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.
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