JALAPA, Guatemala, October 25, 2025. – Costa Rica’s duo Julián Araya and Jhostin Varela remain unstoppable in the men’s beach volleyball tournament at the 12th Central American Games Guatemala 2025, taking place at the Jalapa Sports Complex. With a perfect 3-0 record, the Costa Ricans are currently the only undefeated team in the competition.
Varela and Araya earned their third victory after defeating defending champions Rubén Mora and Dany López of Nicaragua in a thrilling match 2-1 (26-24, 22-24, 15-11) and later secured another win over El Salvador’s Christopher and Yoel Guardado by 2-0 after the Salvadoran duo was unable to appear on court due to injury.
AFECAVOL: GUATEMALA 2025 – BEACHVOLEIBOL
The clash against Nicaragua was of the highest level, with both teams displaying power at the net and precise defense. In the first set, Costa Rica pulled ahead with a key block from Varela, and although Nicaragua had three opportunities to close the set, it was Costa Rica who capitalized on their second chance to win it 26-24. In the second set, the Nicaraguans rallied from a 0-3 deficit to even the match 24-22. The decisive set remained even at 6-6 until Varela and Araya gained a three-point lead (9-6) and held on to clinch the victory.
According to the tournament format, the first-place team in the preliminary round advances directly to the semifinals, while the remaining teams will play qualification matches to the semis (2nd vs 7th, 3rd vs 6th, and 4th vs 5th).
In other results of the day, Guatemala’s Edgar Maldonado and José Izaguirre improved their record to 2-1 after defeating José González and Jason Quintero of Panama 2-0 (21-14, 21-19). Despite Panama leading the second set 12-9, the home team rallied to close out the win.
Earlier, Jason/Gonzalez (PAN) earned their first victory by defeating Irvin Reyes and Manuel Serrano of Honduras 2-1 (18-21, 21-16, 16-14), while the Honduran duo finished the day on a positive note with a solid 2-0 (21-18, 21-11) win against Brandon Fehr and Edgar Martínez of Belize.
With these results, Julián Araya and Jhostin Varela stand out as strong contenders for first place in the preliminary phase and a direct spot in the semifinals of the tournament.
Standings: 1. Costa Rica Varela/Araya (3-0) 2. El Salvador Guardado C./Guardado Y. (3-1) 3. Nicaragua López/Mora (2-1) 4. Guatemala Maldonado/Izaguirre (2-1) 5. Panamá Jason/González (1-3) 6. Honduras Serrano/Reyes (1-3) 7. Belize Martínez/Fehr (0-3)
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