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.
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.
English 
Spanish