SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, November 11, 2025. – Nicaragua began its campaign at the XV AFECAVOL U19 Women’s Central American Championship on the right foot, defeating Honduras 3-0 (31-29, 25-14, 26-24) in the opening match of the competition.
With this result, Nicaragua earned its first victory in Group B, while Honduras suffered its first loss.
Both teams engaged in a fierce first set that went Nicaragua’s way, as they managed to counter Honduras’ strong momentum to take control of the match.
Nicaragua’s victory was built on its superior attacking performance, recording 34 attack points to Honduras’ 22. Honduras led in blocking points 10-6 but committed 34 unforced errors compared to Nicaragua’s 27. Both teams were tied in service points at 8 apiece.
Offensively for Nicaragua, Valentina Martínez led the way with 13 points, followed by Lucía Columna with 8.
For Honduras, Valeria Aquino scored 13 points and María Merino added 12, leading their team’s offense.
After the victory, Nicaragua’s head coach Claudia Noguera said, “It’s always important to start with a win. I knew this tournament would be challenging; the level of the Central American teams in all categories has improved a lot, and that was evident in this match. Even though it ended in three sets, it was very intense.”
Meanwhile, Honduras’ coach Marvin Ulloa commented, “I expected a tough match, but I didn’t expect the kind of second set we had. Sometimes the players execute what we’ve worked on, but then we drop off suddenly. For me, that’s a mental issue we need to keep working on, but the tournament is just beginning, and we hope to improve.”
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