Guatemala wins Men’s Central American Cup

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, February 8, 2013 – Hosts Guatemala were crowned on Friday as champions of the XVIII Men’s Central American Volleyball Cup to cap a thrilling night in front of a packed house at Teodoro Palacios Flores Gymnasium.

The victory over Costa Rica combined with the loss of undefeated Honduras to Panama in straight sets produced the second title for Guatemala whose other crown came in the third edition held in 1977 also as host team.

Guatemala and Panama finished tied with 19 points but the Guatemalans had a 4-1 win-loss record to the 3-2 mark of the Panamanians. Honduras closed in third place with 17 points.

El Salvador 3, Nicaragua 2

El Salvador survived a five-set battle (25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 14-25, 15-10) with Nicaragua to claim their first win. The victory gave El Salvador the fifth place with a 1-4 win-loss record, while the winless Nicaragua finished in the sixth position. Both squads had to deal with the fact that they are renovating their national teams. Mauricio Rivas registered 22 points for the winners, Samuel Valdez and Erick Gonzalez helped with 13 and 12 respectively. Lester Martinez was Nicaragua’s best scorer with 16 points.

Panama 3, Honduras 0

A surprising 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-22) win of Panama over Honduras in the last day of actions, stopped the four-game winning streak of Honduras. Honduras entered the match undefeated but Panama prevented them from taking home the title. Panamá held a solid advantage of 5-1 in aces forcing Honduras to lose concentration. They were superior also in the blocking category 10-8. Domingo Avila and Donaldo Ureña led Panama with 14 and 12 points respectively. Carlos Osorio was Honduras’ best scorer with 13 points.

Guatemala 3, Costa Rica 1

The hosts Guatemala beat Costa Rica 3-1 (25-19, 26-24, 17-25, 25-22) and won the title. More than 3,000 spectators cheered Guatemala in their victory over Costa Rica, which granted 4 points to become Central American Champions. Costa Rica had the advantage in the blocking department (13-12) and also in aces (7-3). For Guatemala, the top scorers were Andy Leonardo with 19 points, Oscar Garcia (13), Moises Reyes (11) and Jose Gonzalez (10). For Costa Rica, Richard Smith led with 23 points.