Guatemala seventh place at U21 Pan American Cup

HAVANA, Cuba, June 10, 2023.- Guatemala finished seventh place after beating Haiti in five sets (25-21, 22-25, 14-25, 25-23, 15-11) on the last day of the U21 Men’s Norceca Pan American Cup at Ciudad Deportiva Coliseum.

The Central Americans were superior in kills (61-50) and in serves (5-1), while the Caribbeans produced more blocks (13-5). The winners committed fewer unforced errors (41-30).

Outside hitter Yeferson Zaval was the most productive for Guatemala with 26 points, while the leading scorer of the match was spirited Estakend Beauvoir of Haiti with 27.

Other players with double digits were outside hitter Daniel Delgado (16) and middle Leonardo Molina (12). From Haiti, outside hitter Steevenson Senat (16).

Head coach of Guatemala, Luis Castañeda considered that “we suffered, we began winning, but the opponent improved their play and moved forward. We came back in the fourth set and then we put pressure with our serves and won. We didn’t want to finish last, and seventh place is not bad because we are missing five athletes of this age-group and it’s always important to try improving in ranking”.  

Zavala, leader of the match, manifested “we came out to play with our all, it was our last chance of winning a match, we had ups and downs, we managed to control the fourth set by a considerable advantage, and we improved to come back and get the victory. We aren’t happy leaving in seventh place, but we are glad for our effort in every match”.

Dieulengy Relis, Caribbean captain was sad of not keeping the seventh place of 2022. “It was a match we should have won, we never imagined that the fourth set was going to get difficult, because we had a good third one, but Guatemala’s players have good defense and today they did it better than ever”.

Lesly Larrieux, coach of Haiti expressed “it has been a total disappointment, we had worked to win this match today, but my team lost energy in the third set and didn’t fight any more. It ‘s not been a year since we won the Caribbean championship, this tournament has been a fatality”.