POZA RICA, Mexico, November 9, 2023. – Suriname edged past Honduras 3-2 (25-22, 25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 15-9) in their first victory at the NORCECA Boys’ U17 Continental Championship at the Miguel Hidalgo Gymnasium in Poza Rica, Mexico.
Suriname holds a record of one win and one loss; on Friday morning, they will face Guatemala (1-1), and in the evening, they will play against Costa Rica. Honduras, with a record of 0-3, will compete against Costa Rica in the morning in their last pool-play match.
Suriname led in service points 11-9, while Honduras had the advantage in attacks 48-40 and blocks 9-7. Suriname scored 52 points from Honduras’ errors and gave away 37.
Three players of Suriname scored double digits, led by opposite hitter Javier Nasibdar (15), followed by outside hitter Mathew Lie Ten (14), and team captain Roberto Benschop (13).
Saul Coca, captain of Honduras, was the top scorer of the match with 28 points, on 23 kills and a match-high of 5 aces.
Suriname won the first set after overcoming three set points (24-19). In the second set, the Caribbean team rallied from behind (12-17), had a tight finish tied at 22, and maintained the lead on the scoreboard. The roles switched in the third set as Honduras came from behind (6-12) to force a fourth set, closing it with a spectacular block from middle blocker Max Rubio.
Honduras forced a tie-break by winning the fourth set, leading from point 11. Despite Honduras’ efforts to recover from a two-set deficit, it was not enough to secure the victory.
“We made a lot of mistakes, we got a bit lazy, and Honduras took advantage. Our attacks and serves were better than Honduras. We must improve our passing for our next matches” said Suriname’s top scorer Javier Nasibdar.
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