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GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, May 25, 2022. - Chile
beat Costa Rica in an exciting four sets 3-1
(26-24, 25-21, 23-25, 26-24) to move into the
Boys U19 Pan American Cup quarterfinal round in
Guatemala.
Chile and Costa Rica battled strong to stay
alive in their last pool-play performance; in
the end Chile finished third in pool B with 1-2
record to face the loser between Guatemala and
Puerto Rico in quarterfinals. Costa Rica with
0-3 will play for positions 5/8.
The South American squad led with a comfortable
14-8 margin in blocks and 6-3 in serves, while
finishing with a one-point advantage (46-45) in
attacks. Costa Rica committed fewer errors than
Chile (34-38).
Outside hitter Ian Gei led Chile with 19 points
on 16 kills, one block and 2 aces, followed by
outside hitter Samuel Munita with 18 points on
14 kills, 3 blocks and one ace; opposite hitter
Felipe Valenzuela also contributed with 12
points on 9 kills and 3 blocks.
Costa Rica’s outside hitter Stanley Grant scored
a match-high of 22 points on 21 kills and one
block; middle blocker Jeremy Venega added 13
points on 7 kills, 5 blocks and one ace, while
team captain David Cordoba chipped in with 10
points all on kills.
Ivan Villarreal, Head Coach Chile: “This
is the first category that competes
internationally, so after not having the
opportunity to play due to the pandemic, their
development has been complicated; that’s why
such an exciting game; they want to do things
well. This is a competition and it’s not
recreational. We are glad to sweep two losses
and now we’ll wait for the quarter finals, we
want to compete and enjoy playing after so
long”. |
