El Salvador defeats Suriname, will face Mexico for fifth place

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 1, 2023.- El Salvador defeated Suriname 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-22) and will face Mexico for fifth place in Men’s Volleyball at the Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023.

Host El Salvador came from behind in the last two sets to earn the straight set victory in a classification match for positions 5 to 8 of the event.

On Sunday, El Salvador goes up against Mexico, who earlier beat Trinidad & Tobago, for position five, while Suriname will face Trinidad & Tobago for seventh place.

Points from attacks were balanced, El Salvador with 36 and Suriname with 33. The host country led 11-9 in blocks and held a slight 5-4 margin in points from serves, allowing 18 points from unforced errors while scoring on 23 from Suriname.

Team captain Keven Sporkslede was the top scorer for Suriname with 13 points (9 kills, 4 blocks), joined by outside hitter Jonovan Wijngaarde who collected 10 points (9 kills, one serve).

Diego Guidos, middle blocker of El Salvador: “We are making history. Never before El Salvador had gone this far in recent tournaments. I am excited and proud of my team and its performance. Despite that in the preliminary round we didn’t get the results we wanted, we haven’t stopped fighting and keep on moving forward as a team, as a family helped by these spectacular supporters. Our warrior spirit didn’t allow us to give up”.  

Gabriel Linares, Head coach of El Salvador: “Our opponent changed their serves and that got us in trouble in the second and third set, but we coordinated better our receiving line, and we came back slowly. It’s the first time El Salvador will play for fifth place at CAC Games”.