Costa Rica closes with victory against El Salvador

David, Chiriquí, Panama, September 29, 2023 - Costa Rica concluded the VI AFECAVOL Men’s U23 Central American Championship defeating El Salvador 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-19) on the penultimate day of the event at Centro Deportivo La Basita.

Costa Rica finished the tournament with three wins and three losses, awaiting the results of the other teams to determine their final position. El Salvador has a record of 2-3 and will play against Panama on Saturday at 7:30 PM (Panama time).

Yulius Brown finished strong with 17 points, Juan Diego Delgado with 13, and Andru Jones with 12 for Costa Rica. Abner Cano of El Salvador was the top scorer of the match with 19 points.

Costa Rica held a 41-38 advantage in the attacks and led El Salvador by a significant 12-2  margin in blocks, with four effective blocks from Alessandro Signini and three from Jones. Additionally, Costa Rica had a 2-1 advantage in serves. El Salvador committed 20 unforced errors compared to 14 by the winners.

AFECAVOL SUB23 MASCULINO, PANAMÁ

QUOTES

Johan Morales, coach of Costa Rica: “Obviously, I would have liked to finish in the top three. Now, I must wait for the results, but I am very happy with the boys. This is a new process that is just beginning. It’s the first time I have a junior national team, and I am very proud of them. In the end, we closed as we had to. We had the opportunity to beat Nicaragua and Guatemala, but these are the things that come with experience, like Guatemala has, they know how to finish”.

“That’s what we are looking for in Costa Rica, to have that experience against high-level teams because in Central America, we are very evenly matched in men’s volleyball. I’m going back home, maybe not happy, but content because we have grown with these new players."