CHITRÉ, Panama, October 17, 2024.- Guatemala defeated Nicaragua 3-2 (24-26, 25-14, 25-19, 26-28, 15-11) in their final match of the 20th AFECAVOL U21 Men’s Central American Championship to celebrate their ninth title in the history of the event.
Guatemala had already secured the championship after their victory over Panama one day before. The champions finished the tournament with a 6-0 record and 26 points. Nicaragua finished 2-4 with 14 points.
The champions led in attacks (58-55) and aces (6-3) and benefited from 36 points from Nicaraguan errors compared to their 24. Nicaragua led in blocks (16-15).
Guatemala’s captain, Yeferson Zavala, was the top scorer of the match with 23 points (18 attacks, 4 blocks, one ace). Opposite hitter Jerry Durán and middle blocker Christian Alvarez contributed 18 and 11 points, respectively.
Nicaragua’s middle blocker Edwin Humphreys scored 23 points, including a match-high of 7 blocks. Outside hitters Kenneth Martínez and Evans Solís recorded 17 and 14 points, respectively.
After losing the first set, Guatemala dominated the second, mostly due to their blocking (4-0) and the 24 points that Nicaragua gave away on errors. Guatemala won the third set, coming back from a seven-point deficit (4-11) with efforts from Yeferson Zavala and Christian Alvarez. Guatemala reached match point in the fourth set (24-22), but Nicaragua tied the score with an error and a kill from Kenneth Martínez, winning it 28-26 with an advantage in attacks and blocks. In the tie-break, from point five onwards, Guatemala stayed ahead, losing a match point on a kill from Edwin Humphreys. Guatemala earned the victory with a kill from Daniel Delgado.
Jerry Durán, opposite hitter of Guatemala: “We feel happy to have won the championship undefeated. However, we are left with a bitter taste from the results of the last two matches because we couldn’t play our usual game, and it wasn’t our best performance. Still, we managed to face the challenge and get the win”.
Reider Lucas, Coach of Guatemala: “Since we started our preparation, this was our goal. We came with a team that wasn’t very experienced and without a strong bench, but we believed the boys could handle the responsibility. We divided the competition into two phases. In the first phase before the day off we played very well, winning the first three matches in three sets. After the day off, the second phase included the match against Costa Rica, which was easy and without much pressure. In the last two matches, Panama played very well and had a chance to win, but we closed the game, which was very satisfying for us. We’re happy; we accomplished our goal and defended the title”.
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