SANTA ROSA DE COPAN, Honduras, September 15, 2022.- Guatemala finished AFECAVOL Boys’ U19 Sub Champion defeating Nicaragua 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-11) at the Santa Rosa de Copan Gymnasium.
Guatemala ended the evento with 3-2 record and 17 points, winning their seventh silver medal in this age-group, their fourth in a row. Nicaragua finished with a 3-2 record and 11 points: waiting for the result between Belize and Honduras for their final position in the tournament.
The first set was the most challenging, but Guatemala was unstoppable in the next two; in the second set jumping to an 11-2 advantage to move forward in the third set for a huge 21-8 advantage.
El primer set fue el más disputado, pero Guatemala fue imparable en los siguientes dos; en el segundo saltando a una ventaja de 11-2 para luego entrar al tercero alcanzando una ventaja de 21-8.
Guatemala held a 27-24 advantage in attacks and 8-5 in blocks, while Nicaragua held a 5-4 margin in serves. Guatemala scored 36 points from Nicaraguan errors and handed out 16.
Outside hitter Roberto Recinos scored 9 points as Guatemala’s leading scorer. Als contributing in the win was outside hitter Pedro Villatoro and middle blocker Sergio Paz with 8 points each.
Scoring a match-high was Nicaraguan Evans Solis with 14 points, all on kills; accompanied by setter Cristhoper Castillo with 8 tallies.
Luis Fernando Castañeda, head coach of Guatemala: “We were aware of the importance of this game, maybe the most important one of the competition, we didn’t want to be left out of winning a medal. The boys went out with all they had and played good volleyball; I recognize their effort. This is the result of the harmony between the athletes and the coaching staff, my assistant (my father) who has a great lot of experience and the physiotherapist who was always taking care of the athletes’ well-being”.
Jorge Mena, head coach of Nicaragua: “Every match is different, the opponent came out to win and they have a lot of experience. We are a young team who needs continuity because they are capable, but the pressure was too much, they couldn’t handle it mentally”.
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