Argentina heads to Semifinals after Win over Guatemala

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay, August 20, 2025.- Argentina secured a spot in the semifinals of the men’s volleyball tournament at the II Junior Pan American Games Asunción 2025, defeating Guatemala 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-15).

In the semifinals, Argentina will face Mexico, while Guatemala will move on to classification matches for positions 5 to 8, starting against the Dominican Republic.

The match opened at a fast pace, with Guatemala leading 13-9 behind the offense of José Pablo Pérez and Luis Mendizábal, along with the tough serving of Jerry Durán. The Central Americans held the lead until Argentina patiently tied the score at 18. At 22-21, a Guatemalan attack error by Pérez gave Argentina the advantage, and with a block and an attack from Nahuel Rojas, they sealed the first set.

In the second set, Argentina built a five-point lead (11-6) with Rojas contributing in both attack and blocking. The pace slowed compared to the opening set, but the South Americans extended their dominance as Giuliano Turcitu and Samuel Guidi added to the scoring, outpowering Guatemala at the net.

The third set saw Argentina take complete control, jumping to a six-point lead (15-9) and maintaining command to close the match in straight sets.

Argentina held the edge in key skills: attacks (47-28), blocks (12-3), and serves (5-4), although they committed more errors than Guatemala (18-11).

Samuel Guidi led Argentina with 11 points, while Denis Cabañas added 10 points despite only playing two sets. For Guatemala, José Pablo Pérez scored 14 points and Luis Mendizabal finished with 10.

Argentina’s captain, Denis Cabañas, spoke about the difference between the first set and the rest of the match: “We started out very relaxed, but Guatemala knows how to defend and attack well; we were able to stay patient and then take control to win. The semifinal against Mexico will be a beautiful match, we’re going to analyze them and define our strategy.”

After the loss, Luis Mendizabal said they could have maintained the intensity of the first set throughout the entire match: “I believe our mentality influenced the outcome a lot. I think we could have won the first set, but we lacked attitude. Now we have another intense match ahead against the Dominican Republic.”