BELIZE CITY, Belize, August 10, 2023.- El Salvador defeated Costa Rica 3-0 in the first match of day five of competition in the XXII AFECAVOL Central American Men’s Volleyball Cup with scores of 25-13/25-18/25-13.
The match was dominated by El Salvador in all areas, with 35 attacks to 26, 13 blocks to 5, and 4-2 in serves.
El Salvador scored 23 points from opponent errors, while Costa Rica scored 11 points from unforced errors.
El Salvador improved their win-loss record to 3-2. Costa Rica has a record of 2 wins and 2 losses.
The top scorer of the match was Rodrigo Chávez with 17 points, 13 on attacks and four on blocks, his teammate Franklin Flores was close behind with 16 points.
For Costa Rica, Gilbert Solano scored six points from attacks and one a block for a total of 7 points, being the top scorer, followed by Richard Smith with 6 points.
The event taking place at the Belize City Civic Center continues Friday at 2:30 pm with El Salvador facing Nicaragua and at 7:30 pm Costa Rica will compete against the hosts.
INTERVIEWS
Rodrigo Chávez, outside hitter of El Salvador: “This was a complicated match from a tactical point of view, our coaches read the other team very well, at this stage of the tournament, we’ve had time to study our opponents and that makes the matches more competitive. In this case, we found the key. Costa Rica stood up well, but perhaps the fatigue from last night’s game affected them, however, they are a very strong team and El Salvador showed a very different face from the previous matches. We are very grateful to the guys and coaches for boosting our spirits and we hope to maintain this rhythm of play”.
Oscar Ramírez, outside hitter of Costa Rica: “It was a very emotional match, unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned for us. El Salvador read us very well on the court. Now, we need to prepare for tomorrow’s match, it’s another final to aim for the medal we came for”.
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