Honduras Wins First NORCECA Match Versus St. Vincent

Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA (Aug. 29, 2012) – Honduras overcame a slow to capture its first match of the NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship with a 25-17, 25-11, 25-20 victory over St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Wednesday afternoon at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

With the victory, Honduras (1-2) advances to Thursday’s quarterfinal round as the third-place team in Pool A. They will face the second-place team from Pool B. St. Vincent and the Grenadines (0-3) will begin the 5-8 classification matches on Friday against an opponent to be determined.

Frank Alley led Honduras with 10 points in the victory, while Ricardo Vasquez contributed another nine points. Cristobal Mardiaga added eight points as the setter.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines was led by Ijahlon Butler’s 11 points and teammate Jahmal Small added eight points.

Honduras held a 8-2 margin in blocks and a 6-2 advantage in aces. Although St. Vincent and the Grenadines trailed only 32-26 in kills, its 29 errors in the match were a major factor in the final result.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines stayed close through second technical timeout of the first set, but Honduras made a later charge to win 25-17. Honduras continued its momentum with a 25-11 victory in the second set taking advantage of errors. In the third set Honduras reached an 8-2, but St. Vincent and the Grenadines closed to 15-12. Honduras closed out the match strong at 25-20.

“I want to congratulate St. Vincent and the Grenadines for a good match,” Honduras captain Ricardo Vasquez said. “We knew coming in that it would be a tough match against a hard rival. Our strategies went as planned today. We had a little stumble in the first set, but we got our engine running late and played better.”

“First I want to congratulate St. Vincent for today’s match,” Honduras coach Rony Martinez said. “We had a good game in our receiving. Our setter was opening the game really well. Our serving went well and that complicated St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the game. We hope to play even better tomorrow.”

“Congratulations to Honduras for their efforts today,” St. Vincent and the Grenadines Brian Burke said. “Coming into this game we knew both teams needed to win and Honduras was the better team today. We were inconsistent. To star the match we were point-to-point with them, but we made too many errors, too many service errors. That and service reception are things to work on improving.

Looking ahead, this is the best we have played and hope to continue playing better. We are gaining valuable experience in this tournament.”

“I would like to congratulate Honduras for a good match,” St. Vincent and the Grenadines captain Ijahlon Butler said. “I think we started well but was too inconsistent. We will try to correct our errors and play more consistent.”