and we must focus on our game to come out strong”.
Jocelyn Urías, captain of Mexico: “Colombia was more focused than us, we lacked connection and team communication. We will move forward; it’s our first loss and we will continue to work on beating Canada. Positive things of the match were our strong serves and defense”.
Antonio Rizola, head coach of Colombia: “The sets that we started with pressure in serves, blocks and defense, Mexico couldn’t catch up with us. In the second set we were behind six points, but with serenity, structure in our tactic and discipline we recovered up to point 20. Our group power is crucial”.
Rafael Petry, head coach of Mexico: “We lacked connection in our defense-counterattacking actions, our passing with receiving as well as we led the second set. Now we need patience”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 23, 2022.- Dominican Republic kept their undefeated mark winning to Puerto Rico in straight sets 25-17, 25-11 and 25-18 in pool A of the Women’s Pan American Cup at the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
Dominican Republic has a 3-0 win-loss record, while Puerto Rico stands with 0-2.
Puerto Rico had good starts in all three sets, but Dominican Republic´s power stopped them with huge margins in attacks (42-27) and blocks (11-3); they also led 3-1 in aces. Dominican Republic scored on 19 Puerto Rican errors, allowing 15.
Three Dominicans finished with double-digits, opposite hitter Gaila Gonzalez leading with 15 points on 11 kills, three blocks and one ace, outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz with 12 points on nine kills and two aces, and outside hitter Yonkaira Peña with 10 points on 9 kills and one block.
Puerto Rico’s top scorers were opposite hitter Genesis Collazo (9), middle blocker Paola Rojas (7) and outside hitter Genesis Miranda (6).
Dominican Republic celebrates after defeating Puerto Rico
The Dominican Republic (3-0) has the day off on Wednesday and Puerto Rico (0-2) faces Peru (1-2).
Marcos Kwiek, head coach of Dominican Republic: “This is one mor step, we reached our goal, come out with the victory. We are aware the tournament isn’t easy, it’s long and we have practiced well, the players are focused. Puerto Rico has a good level of play, and they are used to playing with us, that’s why the close scores at the beginning of the sets, but we kept our concentration”.
Héctor Soto, head coach of Puerto Rico: “The inconsistency of our offense didn’t allow a good performance, it didn’t reach the level required at this competing level. We brought young talented players to give them the opportunity to gain experience at an international level. Of the things we are doing well is limiting our errors and receiving”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 23, 2022.- Cuba improved their record 2-1 with strength over Nicaragua 3-0 (25-7, 25-11, 25-14) in pool B of the Women’s Pan American Cup at the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
Cuba had no difficulties in leading the actions using all their players in a dominant performance of 44-21 in attacks, 9-2 in blocks and 8-1 in points from serves. Cuba committed eight unforced errors and Nicaragua ended with 14.
Middle blocker Yamisleydis Viltres and outside hitter Claudia Tarin led Cuba with 9 points apiece, joined by opposite hitter Dezirett Madan who added 8 points.
Nicaraguan opposite hitter Hellen Traña scored 8 points, followed by outside hitters Gilmary Smith and Swan Mendoza with 4 and 3 points respectively.
Cuba (2-1) will face Colombia (1-0) on Wednesday and Nicaragua (0-2) plays Canada (0-2).
Thainalien Castillo, captain of Cuba: “We respect all our opponents, our goal is to win every single game and reach our goal to qualify to the Central American Games. We are known by our strength and that we fight for every point, we are warriors and we practiced hard to be here”.
Ericka Calero, captain of Nicaragua: “We have prepared to give our best, we are aware that we are facing opponents with a lot of play and international experience; I am sure we will go on improving. Our unity as a team was crucial to cheer us up during the game as well as our coaches’ instructions to keep us calm”.
Thomás Fernández Arteaga, head coach of Cuba: “This match adds to our preparation for our next games, especially tomorrow’s game against Colombia. The good news is that our first setter, Gretell Moreno, will join the team tomorrow; she will change our teams’ performance for better, with her experience and the way she distributed the game”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 23, 2022.- Peru beat Costa Rica in pool A 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-14) for their first tournament win at the Women’s Pan American Cup in the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
After two losses (United States and Dominican Republic), Peru came out on top Costa Rica by an overwhelming 41-19 advantage in attacks and an impressive 14-0 margin in serves. Costa Rica held a slim 4-3 margin in blocks and committed one less error than Peru (17-18).
Opposite hitter Maria Paula Rodriguez of Peru was the only player with double-figures, with a total of 18 points on 8 kills, 2 blocks and a match-high of 8 aces. Middle blocker Maricarmen Guerrero and outside hitter Aixa Vigil tallied 8 and 7 points respectively.
Outside hitters Tamara Espinoza and Nicole Mata led Costa Rica with 5 points each.
Maria Paula Rodriguez of Peru spikes
On Wednesday Peru (1-2) will play Puerto Rico (0-1) and Costa Rica (0-2) goes up against the United States (2-0).
María Paula Rodríguez, top scorer of Peru: “This was a team effort, our attacks were strong, we worked well in blocking and our serves helped to control our opponent. To keep on winning we must have a good attitude like today and work together as a team”.
Irene Fonseca, setter of Costa Rica: “In comparison from our first match against Dominican Republic, today we limited our errors. The closing of the second set was long, exhausted and we showed the level of play we are prepared to give. The team is learning with every match and set, gaining experience for our growth”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 22, 2022.- Mexico dominated Cuba 3-1 (24-26, 25-16, 25-16, 25-18) for their second victory in pool B of the Women’s Pan American Cup on Monday night at the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
Mexico came back from losing a tough first, with a stronger support from its fans and coming out on top by a comfortable 50-40 advantage in attacks, 13-9 margin in blocks and a 7-5 lead in aces.
The host benefited from 29 Cuban errors while handing out 22 points on their errors.
Samantha Bricio’s offensive power was crucial in her team’s victory, scoring a match-high of 22 points on 19 kills, 2 blocks and one ace. Outside hitters Aime Topete and Grecia Castro contributed with 13 and 11 points respectively.
Cuba had two players scoring double-figures, led by opposite hitter Dezirett Madan with 13 points all from kills and outside hitter Sulian Matienzo with 11 points, including the most aces with 4 points.
Samantha Bricio of Mexico spikes against Cuba
On day three Cuba (1-1) plays against Nicaragua (0-1) and host Mexico (2-0) faces Colombia (1-0).
Samantha Bricio, top scorer of México: “I feel good after this victory, we adjusted after the first set and I think we were able to settle, without allowing Cuba to get into their rhythm of play. This win helps us mentally and physically to get into a better rhythm. There is always room for improvement, today we failed some serves, and we will work on them for our next matches”.
Rafael Petry, head coach of Mexico: “Our serves were our best weapon. Our reception could have been of better quality, but we adjusted our blocking, overcoming Cuba in that category. We are going to enjoy today’s victory and tomorrow we will focus on Colombia, which I consider a classic and an important game for the qualification we want to reach in this tournament”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 22, 2022.- The United States improved 2-0 in pool A of the Women’s Pan American Cup after defeating Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-22) at the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
The U. S. had to work harder in the third set trailing on four-point run (11-15) moving ahead sweeping Puerto Rico in their tournament debut.
The United States held a huge 43-26 advantage in attacks and an 11-8 margin in blocks; Puerto Rico had a slim 5-4 margin in aces. Both teams committed a similar number of unforced errors, Puerto Rico a total of 17 and the United States 18.
Outside hitter Avery Skinner of the United States scored a match-high of 15 points all on kills, middle blocker Brionne Butler contributed with 10 points, including the most blocks with 5 points and opposite hitter Nia Reed added 9 points on 7 kills and 2 blocks.
Middle blocker Paola Rojas led Puerto Rico’s offense with 11 points on 5 kills, 3 blocks and 3 aces; opposite hitter Genesis Collazo and outside hitter Pilar Victoria registered 8 points each.
Danielle Drews of USA against Puerto Rico’s double block
The U.S. (2-0) will have the day off on Tuesday and Puerto Rico (0-1) faces the Dominican Republic (2-0).
Bradley Rostratter, head coach of United States: “It was a fun match, Puerto Rico played well and for us it’s really about our side of the net; us learning, gluing together, and getting better with what we do, with our USA volleyball. Tomorrow, we will rest, but we will be here in the gym watching volleyball”.
Hector Soto, head coach of Puerto Rico: “We are OK and satisfied with the girls’ performance, this is our first match together, we didn’t have any practice matches. This is an evaluation for some of the players. We saw good things, such as the confidence they went on growing to improve their offense which started a bit off, they committed errors and went on improving, in addition to fighting up to the end”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 22, 2022.- Colombia started the Women’s Pan American Cup beating Canada 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 28-26) in pool B of the Women’s Pan American Cup in the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
Colombia recovered from a 4 point deficit in the third set (15-19) missing three match points and Canada one set point for the thrilling end.
Colombia grabbed their first tournament win with an 11-8 advantage in blocks, a 5-4 margin in aces, and limiting their errors to only six points, while Canada committed 22. Both teams scored 40 points on kills.
Colombian outside hitter Amanda Coneo scored a match-high of 18 points on 16 kills, one block and one ace, followed by opposite hitter Dayana Segovia with 13 points on 11 kills, one block and ace.
Outside hitter Melissa Langegger led Canada with 13 points on 11 kills, one block and one ace, joined by middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk who collected 11 points from 7 kills and 4 blocks.
Colombia celebrates scoring a point against Canada
On Tuesday Colombia (1-0) takes on Mexico and Canada (0-2) will rest.
Amanda Coneo, outside hitter of Colombia: “We had a great game, I am very glad for the team that’s getting back to competition in a good way, the idea is continuing to do so. Canada made some line-up changes in the third set, putting things difficult for us and making us come from behind, it was a good spectacle closing like we did. Our long rally defense was gratifying because when you score you show the work”.
Layne Van Buskirk, middle blocker of Canada: “We need to be more aggressive; we did a lot of fighting. The little things just slipt a bit, like pressing on the block and being patient on defense. We are getting better with every game; you can expect us to up our game in our next performance”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, Augusto 22, 2022.- Dominican Republic picked up their second win in pool A beating Peru 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-22) on day two of the Women’s Pan American Cup being held at the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
In the third set, Peru kept the score close up to point 18 and forced the Dominican Republic to miss three match points before the match finished. Peru suffered the loss in the second set of opposite hitter Tahisa McLeod due to a shoulder injury but still, Peru went on improving their performance as the game developed.
Dominicans led 43-33 in attacks, 6-5 in blocks and 5-0 in aces, while scoring on 21 Peruvian errors and committing 15.
Three Dominicans scored double digits, led by outside hitters Yonkaira Peña and Bethania De La Cruz with 16 points each, and opposite hitter Gaila Gonzalez with 15 points. De La Cruz scored a match-high of 3 aces.
Outside hitter Karla Ortiz scored 12 points as Peru’s top scorer.
Guillen of Dominican Republic attacks against Peruvian double block
On day three of competition, Dominican Republic (2-0) will meet with Puerto Rico and Peru (0-2) has the day off.
Bethania De La Cruz, outside hitter of Dominican Republic: “We reached two goals (winning). We know each other well with Peru, we have played against them many times and we know their good quality, but thanks to our performance in this match we got the victory. Peru adjusted some things in the third set, and we committed too many errors that put us in the position of a close score; sometimes the game has ups and downs. It’s good that our team has young players as part of our development of our national team, we respect one another”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 21, 2022.- Mexico’s huge 14-0 margin in serves controlled Nicaragua 3-0 (25-11, 25-8, 25-9) in their winning debut at the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup on Sunday at the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
In addition to Mexico’s strength in serves, their huge 35-10 advantage in attacks and 8-1 margin in blocks dominated Nicaragua in pool B. Mexico committed 17 unforced errors and Nicaragua a total of 18.
Outside hitter Aime Topete of Mexico led all scorers with 13 points on 8 kills and a match-high of 5 serves, joined by middle blocker Karina Flores with 10 points and outside hitter Vanessa Villegas with 8 points.
Nicaragua’s leading scorer was middle blocker Dalia Calero with 4 points.
On Monday Mexico (1-0) plays against Cuba (1-0) while Nicaragua has the day off.
Gonzalez of Mexico preparing to serve against Nicaragua
Aime Topete, top scorer of Mexico: “We did well, it was a good victory. Mexico made its debut winning and I made my debut in the senior national team. The team is prepared for any kind of pressure, I know my teammates and I will do well against stronger opponents. The fans’ support will be crucial for the whole tournament”.
Dalia Calero, top scorer of Nicaragua: “Mexico is a strong team, with players that play overseas. We knew it was going to be difficult. We were looser in the first set, but our receiving fell in the next two because we were pressuring ourselves to perform well. We must improve in reception and blocking. In Central America we have a better level, but here the teams have more reach than us”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 21, 2022.- The United States downed Peru 3-1 (25-13, 21-25, 25-22, 25-17) in pool A of the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup at Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
The United States dropped the second set despite their strong effort to recover from a five-point deficit (5-10) for a 25-21 finish for Peru.
The U.S. prevailed over Peru with a huge 13-4 margin in blocks, a 54-46 advantage in kills and 4-2 lead in service points. Both teams allowed 25 points from unforced errors.
Outside hitter Danielle Drews of the United States led all scorers with 19 points on 15 kills, 2 blocks and 2 aces; outside hitter Avery Skinner scored 17 points on 16 kills and one block and middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan contributed with 12 points on 10 kills and 2 blocks.
Outside hitter and team captain Karla Ortiz of Peru scored 17 points on 16 kills and one block, followed by middle blocker Ginna Lopez and outside hitter Ysabella Sanchez added 10 points each.
On the second day of competition of pool A, the United States faces Puerto Rico and Peru against the Dominican Republic.
Skinner of USA attacking against double block of Peru
Danielle Drews, top scorer of the United States: “It was a very exciting first game for this group, there was a little of those first game jitters caused us to grind into some ups and downs; but we were able to stay strong as a team and to stay together to end up with the win”.
Bradley Rostratter, head coach of the United States: “The first win was great, it was an awesome atmosphere, great for these girls to get this experience to a tough Peru team. We’re learning to play together, as much as we wanted to be perfect as coaches it’s not always going to be. Peru created some good service pressure and offensively they had some really good swings”.
Francisco Hervas, head coach of Peru: “The first games are always difficult and more against such a physical team like the United States, we knew it was going to be hard, but the girls put up a fight, they worked hard and there is much to compete as the tournament is long. Winning a set leaves us with more positive sensations”.
HERMOSILLO, México, August 21, 2022.- Cuba won an exciting match to Canada 3-0 (25-16, 28-26, 25-23) in their Women’s Pan American Cup debut at the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
Cuba took the second set away from Canada recovering from a six-point deficit (18-24) with their serves, for a thrilling 28-26 finish.
Cuba controlled Canada with an 11-6 margin in blocks; both teams scored 34 points from attacks and 5 points from serves. Cuba committed fewer errors than Canada (20-28).
Opposite hitter Dezirett Madan led Cuba with 12 points on 9 kills and 3 aces, outside hitter Ailama Cese contributed with 10 points and middle blocker Laura Suarez scored 7 points on 5 kills and 2 blocks.
On Canada’s side, team captain, outside hitter Melissa Langegger topped with 12 points on 9 kills and 3 blocks, opposite hitter Sydney Grills also scored 12 points and middle blocker Allyssah Fitterer tallied 10 points on 6 kills, one block and 3 aces.
Cuba will face host Mexico on day two of the event, while Canada goes up against Colombia.
Moreno setting the ball against Canada
Dezirett Madan, máxima anotadora de Cuba: “At the start of the second set we were a bit relaxed, we failed in serves, but we were able to comeback. We worked well in blocking, spiking strong. Tomorrow we will work to obtain the victory and we hope to finish first place, qualify to the Central American and Caribbean Games, also have a favorable individual performance as well”.
Melissa, Langegger, captain of Canada: “We showed a lot of fight, we are a new team so in the first set we were figuring out how to play together and as the game went on, we showed who we are as a team, using that is our goal throughout the tournament. We’re a team that wants to thrive, we have to be smarter in our shots, getting our blocks solid and hopefully get a win tomorrow”.
Thomas Fernández Arteaga, head coach of Cuba: “Our team showed a lot of courage, we haven’t played in the last two years and there were jitters at the beginning. I am glad about the victory”.
Carolyn O’Dwyer, head coach Canada: “Losing the second set was unfortunate, Cuba had a great serving run, they did a good job putting the pressure on us. We must improve our start, we were tight, be aggressive from the service line, but I’m proud of what we showed regardless of the result”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 21, 2022.- Dominican Republic defeated Costa Rica 3-0 (25-9, 25-8, 25-9) in the opening match of the Women’s Pan American Cup at the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
Dominican Republic jumped to comfortable leads in all three sets dominating Costa Rica in their first win of pool A.
Dominican Republic held overwhelming stats over Costa Rica with a huge 39-13 margin in attacks and 13-1 in serves, they also led 7-4 in blocks. Dominican Republic scored on 16 Costa Rican errors and allowed 8.
Dominican outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz with impressive 10 points from serves, led all scorers with a total of 17 points, followed by outside hitter Yonkaira Peña with 10 points and opposite hitter Gaila Gonzalez added 7 points all on kills.
From Costa Rica, team captain outside hitter Tamara Espinoza finished with 5 points.
On Monday, the Dominican Republic faces Peru and Costa Rica has the day off.
Presentation of Team Dominican Republic
Niverka Marte, captain of Dominican Republic: “I am happy for our first victory, all first matches are complicated. We had the chance to try all our players, they were able to hit the court, which is important for us and win, which is what we are looking for”.
Tamara Espinoza, captain of Costa Rica: “This is a great opportunity for the entire team to face a world class team like the Dominican Republic. We grow as a team; we can take to our zone this experience. We are happy because this is a young team, the base for our senior team and despite the result, everything adds to help us become a team of great level”.
Pablo Acuña, head coach of Costa Rica: “It was a difficult debut, the players had difficulties to take it in; I believe that in the third set the team was more settled. We did what we could to face a world power team, what is left for us is gaining confidence”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 21, 2022. Axel Gutiérrez from Nicaragua won the most valuable player award at the Men’s U23 Central American Championship held at the Palacio de los Deportes in San Salvador.
“I think it’s an incredible feeling and it’s my first U23 tournament debuting with three awards, it’s incredible they gave me MVP thanks to God, it was voted on by the whole team, I thank them and God for this opportunity to shine for my beautiful country. ”, said Axel Gutierrez.
In addition, the Nicaraguan player won the awards as the top scorer and the best opponent.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 21, 2022. The Nicaraguan National Team is the new U23 Champion by leading the standings with five victories in the V Central American U23 Championship.
The first match of the last day of the tournament would end 3-1 with partial 25-23/25-16/20-25/25-21 in favor of Nicaragua against Costa Rica.
The Nicaraguans only needed to win a set in the match they would play on the last day against Costa Rica and they would do so after winning the first set 25-23.
Nicaragua would start the second set knowing they were Cup champions and with their adrenaline pumping, they would also leave this set with a wide 25-16 advantage.
Costa Rica, for its part, would not lower its arms, it would come out determined to extinguish the celebration of the champions in the third set, the Costa Ricans would be more compacted on the court and they would leave the third set 25-20, forcing the fourth set.
For this set, both teams would show their best weapons, in a very close set, which would end with Nicaragua winning 25-21.
With this result, Nicaragua confirms its supremacy in the 2022 tournament, winning undefeated and achieving the title of this category for the first time.
The best scorer for the new champions was Jefferson Cascante with 16 points. For his part in Costa Rica, the Captain, Josué Rojas got 25 points.
Nicaragua led attacks 51-50, as well as services 6-5. While both squads tied at 12 blocks.
Nicaragua achieved 26 points due to opponent errors and Costa Rica 18.
Arturo Solano, coach of Costa Rica: “Evaluating the tournament, it was a very difficult one for us, it was difficult for us to find a game rhythm, we found it in two games and in the last one we got the Tournament Champion and now we wait for results to see if we can enter the medal table”.
John Morales, Captain of Nicaragua: “We as players feel very proud to make Nicaragua champion for the first time in a Central American U23 tournament. Taking away Guatemala’s undefeated record after having been a four-time champion, now we are the new champions. It was hard, it wasn’t easy for us, we killed ourselves training every day, even in the tournament things were complicated for us but we always knew how to pull it off. We thank our coaches for the confidence they gave to each of the 14 who are here and nothing else to celebrate now and thank God”.
Jorge Mena, coach of Nicaragua: “Champion in this category for the first time in the history of Nicaragua, since we arrived in El Salvador, we came with a positive mentality that we came to win but we were going to go game by game and some things got complicated.” matches, but key games, against Guatemala the next day we had the best match of the tournament that we played against El Salvador, five dramatic sets and after the others it was to win them comfortably, in the end the last game with Costa Rica was complicated for us little but we knew that if we took a set from the Ticos we were going to be champions anyway, but we didn’t want to lose a game, thank God we got the result and we are champions. We dedicate this award to all the people who have supported us in Nicaragua.”
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 21, 2022. Guatemala obtains second place after beating Honduras 3-0 with partial 25-13/25-17/25-14 on the last day of competition at the V Men’s U23 Central American Championship, held at the Palacio de los Deportes in San Salvador.
Guatemala could not get the five-time championship, but did not miss the podium against Honduras that finished the tournament in last place.
The Guatemalans were superior getting a wide lead in each set played. The first set ended 25-13, the second set 25-17 and the third set 24-14.
The 42-27 attack shows the clear strength of the Guatemalan team, who also dominated blocks 5-4 and services 3-2.
Guatemala got 25 points from opponent errors and committed only 11 errors.
Reider Lucas, coach of Guatemala: “The Guatemalan team came in second place, we leave happy but not satisfied, it was quite a demanding competition, the results were very even among all the teams, we were able to win four games, we lost one that was against the Nicaraguan Champion, they come with a very solid team, very mature for this category, to continue working we came with aspirations to see if we could win the five-time championship it was not possible but we leave happy we have a new generation, of the 12 athletes 10 are sub21, and we feel happy with the work done”.
Javier Lucero, side from Guatemala: “We got a good result, a second place, we fought as far as we could, we are very happy with my team, we know we could have given more but we are proud of the place we occupy and we continue fighting to win more tournaments ”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 21, 2022. The El Salvador National Team wins 3-0 against Panama with partial 26-24/25-19/25-18 and obtains the bronze of the V Men’s U23 Central American Cup.
El Salvador needed the victory to place itself in third place in the table and win the medal, and it did so in front of the effusive spectators who were present at the Palacio de los Deportes in San Salvador.
In the first set the fight was very close, Panama would give war to the hosts, but they managed to win 26-24. The next two sets were dominated by El Salvador, winning them 25-19 and 25-18.
The best scorer tonight for El Salvador was Abner Cano with 20 points, followed by Diego Navarro with 12. For Panama the top scorer was Gherson Ortíz with 11 and Emanuel Pérez with 10.
The locals dominated attacking 38-35, blocking 11-4 and serving 3-1. El Salvador achieved 24 points due to opponent errors and Panama 20.
El Salvador manages to erase a streak of 14 years without obtaining a medal in the sub-23 category for his country.
Diego Navarro celebrates with Gustavo Ortiz, of El Salvador
Diego Guidos, Captain of El Salvador: “Now we have made history by winning a medal in the under 23 category, with yesterday’s match we were a little down because it made our chances for the podium difficult and later, after seeing the result of Costa Rica, we already knew that we were forced to win 3-0 but we did not give up, we knew we had to come to do it, we had the support of all our fans and the adrenaline was running at a thousand, all the boys gave their best and we achieved the goal ”
Gabriel Linares, coach of El Salvador: “We knew we were going to have a difficult tournament, the teams were prepared, we knew we had to play hard against Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, we prepared for that, unfortunately we were not given the results that we wanted we had the opportunity to achieve first place but it got out of hand with a loss against Costa Rica, but we managed to continue working without lowering our spirits and in the end we were given the result of a third place that since 2014 we have not a sub23 medal was given in El Salvador in the Central Americans”.
HERMOSILLO, Sonora, Mexico, August 20, 2022.- The Women’s Pan American Cup is a qualification event for the Pan American Games and the Central American & Caribbean Games to be held in 2023 in Santiago and El Salvador respectively.
Excluding Dominican Republic and Mexico, who are already qualified for both multisport events, the highest-ranking team of NORCECA will qualify to the Santiago Pan American Games, while three vacancies will go to the highest-ranking teams among NORCECA and Colombia, for the El Salvador Central American & Caribbean Games.
Coaches of the participating teams gave their first impressions ahead of the event.
Carolyn O’Dwyer, Head Coach of Canada: “We’ve had a long training block, with a large group of this team, so we feel really ready for the competition and excited to play against some top teams. For a lot of our athletes this will be their first international event and I am excited to see how they perform”.
Eduardo Niño, Second Coach of Colombia: “Our main goal is to qualify for the Central American and Caribbean Games. We have been preparing for over two months with professor Rizola in charge, also thinking about the World Championship, our most important competition this year. The team has been working hard and keeping active for all the Olympic cycle competitions”.
Pablo Acuña, Head Coach of Costa Rica: “The foundation of the team is the one from the Final Four, but we have other players which we want to observe. The team is excited and with desire to compete, we are in a hard group, but each match will be an experience for players and staff. It’s a great opportunity to plan ahead and be prepared for the Central American & Caribbean Games, which I have no doubt that Costa Rica can be there”.
Thomas Fernández Arteaga, Head Coach of Cuba: “This is a major competition for us because it’s a qualification event and our goal is to obtain that qualification; also, to finish in the best position possible to win the most ranking points possible and that will help us qualify later on. The team is going through a psychological hit because our setter couldn’t come (Greta Moreno) because of Covid, hoping she will come further in the competition. We are optimistic that Greta will recover”.
Marcos Kwiek, Head Coach of Dominican Republic: “We brought some young players, some just made it to the senior team, it’s a good mix with our veteran players. Physically the team is not in good condition. We are aware of the importance of the Pan American Cup; it will be strong, and we hope to fight in the finals”.
Rafael Petry, Head Coach of Mexico: “The team is ready to compete, prepared for this strong competition, with opponents of great ambitions. We have new members of the team, to be part of the process of National teams and evaluate them”.
René Quintana, Head Coach of Nicaragua: “The team is here to take advantage of the competition, it is part of our preparation for the Central American Games coming soon in Guatemala. We acknowledge that the game level is above ours, but we will try that our opponents will work hard against us”.
Francisco Hervas, Head Coach of Peru: “Peru wants to make the most of this competition, it’s an interesting tournament with the opportunity to face teams that we usually don’t face. The team consists of experienced players and others that are moving up, it’s a balance to help us rebuild our team”.
Héctor Soto, Head Coach of Puerto Rico: “We usually have difficulties preparing our team when competitions take place in the summer because our professional league runs in this period, but at least the girls are in good physical condition, they have a good game level. We will try to determine our game style during the competition; basically, we are prepared”.
Bradley Rostratter, Head Coach of United States: “We had a great training block, three weeks to train alongside with the world championship training group and the preparation has gone really well for us. Some players have international experience, maybe 50% have played one or two international seasons, some even played VNL, we have a group of talented players”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 20, 2022. At the close of the fourth day of the V Central American U23 Championship, Guatemala won 3-2 against El Salvador in a vibrant match that ended with partials of 25-18/20-25 /21-25/25-17/15-11.
The first set went to Guatemala 25 to 18. For the second and third sets, the fans present at the Palacio de los Deportes in San Salvador did not stop supporting their team and were the fuel for their team to take over these sets 25 -20 and 25-21.
In the fourth set, Guatemala came on strong, willing to extend the match to a fifth set, and that’s how it was, thanks to corner hitter Javier Lucero, the Guatemalans defeated the locals 25-17.
In the fifth and final set, Guatemala drowned out the scream of point to the fans who cheered the locals, beating them 15-11.
Guatemala had three outstanding players who together scored 55 points for their team: Javier Lucero with 21, José Pérez with 19 and Yeferson Zavala with 15.
Abner Cano of El Salvador was the spark for his team with 23 points, but it was not enough to win.
The Guatemalans were better attacking 61-45 and serving 10-4, while El Salvador led in blocking 11-9 committing 26 errors to Guatemala’s 36.
Guatemala will face Honduras at 5:00 pm and El Salvador will face Panama at 7:30 pm, on the last day of competition.
Javier Lucero, striker from Guatemala: “It was a very hard-fought match, the opposing players are very strong, we expected a better result, although we got the victory and we are still fighting for a medal”.
Rodrigo Mayora, center back of El Salvador: “We had a very complicated game, extensive due to rain problems, it was very complicated for us, the truth is that we were all tired from the previous games, but it was a very close game that we all tried to play the best possible, the rival was just as strong as us and the result could have been for anyone”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 20, 2022. The Nicaraguan National Team, with an undefeated streak of four games, is one step away from becoming the new Champion of the V Men’s U23 Central American Championship after beating its similar team from Honduras with a score of 3-0 and splits 25-20/25-23/25-19.
Nicaragua’s sextet outscored 43-35, blocked 9-3 and served 2-1, Honduras committed 21 errors to 23 of the winners.
The match would start very evenly with Honduras having the advantage, but Nicaragua made adjustments that ruined the 25-20 victory. For the second set, the margin was very narrow, it would be Nicaragua again the one that would leave the set 25-23.
The third set was very even, up to point 13 where Nicaragua would shoot up and win 25-19.
The top scorer for Nicaragua was Axel Gutiérrez with 19 points and for Honduras Kevin Herrera stood out with 16 points.
For this Sunday Nicaragua will face Costa Rica at 2:30 pm and Honduras will face Guatemala at 5:00 pm.
Jefferson Cascante, striker, Nicaragua: “Everything went very well for us in this match, what we worked on and we are one step away from winning the championship, God willing.”
David Arriola, point guard of Honduras: “It was a hard fought game, quite difficult, unfortunately Nicaragua outmaneuvered us tactically and we didn’t know how to make the necessary adjustments, we’re going to do a better job in the next game”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 20, 2022. Four hard-fought sets were played between Costa Rica and Panama in the first game of the day on Saturday, where the Costa Ricans won 3-1 with partial 25-19/23-25/25- 19/25-19 in the framework of the V Men’s U23 Central American Championship.
Costa Rica began by winning the game 25 to 19, with a seasoned Panama that would not give up.
For the second set, the Costa Ricans largely dominated until point 20 and Panama had a positive streak of points that would end up giving them victory in this set. The third and fourth set would be for Costa Rica with the same score 25-19.
Dowshel Mc Donald Smith scored 20 and Josué Rojas 16 for the Costa Rican team as the best scorers in the first game. While for Panama, Daniel Andrade got 14 points and Denzel Arboine 11.
Costa Rica dominated attacks 59-43, blocks 10-8, services 4-3. With 28 errors from Cota Rica for 25 from the Panamanians.
For Sunday, on the last day of competition Panama will face the hosts at 7:30pm and Costa Rica will face Nicaragua at 2:30pm.
Dowshel Mc Donald CRC against Christian Flores 11 and Kevin Acosta PAN
Deykel Smith, striker, Costa Rican National Team: “We knew it was going to be a very difficult game because Panama is a very strong team, we have to concentrate, we can’t lose here, we give everything on the pitch”.
Daniel Andrade, center back, Panama National Team: “Unfortunately we couldn’t win the match against Costa Rica, they were a very strong rival, we gave it our all, but we couldn’t get the victory. We have one game left against El Salvador, and we are going to try to win it and give it our all”.
SAN SALVADOR Day three of competition in the V Men’s U23 Central American Championship would end with an electrifying encounter between the locals, El Salvador and Nicaragua, who fought to maintain their undefeated record. With partials 25-23/23-25/22-25/25-19/15-13, the Nicaraguans won the match with a score of 3-2.
The first set favored Nicaragua 25-23, with the same number of points, but in favor of El Salvador the second set ended, tying the match 1-1.
The third set was for the locals 25-22, the team did not stop listening to the screams of the fans who came to support them at the Palacio de los Deportes in San Salvador.
The fourth set would be for the Nicaraguans 25-19, thus extending to a fifth and final set that would also favor them 15-13, thus achieving their third consecutive victory.
The best scorer for Nicaragua was Axel Gutiérrez with 28 points, also the top scorer of the date, for El Salvador Abner Cano scored 25 points for his team. Diego Navarro (ESA) and Jefferson Cascante (NIC) each had 17 points for their teams.
Attacks were dominated by Nicaragua 66 to 58, both teams finished equal in blocks 11-11 as well as errors made 31 each, while services were predominant for El Salvador 5 to 2.
For this Saturday, Nicaragua will play Honduras at 5:00 p.m. and at 7:30 p.m. El Salvador will play against Guatemala.
Axel Gutierrez of Nicaragua celebrates against El Salvador
Axel Gutiérrez, opposite of Nicaragua: “Today we played a well-fought game with the El Salvador team, they are home, an incredible supporter that supports them to the full, we were losing 2-1, tears, lawsuits, we knew how to get the game out of everything ”.
Abner Cano, winger from El Salvador: “We had a very difficult game with the Nicaraguan team, we thought we could win, our goal was to win but we couldn’t do it, we just have to play with our heads held high and beat the other countries”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 19, 2022. The V U23 Central American Championship experienced one of the most exciting matches this Friday when Honduras defeated Costa Rica with a score of 3-2 and partials of 27-25/16-25. /22-25/27-25/16-14.
The two teams came thirsty for victory, Honduras took the first set 27-25, this would be the harbinger of the next four sets, where the teams fought one by one for each point.
For the next set, Costa Rica tied the match 1-1, with an eight-point lead, the set ended 25-16. The third set ended 25-22 for the Costa Ricans who with this score (2-1) were one set away from leaving the match. Honduras was not willing and would fight tirelessly to get extended until the fifth set.
The fourth set was one of the closest, the teams disputed the point to point, Honduras would leave the set 27-25, but before that Costa Rica would drown the cry from point to set four times.
For the final set the constant was the tie on the scoreboard, neither of the two teams wanted to miss the victory that finally favored Honduras, 16-14.
Honduras was forceful in spikes 68-55 and Costa Rica dominated blocks 14-7 and aces 4-1. Costa Rica committed 32 errors and Honduras 41.
Josué Rojas with 26 points for Costa Rica and Kevin Herrera with 25 for Honduras added 51 points in the match, as the top scorers in the match.
On Saturday, Costa Rica will face Panama at 2:30 pm and Honduras will face Nicaragua at 5:00 pm.
José Larios, setter of Honduras: “I want to thank God for allowing us this victory in the game, the rival that was Costa Rica, was up to the task as we expected, a very close game, very difficult, we fought until the end, and as My coach told us, we showed that we catrachos have grit and we fight until this is over and I think we showed it on the court”.
Josué Rojas, Captain of Costa Rica: “We had a quite complicated match against Honduras, a rival that gave us a fight, a fight, and the match was quite interesting, we fought until the end, I managed to be the top point scorer, we did what we could.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 19, 2022. In the first game of the third day of competition of the V Men’s U23 Central American Championship, the Guatemalan team defeated Panama in a fierce match that ended 3-2 with partials of 18-25. /21-25/25-21/25-17/15-04.
Panama dominated the entire first set, winning with a difference of seven points, 25-18. For the second set, Guatemala dominated until point 20, but Panama had two point streaks in favor, one of nine and one of six that would give them the victory of the second set 25-21.
For the third set, Guatemala showed its champion claw and beat the Panamanians 25-21. Triumph that would force the match to be extended to two more sets.
Guatemala got 25 points out of 17 in the fourth set and overwhelmingly left the fifth set with a partial of 15-04 and therefore got the victory.
Guatemala dominated in services 8-2, attacks were also theirs 62-51 and blocks 12 to 9. The Guatemalans made more errors than their opponent, in total 30 to 22.
The top scorer of the match for Guatemala with 19 points was Jason Hernández, followed by Javier Lucero with 18. For the Panama National Team, Gherson Ortiz with 20, followed by Denzel Arboine with 16, as the top scorers for their team.
For this Saturday the 20th at 2:30 p.m. Panama will face Costa Rica and at 7:30 p.m. Guatemala will face El Salvador.
Daniel Ralón, point guard of the Guatemalan National Team: “It was a game that was difficult for us at the beginning, but we knew how to fix our pieces, we made some changes in the team and we achieved victory, I am very grateful to my team for knowing how to oppose and knowing row against the water and victory was achieved.
Denzel Arboine, winger of the Panama team: “A very difficult game, Guatemala is a team with a lot of experience, a good physique, a lot of histamine, it is a team to respect, it was a good game for us that we did not have the necessary time to adapt more As a team, since there are new players, we were very pleased that everyone made an effort, they lost their nerve, we lost 3-2 but I am happy for the work done by my team”
HERMOSILLO, Sonora, Mexico, August 19, 2022.- Ten teams will be competing at the nineteenth Women’s Pan American Cup that begins on Sunday at the Sonora Arena in the city of Hermosillo, Sonora.
Reigning champion Dominican Republic, winners of the 2021 edition held in Santo Domingo, along with Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and the United States represent the NORCECA Volleyball Confederation, and Colombia along with Peru the South American Volleyball Confederation (CSV).
In the history of the event, the United States has won on seven occasions, followed by Dominican Republic with five titles, Cuba with four and Brazil with three.
Teams are divided in two groups of five with group A consisting of Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Peru, Puerto Rico and the United States and group B with Canada, Colombia, Cuba, host Mexico and Nicaragua.
The preliminary round runs from Sunday 21 to Thursday 25; quarterfinals and classification matches for 7/10 places will take place on Friday 26. The semifinals and final positions 7/10 will be held on Saturday 27, while medal matches along with the match for fifth place will take place on Sunday 28.
The event will be streamed on Facebook Live Codeson Sonora
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 18, 2022. The Costa Rican national team won 3-0 (25-15/25-21/25-18) against its counterpart from El Salvador in the last game of the second day of competition at the V Central American U23 Men’s Championship.
For the first set, the Costa Rican National Team outscored the hosts by 10 points, ending the set 25-15.
For the second set, El Salvador at times led the Costa Ricans, making the match exciting for the local fans at the Palacio de los Deportes in San Salvador. The second set favored the Ticos 25-21.
In the third set the Costa Ricans dominated the game, which would end with partial 25-18.
Josué Rojas scored 11 points and Dowshel Smith 10 points as the best scorers for Costa Rica and for El Salvador, Abner Cano and Diego Navarro scored 10 points each.
Attacks 26-24 and blocks 11-6 were dominated by Costa Rica, while serves favored El Salvador 7-6. Costa Rica had 32 errors in favor of the opponent and they committed 17.
Costa Rica thus achieved its first victory and El Salvador was left with a defeat and a victory.
The locals will play this Friday the 19th at 7:30 pm against Nicaragua, while Costa Rica will play at 5:00 pm against Honduras.
Relly Diaz of Costa Rica celebrates with teammates
Dereck Fernández, setter from Costa Rica: “The game was quite intense, luckily and thanks to the coaches we managed to control it, we obeyed the orders that were given to us, we always kept our spirits up, wanting to get the game out, and always thinking about what What can we do, this is a rematch for the first game and let them know that we are going to be here giving everything for the team”.
Diego Navarro, side of El Salvador: “Today’s game was very difficult, we knew it was a very difficult team with which we were going to play, our team could not confront that at the time of the game, I think it would cool our heads for tomorrow, let’s move on”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 18, 2022. The Panamanian national team won with a score of 3-0 (25-20/25-23/25-22) the Honduran national team, in the second game this Thursday in the Championship Central American U23 Men, held at the Palacio de los Deportes in San Salvador.
Panama arrived determined to leave the victory, however, Honduras would complicate the match. The first set ended 25-20, for the second set Honduras had more force, but could not win, with a margin of two points the set went to the Panamanians (25-23).
In the third set Panama had the victory in their hands, however Honduras would come dangerously close drowning the set point twice. The set would end 25-22, a 3-0 victory for the canaleros.
The best scorers for Panama were Gherson Ortíz and Denzel Arboine with 12 points, while for Honduras, Roberto Palma scored 15 points and captain Alejandro Lobo 13 points.
Honduras dominated the spikes 38-36 and also the blocks 6-4, the serves favored Panama 3-1, which also had 32 points in their favor due to opponent errors and committed 20 errors.
Panama gets its first victory and Honduras its second loss. For this Friday, Panama will face Guatemala at 2:30 pm and Honduras will play Costa Rica at 5:00 pm.
Gherson Ortíz, winger Panamanian National Team: “The match was a little tough since the rival has been practicing for months, but we were able to get the result, which was today and we got three zero sets and I’m proud of my country”.
Kevin Herrera, winger Honduran National Team: “I feel that as always we fought, but we lacked grit, as a team it is something that we have to reinforce maybe for tomorrow, we will be better at it, maybe for tomorrow, we are there in the attack, we are there in defense, trying to improve the pass a bit, but above all I feel that the team can still move forward and continue fighting until the end, we are only in the second game, we have three left and we have faith that we can win them”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 18, 2022. In the first match of the second day of the U23 Men’s Central American Championship, the Nicaraguan team won with a score of 3-1 (25-15/20-25/18-25/19-25). ) to the defenders of the title the selection of Guatemala.
For the first set, the current champion of the category was forceful, taking advantage of 10 points in the final quarter (25-15).
Nicaragua came from less to more to take the second and third set with partials of 20-25 and 18-25.
In the fourth set, both teams showed how much they wanted one to extend to the fifth set and the other to settle the match, finally the match ended in the fourth set with a partial of 19-25 in favor of Nicaragua.
José Pablo Pérez was the best scorer of the game for Guatemala with 15 points, followed by Jason Hernández with 14 and for the Nicaraguan team Axel Gutiérrez was the one who scored the most points with 21.
The attack 50-43, blocking 14-11 and serving 3-2 was dominated by Nicaragua.
In this way the Nicaraguans reap their second victory while the Guatemalans a victory and a defeat.
This Friday Guatemala will face Panama at 2:30 pm and Nicaragua will face El Salvador at 5:00 pm.
Jeffrey Porres, Guatemalan point guard: “Unfortunately things didn’t work out, we couldn’t finish the game, I feel like we could give more and we have to keep working the following days”.
Yerick García, opposite Nicaragua: “We had a very complicated match, we knew it was tough from the start, against the four-time champions, we had been working for that, thank God we got the result, we had a bit of complications in the first set but our The coach knew how to handle the situation and lead us to victory”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 17, 2022. The hosts, El Salvador, won 3-1 (23-25/25-15/25-19/25-20) against their similar team from Honduras in a close match that lasted until the fourth set.
The first set was dominated by El Salvador, but they failed to contain the lead losing 23-25to Honduras.
For the next three sets, the Salvadorans came from less to more to get the victory with partials of 25-15/15-19/25-20.
Diego Navarro was the top scorer for El Salvador with 21 points and Alejandro Lobo stood out scoring 15 points for the Honduran team.
El Salvador dominated attacks 53-36, as well as blocks 10-4. El Salvador was superior in services 3-1.
For this Thursday Honduras will face Panama at 5:00 pm and El Salvador will face Costa Rica at 7:30 pm. Meetings at the Palacio de los Deportes in San Salvador.
Gabriel Linares, coach of El Salvador: “The truth is that the first matches are always complex, the anxiety of the boys took its toll on us in the first set. But we managed to get back on track, of the game and thank God we managed to control the last three sets and apply ourselves”.
Diego Guidos, captain of El Salvador: “The game now, as we expected, a close game, Honduras is a team that we have known for many years, we knew that it was going to be difficult for us, the team entered a little nervous, we have new players, rookies, the anxiety killed us the first set, a set that we had quite dominated and that the lack of experience at the time of closing made it difficult for us, adjustments were made, with some pieces that they have, more experience and those helped us to lead the victory more easily ”
Marvin Ulloa, coach of the Honduran national team: “I can only say that it was very positive for us, we developed many very young players, we made the debut of the youngest player in the tournament, we leave with a bittersweet taste because if we wanted to win”.
Alejandro Lobo, captain of Honduras: “We loved playing against the crowd, we didn’t expect defeat but we’re going to keep fighting until the end”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 17, 2022. The Nicaraguan National Team beat its similar team from Panama 3-0 at the start of both teams in the V Men’s U23 Central American Championship.
The first set was very close, both teams came out looking for the victory, ending in favor of Nicaragua 25-23. The second set also favored the Nicaraguans 25-19, leaving them just one set away from winning the match.
The third set finally with a difference of 14 points over Panama, Nicaragua would leave the victory after finishing 25-11 this set.
The attacks were led by Nicaragua with a figure of 43 while Panama made 34. The blockade was dominated 13 to 3 for the Nicaraguans. Nicaragua outscored Panama in service 2-0.
Axel Gutiérrez was the player with the most points for Nicaragua with 16 and for Panama Gherson Ortiz scored 18 points for his team.
Christian Flores PAN attempts to block Yesdy Pacheco NCA
Statements
Jorge Mena, coach of Nicaragua: “Today’s game was strong, we always look forward to that game against Panama, and we try to get a result as quickly as possible, we started from less to more, along the way we improved some things, and try to go step by step, game by game, we haven’t won and prepare for tomorrow”.
Jonathan Caballero, coach of Panama: “Today’s match is a very complicated match, with a team from Nicaragua, very close, you can see the work that Nicaragua did, as far as we have been working on it, with the talent that we have a match strong, and this is just beginning and I know that the boys from Panama will continue fighting to opt for the podium”.
John Morales, captain of Nicaragua: “Today’s game was a game to get together as a team, to be able to complement each other, to be able to finish some possible plays for the following stronger games, we can’t say that this game was easy but it helped us to get together more ”Cristhian Flores, Captain of the Panamanian National Team: “In today’s match with Nicaragua, an easy match was never expected, it was a very close match, quite difficult, some sets where many played the aerial ball, the ball in the corners , the first game is where there are more nerves and more tension and the Nicaraguan team was able to take the victory”.
SAN SALVADOR, August 17, 2022 – The Guatemalan U23 National Team defeated the Costa Rican National Team with a score of 3-0, in the first match of the V Men’s U23 Central American Championship of AFECAVOL.
The meeting that began at 2:00 pm at the Palacio de los Deportes in San Salvador, presented the Guatemalans, current champions of the Tournament, as favorites.
The first set went to the defending champions, who took a six-point lead to finish the set 25-19.
The second set also favored Guatemala, 25 to 17, dominating over the Ticos from start to finish. In the final third set, Chapines beat the Costa Ricans 25-21, thus achieving victory.
The top scorer of the match for Guatemala was its captain Francisco Gamboa with a total of 12 points and for Costa Rica with 9 points Dowshel Smith.
The next meeting for these two teams will be this Thursday when at 2:00 pm Guatemala faces Nicaragua and Costa Rica meets the hosts El Salvador.
Reiner Luchas, coach of Guatemala: “We had the first match of the competition against Costa Rica, a match with many ups and downs for both teams, we had many better moments than the Costa Rican team, the boys knew how to win the fundamental points and that was which gave us the fret to victory”.
Arturo Solano, Coach of Costa Rica: “A very complicated game because it was the first game, we had to be very focused when it came to getting it out, which was one of the objectives, we didn’t achieve it anyway, the team that made the fewest mistakes was the one that went to win the game.”
Francisco Gambia, captain of Guatemala: “By the grace of God we had our first victory against Costa Rica, tomorrow we will wake up with more spirits, to face Nicaragua face to face”
Josué Rojas, captain of Costa Rica: “We faced a very difficult rival, however we were able to play a better game and prepare for tomorrow at 7:30pm to face El Salvador.”
GATINEAU, August 14, 2022 – Osniel Melgarejo of Cuba was named the Most Valuable Player of the Men’s Pan American Cup held in Gatineau, Quebec of Canada won by his team with a victory over host Canada on Sunday.
GATINEAU, August 14, 2022: Cuba went undefeated and won the 15th Pan American Cup gold medal today in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.
The Cuban team swept home-crowd favourites 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-23) fighting off a late attempt by Canada to extend the match.
Cuba has the advantage in all skills – a strong offense with 39 attack points (compared with 26 by Canada), 7-3 in blocking and 6-3 in service points.
Canada gained 25 points from Cuban errors, compared with 23 Canadian team errors.
Opposite Jesus Herrera of Cuba topped the score sheet with 15 points and teammates Osniel Hernandez and Miguel Angel Lopez scored 11 apiece.
Mathias Elser was top scorer for Canada with 8 points.
Cuba, a team that also recently earned a spot in next year’s FIVB Volleyball Nations League, wins the tournament and a berth to the 2023 Pan American Games.
GATINEAU, August 14, 2022: Cuba went undefeated and won the 15th Pan American Cup gold medal today in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.
The Cuban team swept home-crowd favourites 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-23) fighting off a late attempt by Canada to extend the match.
Cuba has the advantage in all skills – a strong offense with 39 attack points (compared with 26 by Canada), 7-3 in blocking and 6-3 in service points.
Canada gained 25 points from Cuban errors, compared with 23 Canadian team errors.
Bonacic (CHI) spikes the ball against Team USA triple block
Opposite Jesus Herrera of Cuba topped the score sheet with 15 points and teammates Osniel Hernandez and Miguel Angel Lopez scored 11 apiece.
Mathias Elser was top scorer for Canada with 8 points.
Cuba, a team that also recently earned a spot in next year’s FIVB Volleyball Nations League, wins the tournament and a berth to the 2023 Pan American Games.
GATINEAU, August 14, 2022: The United States won the bronze match today at the 15th Men’s Pan American Cup at the Centre Slush Puppie arena in Gatineau, Quebec.
Opponent Chile tried to extend the match with strong third set performance, but the U.S. rallied for the 1-3 (16-25, 15-25, 25-22, 21-25) victory and the bronze medal
“I’m proud of my team and the ability to come back after a really tough match last night (semi-final) against Canada,” said U.S. Head Coach Andy Read. “To respond like that today against a very resilient Chilean team; I’m really happy.”
The U.S. was the better attacking team (56-42) and led in aces (11-5). Both teams had 7 blocking points and made an equal amount of errors at 23.
Team USA celebrates
Opposite Jake Hanes was the U.S. top scorer with 21 points, including 4 aces. Outside hitter Vicente Parraguirre of Chile led all scorers with 26 points.
GATINEAU, August 14, 2022: Puerto Rico defeated Mexico 3-1 (26-24, 25-27, 25-23, 25-19) in today’s 5-6 classification match at the 15th Pan American Cup at the Slush Puppie Centre in Quebec, Canada.
Puerto Rico finishes fifth and Mexico sixth out of eight teams.
Puerto Rico led in attack points (52-48) and aces (8-6) while Mexico earned more points from their blocking (8-10). Puerto Rico gained 33 points from errors; Mexico picked up 29 from their opponent.
Puerto Rico celebrates beating Mexico for 5th place
Opposite Pedro Molina (16 pts), Klistan Lawrence (15 pts) and middle Jonathan Rodriguez (13 pts) were top scorers for the winning side.
Outside hitter Josue Lopez contributed 13 points (10 successful attacks, 2 blocks and an ace) for Mexico.
GATINEAU, August 14, 2022: A young Brazilian squad could not hold off a more experienced Dominican side today at the 15th Pan American Cup held at the Slush Puppie Centre in Quebec, Canada.
It was the sixth five-set match of the tournament; 2-3 (23-25, 25-22, 17-25, 18-25, 10-15) with the Dominican Republic securing seventh place as winner of this classification final.
The teams were even on attack points at 58, and Brazil was the better blocking side (12-9). The Dominicans had an impressive 10 ace serves, five from opposite Gerson Ezequiel Toribio, compared to the South Americans with two aces. Errors were almost equal (28-27) with Brazil getting the slight advantage.
Veteran outside hitter Wilfrido Hernandez led all scoring with 25 points. Brazil’s Maicon dos Santos França added 20 points to the losing side’s total.
Hernandez (DOM) spikes the ball against Team BRA double block
This was the first of four matches in today’s schedule that culminates in the gold medal match between Canada and Cuba.
GATINEAU, August 13, 2022: A dramatic semi-final win over USA lands host Canada in the gold-medal match of the 15th Men’s Pan American Cup at the Centre Slush Puppie arena in Gatineau, Quebec.
Canada prevailed in five sets 3-2 (22-25, 21-25, 29-27, 25-23, 15-12) after the U.S. looked in control of the first half of the match.
Canada had a strong start in set three, then USA evened it up at the 11-point mark, but the home crowd-favourites kept fighting and managed to close the third after five set-point opportunities.
The fourth set was back and forth, but finally Canada capitalized on the U.S. errors and looked confident in the tie-break set.
The U.S. led in attack points with 69 (compared with Canada’s 66) and opposite Jake Hanes of Team USA led all scorers with 27 points. The U.S. also led in blocking (8-6).
Canada had eight service points compared to seven for the U.S. and Canada made fewer errors (28-32).
M. Elser (CAN) spikes the ball
For Canada, Brodie Hofer was lead scorer and contributed 22 points.
Canada will face Cuba in the gold-medal match on Sunday, and the U.S. will play Chile for bronze.
A berth to the Pan Am Games, which will be held in Santiago, Chile in 2023, is at stake at this tournament.
GATINEAU. August 13, 2022: Cuba had a decisive 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-21) semi-final performance against Chile today at the Slush Puppie Centre in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada at the 15th Pan American Cup.
Cuba led in all skills – attacks (45-33), blocks (8-6) and strong serving gave them five aces compared with Chile’s two. Chile lost 17 points to errors compared to Cuba’s 16.
Chilean outside hitter Vicente Parraguirre led all scorers with 20 points.
Team captain Miguel Angel Lopez topped Cuba’s scoresheet with 18 points, including three aces; followed by opposite Jesus Herrera with 15.
Lopez (CUB) spikes the ball
Cuba will now play for gold on Sunday and contend for a berth at the 2023 Pan American Games, which will be held in Chile.
GATINEAU, August 13, 2022: Dominican Republic was defeated by Mexico 1-3 (14-25, 29-27, 18-25, 15-25) today at the 15th Pan American Cup at the Slush Puppie Centre in Quebec, Canada.
Mexico earned its way into the fifth-place match and they will meet Puerto Rico at 11:30 am ET on Sunday. Brazil and Dominican Republic play at 9 am ET for places seven and eight.
This afternoon, Mexico led in attack points (53-37) and serves (8-7) and made 10 fewer errors than its opponent. Puerto Rico gained one more blocking point than Mexico (9-8)
Dominican opposite Henry Omar Tapia led scoring with 18 points.
Outside hitter Mauro Isaac Fuentes of Mexico led the winning side with 17 points, followed by teammate Josue De Jesus Lopez with 14 points to his credit.
Fuentes (MEX) spikes the ball
The schedule continues with semis today and medal matches on Sunday afternoon.
GATINEAU, August 13, 2022: A young Brazilian squad was defeated by Puerto Rico 0-3 (23-25, 22-25, 19-25) today at the 15th Pan American Cup held at the Slush Puppie Centre in Quebec, Canada.
Puerto Rico will get a chance to play for 5th place in the tournament tomorrow, and Brazil will play to determine places seven and eight.
Puerto Rico’s more efficient offense was the difference maker in this match: they led by 43-28 in attacking points. Other skills were more even: 4-4 in blocks and 4-4 in service aces. Puerto Rico had slightly more errors than Brazil (28-24).
For Puerto Rico, 19 year-old Klistan Lawrence stood out as top scorer with 21 points. Samuel Carazzai de Morais Neufeld, at 17 years of age, led scoring for the South American side with 13 points.
Lawrence (PUR) spikes the ball against Team BRA double block
This was the first of four matches in today’s schedule.
GATINEAU, August 12, 2022: The United States defeated Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-17, 29-27, 26-24) on Friday evening at the 15th Men’s Pan American Cup at the Centre Slush Puppie arena in Gatineau, Quebec Canada.
Team USA advances to the semi-finals along with Chile, who beat Mexico in the earlier quarterfinal today, Canada and Cuba.
The U.S. will face North American rivals Canada in its semi on Saturday.
Today, the U.S. led in attacking (45-39), blocking (10-4) and service points (7-5). However, the winning team had slightly more errors than Puerto Rico (20-18).
Opposite Jake Hanes and middle Patrick Gasman of USA led scoring with 17 points apiece. Klistan Lawrence Vidal was top scorer of Puerto Rico with 15 points followed by teammate Kevin Lopez who contributed 12.
Omene (USA) spikes the ball against Team PUR double block
A berth to the Pan Am Games, which will be held in Santiago, Chile in 2023, is at stake at this tournament.
GATINEAU, August 12, 2022 – Mexico faced Chile in the first quarterfinal of the day at the 15th Men’s Pan American Cup in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada with the South American team coming up on the winning side of five sets 2-3 (25-17, 17-25, 21-25, 26-24, 14-16).
Sets were unpredictable throughout the match. Pressure by the Mexican team put them ahead in the fifth set, but Chile fought back and prevailed in extra points.
The Chilean team led in attack points (62-52), was slightly better in blocking (12-11), but Mexico had the advantage in aces (7-4) and gained more points from the opposing team’s errors.
Chile advances to the semi-finals, which will be held tomorrow.
Outside hitter Vicente Parraguirre of Chile had an impressive 37 points, and team captain Dusan Bonacic contributed 14 for the winning team.
Outside hitter Josué López was top scorer (15 points) for the Mexican team; followed by teammate opposite Diego González with 11 points.
Chilean players celebrate after winning their match against Team MEX
A berth to the Pan Am Games, which will be held in Santiago, Chile in 2023, is at stake at this tournament.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 12, 2022.- Guatemala is aiming to win their fifth consecutive Men’s U23 AFECAVOL Central American title at the fifth edition of the event to take place at the Palacio de Los Deportes of San Salvador, El Salvador running from August 17-21.
Guatemala has dominated the event since it’s first edition held in 2012 in Honduras, winning four consecutive gold medals (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018). In the past edition Guatemala reached the last day of competition already earning the gold medal before beating Costa Rica 3-0 in their last performance, result that handed out the silver medal to Nicaragua and the bronze medal to Panama.
In the history of the event, Costa Rica has won a total of three medals, two silvers and one bronze, Panama has two, one silver and one bronze; Nicaragua has one silver medal, while Honduras and El Salvador have one bronze medal each.
Six countries will be competing in the round-robin event that will be streamed on Facebook Live @fesavol , consisting of three daily matches, starting on Wednesday 17 at 2:00pm with reigning champion Guatemala facing Costa Rica. Belize will not be attending the competition.
GATINEAU, August 11, 2022: Host team Canada won in the tie-break over Brazil to top Group B today at the Slush Puppie Centre in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.
It was an even contest until the fifth set: the scores were 22-25, 25-20, 21-25,25-20, 15-7. Canada, with two wins and a loss, advances directly to the semi-finals on Saturday.
Canada led in attack points (57-38) as well as in service points (11-8) and made the most of the young Brazilian team’s errors. Brazil was the better blocking team in this match with 10 to Canada’s eight points.
Canadian players celebrate
Jordan Canham was top scorer for Canada with 15 points, followed by teammate Brodie Hofer who contributed 14 to the score card.
Lukas Felipe Bergmann led Brazil’s efforts with 17 points.
The tournament, which will decide a berth to the Pan American Games, now moves in the playoff phase.
GATINEAU- August 11, 2022: The United States fell to Cuba today in both teams’ final Pan American Cup Group A match – 0-3 (21-25, 20-25, 19-25) at the Slush Puppie Centre in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.
A strong offense led to Cuba’s sweep – leading 44-31 in attack points. USA led in blocking (8-5) and service points were even at three each. Cuba also capitalized on the United States’ errors (18-23).
Cuban opposite Jesus Herrera led the winning team in scoring with 16 points; followed by Miguel Angel Lopez Castro with 12. For the U.S., opposite Jake Hanes led that team’s scoring with 13 points.
This was the North American team’s first loss, while Cuba remains undefeated to top Group A.
GATINEAU, Canada, August 11, 2022: In Group B Pan American Cup action today, Mexico was defeated by Puerto Rico 2-3 (14-25, 15-25, 25-21, 25-20, 17-19) at the Slush Puppie Centre in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.
Mexico lost the first two sets before attempting a serious comeback, and winning sets three and four. The fifth set was back and forth until 6-6 when Mexico made a push followed by Puerto Rico’s answer back. Finally, in extra points, Puerto Rico prevailed.
Puerto Rico had the slight advantage in attacks 59-56, blocks 10-9 and made fewer errors. Mexico had eight aces, compared to Puerto Rico’s four.
This was Mexico’s first loss of the tournament, and Puerto Rico’s second win. Both teams are now 2-1.
Diego González Castañeda of Mexico led all scorers with 27 points. Pelegrin Vargas of Puerto Rico brought in 19 for the winning side, followed by teammate Pedro Molina with 15 points.
Gatineau, Quebec. August 11, August 11, 2022: In the first match of the final day of pool play at the 15th Pan American Cup, Group A’s Chile and Dominican Republic battled it out at the Slush Puppie Centre in Gatineau, Quebec.
Chile won the contest 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-15) for their first victory of the tournament.
Chile’s strong offense (led in attack points 61-42) as well as serves (8 to the opponent’s 4) made the difference. Chile edged out the Dominicans in blocking points, 9-8, but Chile made more errors than the Caribbean team.
Gatineau, 10 aug.- Canada rebounded from a shocking five-set defeat in tournament debut and dominated Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-17, 25-17 and 25-19) in Pool B action of the 15th Pan American Cup.
Inspired by their four-set win over Brazil in their first game, Puerto Rico kept the host team at bay in the first third of the match (tied at eight), but Canada soon moved away with a solid spikes and blocks, combined with two aces by Jordan Canham, to take the first set 25-17.
Puerto Rico tried to regain momentum and stayed in contention in the second set until the second technical time-out (14-16). From there, the Canadian service and attack wreaked havoc on their opponents as they cruised to an easy 25-17 win.
Both teams traded points early in the third set. Samuel Cooper was lethal from the service line as Canada led 16-10. Fynnian McCarthy and Mathias Elser also added aces and the former sealed a comfortable win with a solid attack.
Team Canada celebrates after winning over Team Puerto Rico
Gatineau, 10 aug.- The United States kept their winning streak at the 15th Pan American Cup with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18 and 25-14) win over Chile in Pool B action at the Slush Puppie Centre.
Coming from a 3-0 victory over the Dominican Republic in their opening match, the North American squad found strong opposition from Chile, who held a narrow lead 10-8 and then 16-15 at the second technical time-out. But the United States kept the pressure. With the set tied at 21 points, Jake Hanes’ solid attack and effective blocks led the USA to take the opening set 25-22.
Early in the second set, Chilean setter Matias Banda collided with a fellow player and fell to the ground. With Araya out, the South American squad struggled to keep up with the American offense. Patrick Gasman, Jake Hanes and Jacob Pasteur inflicted some damage in their opponents’ defense. After a long rally, Pasteur finished the 25-18 set victory with a solid cross attack.
Determined to finish the game in three sets, the USA came back strongly and built an early 5-0 lead. Pasteur continued to lead the offense and the team backed it up with effective blocks. Chile was never able to stop the American system as Kyle McCauley sealed the 25-14 set and match victory with a solid spike.
McHenry (USA) spikes the ball against Team CHI double block
Jake Hanes led the USA performance with 15 points, followed by Pasteur (13). Vicente Parraguirre was Chile’s top scorer with 13 points.
Both undefeated in two matches, Cuba and the USA for the top position of Pool A on Thursday. The Dominican Republic and Chile will play for the third place in the Pool on the same day.
Gatineau.- Mexico kept its winning streak in Pool B of the Pan American Cup with a 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-18 and 25-19) victory over Brazil on Wednesday at the Slush Puppie Centre in Gatineau.
Looking to rebound after a defeat to Puerto Rico in their tournament debut on Tuesday, the Brazilian squad, made up of players aged 18-19 years old, started out aggressively, leading 8-5 and 16-10 at the two technical time-outs. Their lead was never threatened, and Carlos Rodrigues sealed the 25-19 set victory with a solid attack.
The second set remained even, with both teams exchanging points and Mexico slightly ahead 16-15. An efficient block and an ace by Diego Gonzalez in the latter stages paid the way for a 25-20 victory and a game tie one set each.
That’s what Mexico needed to recover their winning ways, a day after a shocking victory over hosts Canada in their opening match. Their block, on court experience, effective defense and the attacking duo of Diego Gonzalez and Mauro Fuentes found no match in the young Brazilian squad and went on to win the remaining sets 25-18 and 25-19.
Gonzalez contributed 22 points for the winners, followed by Josue Lopez (13) and Fuentes (11). Lukas Bergmann was Brazil’s top scorer with 13 points with Samuel Carrazai (12) and captain Arthur Bergmann (11) also in double digits.
Mexico plays Puerto Rico and Brazil faces Canada on the final day of Pool B action on Thursday.
GATINEAU, August 10, 2022 – Defending champions Cuba remains undefeated with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-12) victory over the Dominican Republic in Pool A of the Pan American Cup.
With a different starting line-up from their Cup debut win Tuesday against Chile, Cuba contained a well known Caribbean rival, staying in front at both technical time-outs 8-6 and 16-13. Michael Sanchez’s spike sealed the victory in the opening set 25-12.
The start of the second set remained even, with Cuba slightly ahead 8-6. The Dominican Republic rebounded and took control 16-13 at the second technical time-out, but their Caribbean opponents tied it up at 17. They traded points until a 21-point tie. With Jesus Herrera from the service line, the Dominican Republic struggled, and the opposite player finished the set with an ace and a final 25-21 score.
In the third set, the Dominican Republic built an early 8-4 and 16-14 lead at the first and second technical timeouts. Cuba reacted and tied the score at 18. With Roamy Alonso from the service line, the Dominican Republic made some costly mistakes and saw their chances slip away 18-21. The gap remained, and Marlon Yant sealed the set 25-12 and the match victory for Cuba.
Yant (CUB) spikes the ball against Team DOM double block
Jesus Herrera was the top scorer for the Cuban squad with 14 points, followed by Osniel Mergarejo (10) and Roamy Alonso (9). Wilfrido Hernandez set offense with 11 points for the Dominican Republic.
Cuba plays the United States and the Dominican Republic meets Chile in the last preliminary round matches of Pool A on Thursday.
GATINEAU, August 9, 2022- Mexico overcame a 0-2 deficit to shock hosts Canada 3-2 (23-25, 13-25, 25-21, 25-23 and 15-11) in Pool B action of the 15th Pan American Cup at the Slush Puppy in Gatineau, Quebec.
Mexico, who is fielding their best team in preparation for the World Championships, started out well, leading 8-6 and 16-12 at the technical time-outs. But Canada bounced back and tied the set at 18 points. With the scored at 23 points, an attack out of bounds by the opponent and a solo block by Mahias Elser paid the way for Canada to win 25-23.
Canada kept the momentum on court and built a sizable 16-11 lead in the second set. Two consecutive aces by Brodie Hofer put Canada in a comfortable position as they secured a comfortable 25-13 victory.
Mexico rebounded and started strong in the third set 5-0. Canada responded and moved to the front 16-15 at the second time-out. The score remained even, but captain Christian Aranda unleashed three consecutive aces to win 25-21.
Canada seemed destined to finish the match in four sets as they led 8-4 and 16-12 at the two technical timeouts. Mexico shortened the deficit and managed to tie at 20 points. A solid attack and an ace by Josue Lopez helped them prevail 25-23 to force a tie-break.
Mexico maintained their inspiration and built an early 5-2 lead, but Canada responded and tied the game at seven. With the scored even at 10, solid attacks by Mauro Fuentes, Diego Gonzalez and a block by Jonathan Martinez and Josue Lopez put Mexico 14-11 ahead and they finally sealed the match victory 15-11 after two hours and ten minutes of play.
Josue Lopez led the Mexican offense with 16 points, followed by Diego Gonzalez (12) and Mauro Fuentes (12). Brodie Hofer was Canada’s top scorer with 23 points. Mathias Elser (14) and Cole Ketrzynski (10) were also in double digits.
Canada plays Puerto Rico and Mexico faces Brazil Wednesday in Pool B.
GATINEAU, August 9, 2022- Cuba opened its title defense campaign with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20 and 28-26) victory over Chile in Pool A action of the 15th Pan American Cup at the Slush Puppy Centre in Gatineau, Canada.
Coming from their recent victory at the Challenger Cup and qualification to the 2023 Volleyball Nations League, Cuba started out strongly, leading 8-4 at the first technical time-out and 16-10 in the second one. The Cuban kept their solid display on court and went on to win 25-17.
At the second set, Dusan Bonacic’s attacks and ace gave the South American team some momentum and led 14-12, but Miguel David Gutierrez’s ace and Marlon Yant’s spike switched the score 16-14 in Cuba’s favour. Chile never gave up and Bonacic put his squad back 20-21, but an ace by captain Miguel Angel Lopez and two solid attacks by Yant and Lopez secured the set 25-20 for the defending champions.
The third set stayed more even with Cuba’s 8-7 advantage at the first time-out, but Chile bounced back and regained the lead 15-12, with solid spikes from brothers Vicente and Tomas Parraguirre, and Bonacic. Never out of contention, Cuba tied at 23 with a 2-man block by Livan Osoria and Marlon Yant. After four match points, Julio Cesar Cardenas’ strong serve sealed the 28-26 victory and the match win.
Marlon Yant led the Cuban offense with 15 points, followed by Gutierrez (14) and Osoria (13). Vicente Parraguirre was the main figure for Chile with 17 points, supported by Bonacic (13).
Chile and Cuba play in Pool A together with the United States and the Dominican Republic.
GATINEAU, August 9, 2022- Puerto Rico opened Pool B action of the Pan American Cup with a 3-1 (25-21, 25-18, 21-25 and 27-25) over Brazil in two hours at the Slush Puppy Centre in Gatineau, Canada.
The South American team, made up of players aged 18-19, started out ahead 8-6 and continued to lead 16-15. The Puerto Rican defense, combined with Pedro Nieves and Klistan Lawrence’s spikes, proved to be crucial to revert the score 23-20, before Pedro Molina sealed the win 25-21 in the opening set.
In the second set, the most experienced Caribbean squad continued its solid performance and built an early 6-2 lead. With Pedro Molina’s two consecutive aces and smart plays by setter Arturo Iglesias, Puerto Rico increased in front 16-9 and reached an insurmountable 20-11 score, before they went on to win 25-18.
In the third set, both teams traded points, but Brazil took the lead briefly 12-11 and 19-18. Witalio de Sousa’s ace opened a 2-point lead (22-20) and went on to win 25-21.
The young South American squad kept its momentum and kept the fourth set within reach 14-16. Puerto Rico stayed on top. Its defense and offense proved crucial to keep Brazil at bay 23-19. But Brazil bounced back to tie 25-25. Jonathan Rodriguez and Pelegrin Vargas’ spikes paid the way for the 27-25 set and match victory.
Klistan Lawerence led the winners’ offense with 18 points, followed by Pedro Molina (16) and Jonathan Rodriguez (15). Samuel Carazzai de Morais produced 22 points for Brazil and was supported by captain Arthur Bento with 13.
Puerto Rico and Brazil play in Pool B together with Canada and Mexico.
The United States beat the Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-23) to open the 15th Pan American Cup, held at the Slush Puppie Sports Centre in Gatineau, Canada.
Despite a strong start by the Caribbean squad, the USA bounced back and tied the opening set at 11 and reached the second technical time-out with a narrow 16-14 lead. Solid attacks by Jake Hanes, Merrick McHenry and Brett Wildman and Patrick Gasman secured the first set 25-23.
The USA remained on top in the second set, leading 8-6 and 16-14. But the Dominican Republic kept fighting and Henry Tapia led them to a 23-22 lead, but the USA bounced back with an effective block and a strong attack by Jake Hanes secured win 25-23.
The third set appeared to go one way with the USA taking a healthy 7-1 lead and 16-12 at the second time-out. The Dominican Republic never gave up and with solid clocks managed to tie the set at 21. However, Jake Hanes’ attacks proved to be lethal and paved the way for another identical 25-23 set win and match victory.
Hanes led the winners’ performance with 20 points, followed by Gasman (11). Captain Henry Tapia was the main contributor from the Dominican Republic with 16 points.
Both teams play in Pool A with Chile and Cuba as the other contenders
Group A:Nicolas Vives, Head Coach of Cuba We just returned from winning the World Challenge in Korea and qualifying to the VNL next year. We want to perform well here while also testing new players and resting some of our key men after a busy campaign and in preparation for the World Championships.
The team is almost the same as the one who won this tournament in 2019, with the addition of Robertlandy Simon and Michael Sanchez. I started coaching this generation of players in 2017 and they are progressing well, from the U19 to the U23 World Championships and their involvement in international leagues. They have matured technically and tactically and are now in a better place to solve crucial moments in a game. This generation should peak in 2024 and stay with the world’s best and the VNL is a great step forward.
Guy Bradbury, President of the NORCECA Refereeing Commission, at the Preliminary Inquiry meeting
Andy Read, Head Coach of USA
The team is a blend of guys that we had at the Pan Am Final 6 in Mexico and some guys that are coming back from VNL. It is a very good blend. Our talent level and physically are better that what it was in Mexico. We look forward to a better finish than Mexico (bronze).
The team preparing for the World Championships is staying in Anaheim, so our guys are here to gain more experience.
This tournament is the most important ever in the history of the Pan Am Cup. It has world rankings points involved for Olympic qualification, which is everything.
Team USA at the Preliminary Inquiry meeting
Jorge Gutierrez, Head Coach of the Dominican Republic
It is important to be here to gain experience. We have our U21 team, they are young, and we want to improve our level of play. The players here just want to play and show the world they can play at this level.
Daniel Nejamkin, Head Coach of Chile
Our goal here is make the podium, plain and simple. We think we can do it. So we are going to play for that.
The Pan American Cup is better for us than training because we have to play against a lot of teams that are ranked similar or better than us. In South America, Brazil and Argentina play at a higher level, and we always play against Colombia and Venezuela. So here, we have the opportunity to play against international teams that can really test us.”
Group B
Jorge Azair, coach of Mexico
We have prepared well since the start of the year. It’s a young team that has been progressing well and preparing for the World Championships. We have lost players through injury and conflicts with school calendars. We secured our main goals so far by qualifying to the 2023 Pan Am Games and the World Championships.
We are here to obtain valuable world ranking points for future events such as the Olympic qualifiers for 2024.
Oswald Antonetti, coach of Puerto Rico
This is our third tournament this summer. We have been adding elements and some key players are returning here to join the squad preparing for the World Championships. We treat this tournament with the same rigour as the World Championships.
We have a young team who is creating an identity. Some of these players won the Norceca championship last year. We have been working on creating a sense of sacrifice, courage, discipline and identity that we need so much as an Island.
We have 90% of the players here who will make the squad for the World Championships. For us, the World Championships starts with this Cup. We train well and we are able to execute the modern form of playing volleyball. We are integrating the right elements into our game. We can’t accelerate this process.
We want to give the guys some good experience. We are very glad and happy to be playing at a high-level competition like this. This experience will help them achieve their future goals and the teams’ goals moving forward.
They are a young team, so this is a development opportunity for the guys, especially mental development. Representing Brazil, our country, is something to be very proud of, so we hope we will continue to play with pride throughout the tournament.
Fun Facts:
Brazil #19 is son of Adriana Bento, Canadian beach volleyball coach. He is Canadian dual citizen.
They’ve already qualified for the Pan Am Games through Jr Pan Am games, this tournament is therefore important for FIVB ranking for the Olympics and VNL qualifications.
Brazil and NORCECA representatives at the Preliminary Inquiry meeting
Dan Lewis, Head Coach of Canada
We have a pretty experienced group, there’s a lot of guys that train here that have the potential to go to World Championships so I feel that we should be trying to win our pool, as the first step. Then of course I would like the guys to be in the medals. So you can expect that we are fighting for gold.
The guys are excited first not having to listen to me yell at them in training, and to actually play a game. But of course, obviously competing. There are so many great countries here, it’s not just the top hemisphere, but the southern hemisphere as well with a bunch of dynamic players. We hardly ever see Chile; Brazil is younger, but they are very highly skilled and they’re big so it’s super fun to play a group like that. Cuba’s A team just qualified for VNL, are now near the top 10 best teams in the world probably, with maybe arguably one of the best serving teams in the world. So I think opportunity to compete first for the guys, and then to actually be competing against some of the best talent in the world, is really good for them.”
A quick thank you, we know it takes a lot of organization and everyone is working so hard to host an event this size. We’re very excited about the new gym too and what we can get going there. And then to the volunteers, we know they come and give a lot of their time, so we thank them, and it doesn’t go unnoticed.”
Alan Ahac, Volleyball Canada’s Director, Indoor International Events, at the Preliminary Inquiry meeting
Tegucigalpa, Honduras; August 03, 2022.- The central blocker of Costa Rica, Lakysha Thompson was declared the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the V Afecavol Women’s Under 23 Championship, by guiding her team to the fifth consecutive title in this category.
Thompson was the top scorer for Costa Rica with 76 points, highlighting 13 through blocks, and she was a key player in high-intensity matches like against Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras in the last match of the tournament, in which she scored 7 points.
Lakysha said that “I feel very happy, it is an award that I did not expect to win, any of us could win it because we are a great team, we all add up. This recognition of the effort of so many years, all that I have worked for seven years, here you can see the result”.
“This is my first under 23 title, I was also champion in the Central American Major and I have participated in under 18 and under 20,” said the Most Valuable.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras; August 03, 2022.- Costa Rica won the five-time championship by beating Honduras 3-1 (9-25, 25-13, 25-23, 25-21) in a great battle in the final match of the V U23 Women’s Championship of Afecavol, before a full house at the Jorge Galeano Gymnasium, in the Olympic Village of this city.
Honduras came out with everything in the first set, using a good service, limited Costa Rica’s attack and took an early advantage that they maintained until the end of the set.
In the second set, Costa Rica turned the game around with effective service and good defense, highlighting the libero María José Castro, who allowed a more effective counterattack from her teammates. In the third, the champions overcame a 3-point lead in the closing game to end up winning 25-23.
In the fourth set, Costa Rica came from behind to overcome a three-point deficit and from point 16 took the lead and did not give it up, winning its fifth consecutive title in this category.
Costa Rica celebrates their fifth consecutive U23 AFECAVOL title
Costa Rica dominated the four previous editions, while Guatemala achieved two silver medals and one bronze. Honduras had only won a bronze in the first edition of 2012. Belize was runner-up in 2019 and Nicaragua has a beach and a bronze. El Salvador was third in 2016.
Nicaragua (3-3) won 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-11, 25-19) against Belize, but it was not enough to take third place from Guatemala, which registered 3-3, but did 16 points, by 15 of the Nicaraguans.
Final Positions: 1.-Costa Rica; 2.- Honduras; 3.- Guatemala; 4.- Nicaragua; 5.- El Salvador; 6.- Belize; 7.- Panama.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras, August 03, 2022.- Nicaragua won 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-11, 25-19) against Belize, in the penultimate game of the seventh day of the V Women’s U23 Championship of Afecavol.
Gilmary Smith with 19 points was the top scorer of the match leading Nicaragua to its third win for three losses. Massiel Brenes contributed 11 points and 9 from Brittany Forbes.
For Belize, which was 1-5, Gareth Bruce had 17 points and 12 from Khaya Gordon, who left part of the game with an ankle injury.
Nicaragua was better in attack 35-30, in blocking 14-12 and in service 6-5, taking advantage of 43 points due to the opponent’s errors, for 24 committed.
Tegucigalpa, August 03, 2022.- El Salvador defeated a combative team from Panama 3-0 (27-25, 25-17, 25-21), closing with a record of 3-3 in the V Afecavol Women’s U23 Championship , while Panama had no victories.
Salvadoran captain Daniela López led her team with 16 points and almost every player on the squad saw action. For Panama, Mariluz González was left with 11 and captain Karla Ortiz with 10.
El Salvador led in attacks 36-22 and in blocks 6-3, but were equal in service with 7 points per side. Panama committed fewer errors with 28 to 31.
Fabiolla Ramírez of El Salvador spikes against Mariluz Gonzalez y Karla Ortiz of Panama
Daniela López, captain of El Salvador: “For us it was a very good and competitive tournament, most of the teams were from the under 21 category and we knew about them. We hope in the next tournaments to try harder, to work hard to be able to climb in the ranking”.
“El Salvador was one of the teams in the tournament in which all the players saw action and all of them excelled, in the end that was important to see the evolution of all of them,” López said.
Noé Fabían, coach of El Salvador: “Panama is a tough team that gave us a lot of work in the first set, but we managed to get the result. At the tournament level, we finished 3-3, the same as Guatemala, but because of some sets that we lost, we cannot opt for the bronze medal. In general it was a good tournament, a young team, which came from less to more, is the future of our senior team, because many of them will be in that category”.
Tegucigalpa, August 02, 2022.- Honduras won 3-1 (25-23, 25-16, 20-25, 25-14) over Nicaragua to leave the table set for a grand finale of the V Afecavol Women’s U23 Championship .
The hosts reached five victories and this Wednesday they will face Costa Rica, champion of the first four editions of this category, which also arrives undefeated.
Honduras had a great performance from captain Nathaly Pérez, who got 24 points, 14 from Dazly Durán and 13 from Natalia Reyes. For Nicaragua, Gilmary Smith finished with 14 points, to 11 from Massiel Brenes.
The locals dominated the attack 43-38, 13-5 in blocking and 8-4 in service, with 31 errors made by each side.
Nathaly Reyes, captain of Honduras: “Tomorrow we will go with all the desire in the world to close this tournament, to win the gold medal. Today was a tough match, Nicaragua is a great team that did not let go of the reins at any time, it was difficult to manage, but thank God we managed to close in the fourth set. In the third I think we lost concentration, I felt that even in the first set we were not as forceful as in the second, we lacked a bit, but we recovered. The support of the public gives us good support, we never feel alone, they don’t let our spirits get low and that motivates us”.
Dazly Durán, outstanding player from Honduras: “Nicaragua is a team with which we always face each other, it is always difficult to play against them, they took a set from us, but we managed to get up and get the match. Against Costa Rica we are going with everything to win that medal, we have the same experience, we know each other, but we have the support of our fans”.
Marvin Ulloa, coach of Honduras: “When a team does not apply itself tactically, things do not work out and that happened to us in the third set, the girls began to do other things, Nicaragua made variations and they were able to accommodate us to those changes, they get distracted , they go out of the plan that we work. We hope that tomorrow against Costa Rica it will be a great game, that the public will enjoy it, there is a lot of expectation for that game”.
On the last day, Belize meets Nicaragua at 4:30 p.m. and Honduras against Costa Rica at 7:00 p.m.
Tegucigalpa, August 02, 2022.- El Salvador battled to win 3-2 (25-17, 25-15, 23-25, 22-25, 15-13) over Belize (1-4), being their second win of the V Afecavol Women’s Under 23 Championship.
After comfortably winning the first two sets, El Salvador struggled to close out the match, with Belize gaining confidence at the net with Khaya Gordon inspired in attack. However, in the fifth and decisive set, the Salvadorans managed to take advantage of the errors of their opponents, especially in the reception, to win the match and reach two wins for three losses.
Daniela López and Allison Méndez were left with 16 points each, 15 from Maria Rodríguez and 13 from Daniela Ayala. For Belize, Khaya Gordon had 23 points, all in attack, Bruce Gareth with 17 and 12 from Marci Mejía.
El Salvador took advantage in services 11-7, in attacks 51-49, and in blocking Belize was better 8-7, with 41 errors by Belizeans to 31 by their opponents.
Daniela López, captain of El Salvador: “The match was very intense, we thought we would win in three sets but Belize made things difficult for us, although in the end we got the result. There were a lot of mixed feelings, because we were ahead and then they tied us and so on… a very hard fight, but in the next game we hope to win and finish better in the standings”.
Allison Mendez, striker from El Salvador: “I really feel very satisfied, happy and proud of the work we all did as a team. At first I felt nervous because I hadn’t started playing as a starter, but I managed to get through it and I’m very happy because we beat a team as strong as Belize”.
Noé Fabián, coach of El Salvador: “First of all I want to congratulate Belize because they knew how to counteract our game, they corrected along the way and changed the game system. El Salvador has grit and that was what got us through, they like to fight and sometimes even suffer, but I am very grateful to the entire work team and the girls because this was the best birthday present.”
El Salvador closes the tournament against Panama at 2:00 p.m., while Belize faces Nicaragua at 4:30 p.m.
Tegucigalpa, August 01, 2022.- Costa Rica defeated Guatemala 3-1 (25-214, 20-25, 25-21, 25-19), extending to five the victories achieved in the V Afecavol Women’s U23 Championship.
The four-time champions of the Under 23 category advanced steadily to the last day to be played this Wednesday, when they will face Honduras at 7:00 p.m. Guatemala, meanwhile, closed its participation in the tournament with a record of three wins and three losses.
Angélica Rodríguez with 15 points was the top scorer for Costa Rica, while Lakysha Thompson had 14 and Nicole Mata had 10 points. For Guatemala, María Santa Cruz contributed 21 points, to 12 from Naomi Monney.
Costa Rica dominated blocking 13-7 and serving 6-2, but Guatemala was better in attack 48-42, but they committed 34 errors, to 21 for the winners.
Lakysha Thompson of Costa Rica against doble block of Naomi Monney and Ivana Sopegno of Guatemala
Ana Victoria Rojas, captain of Costa Rica: “We started the game quite strong, they were very strong throughout the match and showed a good team, but we controlled our game and did our job. Our idea is to go out and win tomorrow’s game against Honduras, regardless of how they do today, we’re going to go all out”.
Angélica Rodríguez, Costa Rica’s best scorer: “I feel pretty good because they gave me the opportunity and I knew how to take advantage of it. We have a fairly united team, we have trained a lot, we know each other and we are a family on the pitch, that allows us to trust each other and anyone can do a good job, if not one, there is another who will do the best”.
Andrés Carvajal, coach of Costa Rica: “First we have to thank God and the Virgin of the Angels, someone so important in Costa Rica (today), they have helped us a lot, especially to seek unity in the group, strengthen that worked. The girls have behaved up to the task, all the sacrifice and effort they have made, they are receiving their reward with what they have achieved”.
Tegucigalpa, August 01, 2022.- Honduras consolidated with a good reception and tightened the attack against a strong block from Belize to win their fourth win this time 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-18).
Captain Nathaly Pérez with 18 points was the top scorer for Honduras, with Natalia Reyes contributing 9 units. Belize had nine points from Bruce Gareth.
Honduras dominated attacking 31-20, blocking 7-6 and serving 7-4, both committing 30 errors.
Blessed Omamurhe of Belize outduels Shattle Siliezar of Honduras
Nathaly Pérez, captain of Honduras: “We met our objective, which was to win, we didn’t expect it to be in three sets, but it turned out that way and it was better for us. I feel that we knew how to handle Belize, we complicated them with our serve, they also have a good serve and we managed to solve it with the receipt, we were also effective when attacking. The reception worked very well, our companions also supported when it came to attacking because of their high block”.
Marvin Ulloa, coach of Honduras: “We are still undefeated, we prepared for the game and thank God what we planned worked. The receipt was better today than in other games and that was important. Really, although we want to test all the girls, we entered a stage in which we need to guarantee the matches and that is why today we kept a plant that was the one that gave us results to guarantee the medal, more strong matches are coming and we want to change the color of the medal”.
This Tuesday, Costa Rica faces Guatemala at 2:00 p.m., El Salvador against Belize at 4:30 p.m. and Honduras will play Nicaragua at 7:00 p.m.
Tegucigalpa, August 01, 2022.- Guatemala achieved its third victory for two defeats, beating Panama 3-0 (25-12, 25-10, 25-11), which remains with 0-5 in the V Sub Championship 23 feminine of Afecavol.
Captain Naomi Monney was the top scorer with 18 points, and María Santa Cruz and Andrea Mendizabal had 7. For Panama, setter Dayanis Ríos scored 3 points and three players were left with two units each.
Guatemala completely dominated the match, with a 39-9 advantage in attacks, 4-2 in blocks and 12-1 in services, with 21 errors by the Panamanians to 20 committed by Guatemala.
The Guatemalan team lost its first two games, against Nicaragua and Honduras, but has recovered with three wins in a row, leaving for this Tuesday the possibility of playing for a medal when they face Costa Rica, which is undefeated in the tournament, at 2 :00 pm.
William Fernández, coach of Guatemala said that “it was important to win in three sets because of the mental and physical rest that our players will have for tomorrow’s match, which will be key to thinking about a medal. Here the result depends on ourselves and it was vital to win quickly against Panama, because the girls come from intense matches and need this emotional blow and the psychological rest that it represents”.
“I think they have managed to get a lot of grit, it is not easy to get up after losing the first two games, but here we are, with a young team for this category, and we are fighting until the end for a medal,” said Fernández.
Panama will rest this Tuesday and will fulfill its last commitment on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. against El Salvador.
Tegucigalpa, August 01, 2022.- Costa Rica saved three match points in the first set to win 3-0 (29-27, 25-19, 25-13) over El Salvador in the end, and remain undefeated in four games, in the V Afecavol Women’s Under 23 Championship.
The Salvadorans pressed in the first set until they tied at 24 points, after trailing 24-21, but they did not take advantage of the match points they had, failing at key moments, while Costa Rica maintained concentration and gave the first emotional blow for later the game arrive.
Lakysha Thompson was the top scorer for Costa Rica with 13 points, to 11 from María Sofía Arroyo, while El Salvador had 13 points from Daniela López and 10 from María Rodríguez. Costa Rica dominated in attack 39-30, in blocking 7-5 and in service they were equal 2-2, with 31 errors by the Salvadorans to 22 by their rivals.
Lakysha Thompson, best scorer for Costa Rica: “I feel that the team has been on the rise; in each game we improve, like we caught the mistakes of the previous game and corrected them today and that is helping us to progress in each game. The more a team demands of us, the better we prepare for the next match, they demand more of us and it is better for us. I feel that if we stay united and if we play our game we will continue to achieve victories, luckily we have a very united group, we have played together for many years and we have incorporated the new ones very well and we support each other”.
Andrés Carvajal, coach of Costa Rica: “We are happy with the result and with the level that the rival showed, it was difficult for us at the beginning, during some stages of the game we had to make variations and luckily we found an answer on the bench as well, there it is our strength. In the replacement players today we find that respite, that emotional push that we needed and we managed to get the job done”.
Costa Rica celebrates
Noé Fabián, coach of El Salvador: “It was a good match, especially in the first two sets, in the third we fell apart mentally, since fatigue affected us a lot, but I’ll take the good part, the first two sets, which we were three times to win it, but small mistakes were costly. El Salvador has always stood out for the grit and intensity that we put into it, we’ve had a lot of difficulties since players were injured, but we have to keep giving our best”.
Costa Rica will face Guatemala this Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. in a match that could define a place in the medal table. El Salvador will face Belize at 4:30 p.m.
Tegucigalpa, July 31, 2022.- Costa Rica remains unstoppable in three outings, this time by winning 3-0 (25-8, 25-14, 25-17) over Panama, which has a 0-4 record at the end of the fourth day of the V Afecavol Women’s Under 23 Championship.
Nicole Mata was the best scorer for Costa Rica with 11 points, Lakysha Thompson with 10 and Sofía Arroyo with 8… for Panama, captain Karla Ortiz had 13 points. Costa Rica was superior in attack 38-22, in blocking 5-3 and in service 3-2, taking advantage of 29 errors of the opponent, for 12 committed.
Ana Victoria Rojas, captain of Costa Rica: “It was a game that we were able to play thanks to God, the Panamanians tried to give their best, they were well defended and we managed to play our game and play more concentrated. Today there were several changes in the team, but everything went well and we are all ready to go play in the next games”.
Andrés Carvajal, coach of Costa Rica: “We are happy with the result, it was what we were looking for and needed, we were also able to give other players more participation to regulate the team and that they are all in their best physical shape for the following matches”.
Ana Rojas and Lakysha Thompson of Costa Rica block Mariluz Gonzalez of Panama
Added Carvajal: “We have had an important set load and fatigue could already begin to make a presence in the last few days and that is why it is good to regulate the team, take the competition calmly and enter the final stretch with force.”
Costa Rica will face El Salvador this Monday at 2:00 p.m., while Panama takes on Guatemala at 4:30 p.m.
Tegucigalpa, July 31, 2022.- Guatemala overcame a five-point deficit from the start to win an exciting first set 28-26 and from then on dominated the match to win 3-0 (28-26, 25-19, 25). -20) to Belize, in the V Afecavol Women’s U23 Championship.
Belize started with a 5-0 lead in the first set, then went ahead 20-16, but could not hold it until losing 26-28 to a fierce Guatemala. In the remaining two, the Guatemalans did not allow the Belizeans to rebel and kept their second victory for two defeats, while Belize remained with a 1-2 record.
Captain Naomi Monney scored 16 points for Guatemala and María Santa Cruz had 9, while Bruce Gareth and Khaya Gordon had 12 for Belize. Gareth went out through injury with the match tied at 20 in the first set, re-entering late in the set.
Guatemala took advantage in attacks 32-27 and in serves 6-4, but Belize outnumbered them in blocking 8-6, however they committed 35 errors, for 26 of the winners.
Guatemala celebrates
Naomi Monney, captain of Guatemala: “We feel very good, a victory that we were able to get in three sets, something that was not in the plans because we expected to go to maybe five sets, but we managed to get it out and that will help us a lot to focus on the following games. What makes the difference is that each team is fighting for its flag, for its country, that’s why the matches will be intense and very even”.
William Fernández, coach of Guatemala: “What the girls have done is admirable, the recovery of the team is comforting, Belize started very difficult, with a very aggressive serve, little by little we managed to recover and get the match. The first set made the difference, because the one who won it was difficult for the other to recover; all the teams are fighting for the medals and we have Panama tomorrow and in the last game we depend on ourselves”.
Guatemala will play against Panama this Monday at 4:30 p.m. and Belize will face Honduras at 7:00 p.m.
Tegucigalpa, July 31, 2022.- El Salvador achieved its first victory in the V Afecavol Women’s U23 Championship by dramatically winning 3-2 (15-25, 26-24, 25-20, 12-25, 15-8 ) to Nicaragua, at the beginning of the fourth day of the tournament.
The Salvadorans were 1-2 in wins and losses, 2-2 to the Nicaraguans, who started the first set strong, but in the other sets they were always down on the scoreboard.
Daniela Ayala was the best for El Salvador with 15 points and captain Daniela López got 14. For Nicaragua Gimalry Smith got 20 points, María Belén Arcia 16 and Brittany Forbes 13.
Nicaragua dominated the attack 53-35, the services 12-8 and were even in blocking at 11, but El Salvador took advantage of the 39 points for errors of his opponent for 26 committed.
Huge celebration from Daniela Sánchez of El Salvador
Daniela López, captain of El Salvador: “I feel very happy and content with my team, today the goal was achieved, we got the win and we looked good as a team, we played together, we were happy, we celebrated everything and that was key to achieving it. We had ups and downs, but we knew how to overcome them and we hope to maintain this spirit in the following games”.
Noé Fabián:” We’ve had injuries, illnesses, but despite adversity we’ve been able to get up and win a game. Today the teamwork helped us, all the players focused on what they had to do and the changes worked well”.
Claudia Noguera, coach of Nicaragua: “The lack of concentration and the excess of confidence affected us against El Salvador. After winning the first set, in the middle of the second they got too confident and there were moments of lack of concentration and we are going to try to recover the mental part in these last two games that we have left”.
El Salvador will face Costa Rica this Monday at 2:00 p.m., while Nicaragua has a break.
SEOUL, Korea, July 31, 2022 – Cuba claimed the men’s ticket to the 2023 FIVB Nations League, the premier annual event, following its 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-20, 25-17) victory over Turkey on Sunday.
On their path to their triumph, the Cubans lost only that second set. They first defeated Chile 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-19) and continued with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-18) success over Czech Republic.
The Cuban victory, winners of the 2022 NORCECA International League at home in Pinar del Rio, means that runners-up Dominican Republic gets the pass to next year’s FIVB Challenger Cup.
With the score tied at 1-1, Miguel Lopez led a Cuban reaction scoring 6 points in each of the final two sets increasing to 50 points his tally for the three matches.
The Captain Lopez led Cuba with 20 points, including two blocks and two aces, followed by Jesus Jaime Herrera with 19. Roamy Alonso and Osniel Melgarejo contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively.
As a team, Cuban dominated in attacks 56-43 and service winners 8-0 while getting the 9-8 edge in blocks. Each team committed 25 errors.
In the match for 3-4 positions, Korea won a duel with Czech Republic 3-2 (25-19, 25-16, 24-26, 23-25, 22-20).
Tegucigalpa, July 30, 2022.- Honduras remains undefeated (3-0) by beating Panama 3-0 (25-10, 25-12, 25-14) in the closing of the third day of the V Afecavol U23 Women´s Championship.
The Panamanian team gave the hosts problems at times, especially in the second set, in which they stayed ahead even up to point 10, but Honduras reacted in time to not let any points slip away.
Honduras had Andrea Aceituno as its best offensive weapon with 11 points, plus 10 from Nathaly Pérez. The captain of Panama, Karla Ortiz got 13 points. The Hondurans led attacks 32-16, blocking 9-4 and serving 13-4, while Panama committed 21 errors to the winners’ 12.
Andrea Aceituno of Honduras with an outstanding performance against Panama
Andrea Aceituno, top scorer for Honduras: “I see the group quite well, we are well equipped, we have a good bench and a strong starting team, we have worked hard to be able to play with teams like Belize or Nicaragua, which are the ones to come. I trust each of our teammates that we will do a great job and, above all, follow the coach’s instructions”.
Marvin Ulloa, coach of Honduras: “The team has been growing, we have worked for that; the games that are coming are complicated, we will go step by step… today against Panama, which seemed like an easy team, we started badly and that is difficult for us, it makes us do double work. We can’t do that with stronger teams, once we started well, we managed to hold on until point 15 and sometimes we stopped there… we have to see how to keep the pace of the game throughout the game”.
Honduras rests this Sunday while Panama will face Costa Rica at 7:00 p.m.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras; July 30, 2022.- Guatemala defeated El Salvador (3-0) 3-1 (19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-17) in the third day of the V Women’s U23 Afecavol Championship.
For Guatemala it was their first victory of the tournament with two defeats and they managed to get up after losing the first set against the impetus of Salvadorans who need a victory to have options for the podium.
Captain Naomi Monney with 20 points was the best scorer for Guatemala, while María Santa Cruz contributed 14 points. For El Salvador, Geannine Velásquez finished with 12 points, María Rodríguez and Daniela Ayala with 11 each.
Guatemala dominated attacking 41-35, blocking 10-8 and El Salvador was better in service 9-5, but they committed 38 unforced errors to 29 of their rivals.
María Santa Cruz of Guatemala against El Salavdor
Naomi Monney, captain of Guatemala: “This first victory is going to help us to be able to stay motivated in the following matches and to be able to give our best. El Salvador was complicated, he gave us a good game, but we were able to get the result”.
María Santa Cruz, outstanding player from Guatemala: “I think we dosed ourselves a lot and that makes us a little relaxed and ready to go for more in the following games. We are very satisfied with our work and the way we came back. We have to overcome the fatigue that was noticed in the first two games, today changes were made at the start to give us rest and then we went in with everything”.
William Fernández, coach of Guatemala: “I keep insisting that we have a U21 team, which will give battle to all the teams; recovering after two defeats is not easy at any level, that’s why this victory speaks well of the mentality of the girls, because they faced a Salvadoran team that left everything on the field, that put up a fight”.
Daniela López, captain of El Salvador: “It was a good game and it was a shame that the setter was injured, because she is very necessary. Now we will give everything for everything in the following matches and try to have options for the medals. This game helped us to play more as a team and we hope to continue like this in the next ones”.
El Salvador will face Nicaragua this Sunday at 2:00 p.m., while Guatemala takes on Belize at 4:30 p.m.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras; July 30, 2022.- Costa Rica defeated Nicaragua (2-1) 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 26-15) on the third day of the V Women’s Afecavol U23 Championship.
For Costa Rica it was their second victory of the tournament without defeats, showing a good level both in attack and blocking, as well as a great defense.
María Arroyo was the top scorer for Costa Rica with 15 points and Nicaragua had Gilmary Smith with 10 points. Costa Rica took advantage in all elements of the game, 33-26 in attacks, 10-5 in blocks (Nicole Mata contributed 3 points per block) and 6-1 in aces. Nicaragua committed 26 unforced errors to 19 for Costa Rica.
María Arroyo, Costa Rica’s top scorer: “I think the key was confidence, because the first game was difficult and opening against a team like Belize weighs more, but today we feel more loose and we were able to show what we prepared for this tournament. I felt more confident today, I contributed more to the team from the beginning and we all support each other, we don’t let anyone fall and that is fundamental in the team”:
Andrés Carvajal, coach of Costa Rica: “I am happy with the result and much more satisfied with the effort, determination and willingness of the girls to apply themselves tactically and individually. We know that here we are going to continue to improve, every day that passes in the competition, we will continue to reach our best sporting form”.
Daniela Barrantes CRC against Brittani Forbes NCA
María Belén Arcia, captain of Nicaragua: “It hurts us to have lost, I think what made it more difficult for us was the receipt, that prevented us from being able to open the game and Costa Rica marked us well in the block. We also lost focus in some parts of the game and there was a lack of communication between us, but we always go forward, to find a way to be victorious in tomorrow’s game”.
Claudia Noguera, coach of Nicaragua: “I think the girls were very stressed, pressured because they know that every win counts and they put too much pressure on themselves and didn’t play at the level they can. We have worked on the psychological part, tomorrow is an important match against El Salvador, they have a good level and we have to go out and look for the win”.
Nicaragua will face El Salvador this Sunday at 2:00 p.m., while Costa Rica will face Panama at 7:00 p.m.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras; July 29, 2022.- Honduras struggled, but in the end they won 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 26-24) against Guatemala (0-2) in the closing of the second day of the V Afecavol U23 Female Championship before a large crowd at the Jorge Galeano Gymnasium in the Olympic Village.
The locals exhibited a great defense in the key points at the end of the sets, and had a fiery captain Nathaly Pérez with 14 points, and Natalia Reyes with 8 and Shattle Siliezar with 9 points. For Guatemala, Naomi Monney was left with 15 points, María Santa Cruz and Andrea Mendizabal with 7.
Honduras was superior in attack 30-24, but was outclassed in blocking 13-9 and in service 7-6, the Hondurans committing 20 errors to 32 of their opponents.
Nathaly Pérez, captain of Honduras: “Super happy and proud that we were able to finish a match 3-0. I didn’t know much about Guatemala, but the coaching staff didn’t indicate how to play, they have good serves and attacks, but we knew how to control them. Luck was on our side today, but there is also a lot of hard work.”
Marvin Ulloa, coach of Honduras: “I’m very happy, I expected to win today, but not in three sets because I know how complicated Guatemala is, but that’s the way the game is. Today the girls performed better, more confident, they made fewer mistakes, at one point they got out of control at the reception and the centrals were attentive, as well as Rocío (Durón). Today there was a lot of grit, despite the pressure from the public, because that can sometimes play against you, the girls managed to get into the game, concentrated”.
Honudras celebrates
William Fernández, coach of Guetamala: “It was a great match, Honduras handled it well, we have players who looked very tired on the court and are very young for this tournament:; their dedication is complete, but their physique does not allow them to solve situations such as the end of the game, some counterattack plays. We knew that the team is very young and this tournament is under 23, and we have players mostly from the other category, but we will continue to fight and give it our all every game”.
Guatemala and El Salvador will meet at 4:30 p.m. and closes the day at 7:00 p.m. Honduras against Panama. Honduras blanks Guatemala 3-0.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras; July 29, 2022.- Costa Rica debuted this Friday with an exciting 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-18, 28-26) victory over Belize on the second day of the V Central American U23 Women’s Afecavol Championship.
After losing the first set against an aggressive attacking Belize, Costa Rica managed to recover thanks to the work of Lakysha Thompson who produced both in attack and blocking to add 19 points, to 9 by Nicole Mata. In addition, the Belizeans made many mistakes, especially in serves, even though they dominated this element 11-6.
For Belize, Khaya Gordon had 19 points and 15 from Bruce Gareth. Guatemala was better in blocking 11-10 and equaled 35 points in attack. Errors were 48 for Belize and 33 for the winners.
Ana Victoria Rojas, captain of Costa Rica: “At the beginning we entered a little anxious for wanting to do things well, as it was the first match… but as we adapted we began to play better. If we were expecting a strong Belizean team, it demanded a lot from us and now we will go game by game, hoping to add wins”.
Andrés Carvajal, coach of Costa Rica: “I am very grateful for the work of the girls, we knew that the potential that Belize has, which was going to complicate us and was more complicated than we expected, especially the closures that were very tight and the first set that cost us to start. The team showed mettle, they brought out the experience and that’s what makes the difference; the tactical application they have and draw on their experience”.
José Fontes, coach of Belize: “We fell into a lot of deconcentration of our players and we made many unforced errors, which is something we always insist on, many errors in serves and we were affected by some changes that we made that emotionally destabilized the team. When those factors are added up and we have a team like Costa Rica against us, that costs you the game”.
Costa Rica will face Nicaragua at 2:00 p.m. this Saturday, while Belize is off.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras; July 29, 2022.- Nicaragua beat Panama 3-0 (25-9, 25-14, 25-7) in the first match of the second day of the V Afecavol U23 Women’s Central American Championship.
Nicaragua reached two victories, while Panama has two defeats. Brittany Forbes with 12 points was the best for the winners, with Gilmary Smith contributing 9 points. For Panama, captain Karla Ortiz was left with five units.
The Nicaraguans dominated 35-10 in attacks, 8-1 in blocks and 7-3 in services, with 25 points due to errors by Panama for 16 committed.
María Belén Arcia, captain of Nicaragua: “It is very important to get this victory, although I think that in part of the game we trust ourselves, we play at the same level as the rival and we cannot allow that because more complicated and demanding games are coming. We must maintain our concentration in the games to come”.
Claudia Noguera, coach of Nicaragua: “A win is always satisfying, Panama allowed us to rotate our team, we are confident that we have players for any game, they are all capable of playing against any rival and that was shown yesterday (against Guatemala) and today against Panama”.
Brittany Forbes led Nicaragua’s scorers
Karla Ortiz, captain of Panama: “I think today we played looser than yesterday… we were better at certain moments of the game, but Nicaragua has good players, they play faster than Belize and we don’t have as much experience. We still keep going, other games are coming and we hope to get better every day”.
Eliot Clarke, coach of Panama: “Nicaragua has a great team and our little girls are giving everything on the pitch to get good results. You can see that the other teams have more friction, they have kept playing more than us”.
Nicaragua will play this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. against Costa Rica, and Panama at 7:00 p.m. meets Honduras.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras; July 28, 2022.- Honduras achieved a victory 3-1 (25-14, 25-13, 22-25, 25-11) against El Salvador, in the closing of the first day of the V Central American U23 Women’s Afecavol Championship, in the Jorge Galeano Gymnasium, of the Olympic Village of Tegucigalpa.
The Hondurans were led by their captain Nathaly Pérez with 24 points, and Andrea Aceituno with 13 and Natalia Reyes with 11. For El Salvador, Daniela López contributed 13 and 9 from Belén Amaya.
Honduras led spikes 47-29, blocks 8-5 and aces 10-6. With 32 errors from El Salvador to 23 from the Hondurans.
Nathaly Pérez, captain of Honduras: “I am happy, happy to be here with all the people who have supported me since I started playing, always eager to make them proud. I think there was a mental part, especially in the third set, that affected us, El Salvador had their game too, they took us out of the game but in the fourth set we managed to recover”.
Marvin Ulloa, coach of Honduras: “It was a nice show for the fans, but we don’t plan to lose a set today, I think we always have that problem with the mental part. We’re going to work more on the discipline part, they didn’t pay attention to some elements and we can’t continue doing that in the games to come”.
Shantte Siliezar of Honduras against El Salvador blockers
Daniela López, captain of El Salvador: “We congratulate Honduras for their victory, it was our first game and we are sorry we did not win, in the following games we hope to have a better attitude, we have a good team, I believe in our team and I am sure we can give good results.”
Noé Fabián, coach of El Salvador: “First congratulations to Honduras, they have a great team and a player who stands out above the rest (Nathaly). For our part, the nervousness of the first game took its toll on us, against the host, with their audience… that makes it weigh on us at a certain point. We couldn’t get up at certain times, but it wasn’t enough.”
On the second day of this Friday, Honduras is measured against Guatemala at 7:00 p.m. and El Salvador has rest.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras; July 28, 2022.- Nicaragua fought to win 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 15-11) against a combative Guatemala in the second match of the first day of the V Central American Championship Women’s Afecavol U23.
Guatemala, which comes from being champion in the U21 category with the most players, began dominant in all sets, but the Nicaraguans managed to overcome that disadvantage to prevail thanks to the performance of Gilmary Smith with 17 points, 16 from Maria Belén Arcia and 13 from Massiel Brenes.
Meanwhile, Guatemala had its captain Naomi Monney with 23 points, while her teammate Andrea Mendizabal contributed 15 units.
Nicaragua was better 10-8 in serves, but was outscored 11-8 in blocks and 50-49 in spikes, with 41 errors from Guatemala to 34 from the winners.
Maria Santa Cruz GUA against Massiel Brenes y Francesca Medrano NCA
María Belén Arcia, captain of Nicaragua: “We are very happy to have won, it was a very difficult game, Guatemala is a team that defends a lot, but we were always there, animated, showing the claw and attitude of fighting all the way until the end. We bonded as a team and worked well as a team.”
Claudia Noguera, coach of Nicaragua: “Guatemala was a very difficult team, with most of the players who were champions in the sub 21 category, but I think we have a good level, the Nicaraguan team showed grit, a lot of concentration and dedication in the game. We were down and we knew how to swim against the current, but it can’t continue, because we can’t let the rival take much of the lead”.
Naomi Monney, captain of Guatemala: “We played a good game, we gave everything until the last point, but I think we could have given more to win that game. We are not going to give up, we will go with everything in the next matches and if we have to go to five sets in all of them, then we will play them and give everything on the court”.
William Fernández, coach of Guatemala: “This is what was expected of the tournament, a very close match, congratulations to Nicaragua who knew how to close the game correctly today and to our team who gave their best effort. We know that the event would be very difficult because our team is very young, but that is not justification, Nicaragua beat us very well”.
Nicaragua will play this Friday at 2:00 p.m. against Panama, and Guatemala at 7:00 p.m. Honduras are measured.
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”.
Match action Belize vs Panama
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.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras; July 27, 2022.- The V Central American Championship will begin this Thursday, July 28, at the Jorge Galeano Gymnasium, in the Tegucigalpa Olympic Village, with seven teams in search of the title obtained by Costa Rica in the previous four editions.
The coaches anticipate a very competitive tournament, since it is a prelude to the absolute category and the technical and game level is very high.
José Fontés, coach of Belize: “We have a few different players than the ones we had in the Under 21s (where they were runners-up); It is a higher category competition and we lost one of our best scorers, but if we are going to try to make it a more fruitful competition. The Afecavol competitions will be very equal, even the level of the countries that were weaker before have increased and that helps us to put on a good show”
William Fernández: Coach of Guatemala: “We bring the same under 21 group (they were champions) and the goal is to give the maximum in each game, play with joy and with the same courage that we did in Belize. It must be a very level tournament… the level will be for anyone, we have come from a very long jump due to the pandemic, where we did not have warm-ups or tournaments, but the teams have also grown.”
Noé Fabián, coach of El Salvador: “This is a very competitive tournament, everyone has raised their level, including El Salvador, who has been improving little by little. The champion of this tournament will be the team that manages to keep the level of play constant, because here a stumble and you stay with a chance. The importance is to resume all the tournaments of minor categories is that they serve as training, they are the base of the major National Teams, and our objective is the Central American Games and the Central American and Caribbean Games”.
Marvin Ulloa, coach of Honduras: “We want to continue in the medal table, that is the objective due to the trend that this group brought from the other categories from the U18, U20… we believe that this will end with something good, besides that we have the team complete, with players who come from the Under 21 in Belize (they were third)”.
Claudia Noguera, coach of Nicaragua: “We hope to maintain the place obtained in the previous tournament (third place), it is a young team, with many players for the future, who we hope will later be part of the Senior National Team. Our goal here is to maintain the level of the game, move up the rankings and showcase the talent of the new faces of Nicaraguan volleyball.”
Andrés Carbajal, Costa Rica: “We come with enthusiasm, joy, aware of the responsibility we have to revalidate this title and reach the five-time championship. We greatly respect the work of the other teams and expect games of a high level and demand. It is a group that has players who have already experienced this type of events, there is a mixture of experience and novice players. The group has accepted and received them (the new ones) well, we hope that there will be no nerves or anxiety in competition, the group is very united”.
Eliot Clarke, coach of Panama: “Our expectation is that the team is young, they have talent, but we want them to develop little by little, each game will help them get to know each other and give their best. It is a fairly young team, only about two are from the category and the rest are younger; We hope to continue working with this team and keep it going for a long time.”
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