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SANTA ROSA DE COPAN, Honduras, September 11,
2022.- Belize
opened the XIV Boys’ U19 Central American
Championship of AFECAVOL with a 3-2 (25-23,
19-25, 23-25, 25-18, 19-17) victory over
Guatemala at the Santa Rosa Copan Gymnasium.
Belize overcame Guatemala after failing three
match points before the dramatic five set finish
to open the tournament.
Belize controlled Guatemala from the service
line 17-7, as well as attacks 48-32 and 11-8 in
blocks. Guatemala committed fewer
errors (35-61).
Outside hitter Eleazar Mejia from Belize scored
30 points as the leading scorer of the match, on
16 attacks, one block and 13 points from serves;
followed by opposite hitter Preston Smith with
21 points on 17 attacks and 4 blocks, and
outside hitter Malcom Murillo with 12 points.
From Guatemala, opposite hitter Ferdinando
González scored 12 points as their leading
scorer.
On day two of the tournament, Belize will meet
El Salvador and Guatemala against Costa Rica.
Eleazar Mejía, top scorer of Belize: “It
was a nice game to open the tournament this way;
our work had a good outcome. We are here to win
this tournament. Most of my team members are new
so they were shaken, I know that going forward
we will make more progress”.
Alber Humes, head coach of Belize: “The
hard work that these guys have been doing since
March, a lot of effort from many people has paid
off. You can see when they stayed focused, they
came out strong”. |
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