SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, December 12, 2024.- Panama faced a determined Honduras, which despite its efforts on the court, could not avoid a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-23) defeat in the final match of the fifth day of the 15th AFECAVOL U19 Men’s Central American Volleyball Championship.
With this result, Panama maintains a perfect record of four wins and no losses, remaining the only unbeaten team in the tournament. They have two matches left, against El Salvador and Guatemala, to complete their schedule. Honduras, on the other hand, remains winless in five outings, with one match remaining against Belize on the final day of competition.
Although Panama did not display its best performance, it managed to prevail against a persistent Honduras that applied pressure throughout the match.
Panama led in attack points 46-33 and service points 4-3, while both teams were tied in blocks (6-6). Unforced errors were also close, with Panama committing 20 and Honduras 19.
For Panama, Víctor Pérez and Víctor Araúz each contributed 16 points, while Honduras’ top scorer was Gabriel Flores with 13 points.
Víctor Pérez, captain of Panama, expressed his thoughts on the victory: “We are very happy with the win and to remain undefeated, but we must acknowledge that the team didn’t play at 100 percent. We hope to perform better in the next match and play the way we know we can.”
Honduras’ captain, Héctor Duarte, reflected on his team’s performance: “We fought for most of the match. In the second set, we started to wake up halfway through, but it was already too late. Personally, I believe no team is invincible, and I always try to motivate my team to give it their all. We only have one match left against Belize, and we’ll do our best to win so we don’t finish last.”