El Salvador improves record 2-1

BELIZE CITY, Belize, September 26, 2016.- El Salvador improved their win-loss record 2-1 after beating Nicaragua 3-0 (31-29, 25-12, 25-21) on day three of the AFECAVOL Men’s FIVB World Championship qualification tournament at St. Catherine Academy Center in Belize City.

After an endless first set, El Salvador figured out Nicaragua’s game plan while keeping ahead in scores in the next two sets. El Salvador suffered a scare as they lost Libero Luis Morales early in set one, due to a bad fall and injuring his knee which will keep him out of the tournament. Nicaragua remains win-less.

El Salvador’s advantage in blocking (9-4) and scoring on 34 opponent errors were the two main factors in earning their second victory. Nicaragua held advantage in serves 2-1 and benefited from 20 errors committed by El Salvador.

Outside hitter Rodrigo Chavez was El Salvador’s top scorer with 13 points, joined by opposite player Franklin Flores with 11 points. Nicaragua’s offense was led by outside hitter David Mayorga with 16 points.

El Salvador (2-1) has a rest day on Tuesday while Nicaragua (0-2) faces Belize (1-1).

Rodrigo Chavez, captain of El Salvador: “We are highly motivated in performing well, all the players are confident in their job on the court, we have a lot of character and nationalism; despite losing Luis, the other Libero animated the team. Our game plan for the rest of the event is set”.

Jorge Toledo, captain of Nicaragua: “The team played with little enthusiasm because some of us are ill, I think we’re not used to the food here or maybe it’s the water. We had some good moments during the match, but we also lost consecutive points. El Salvador has good defense”.

Nery Henriquez, coach of El Salvador: “My team has come from less to more as the tournament advances, the level among the teams is very similar and the players have developed very well in their game because the pressure has made them to better. We still haven’t adjusted to the humidity, but our opponents either. Luis Morales won’t recover for the rest of the competition, but Samuel has all the potential to fill in his spot”.

Osman Hernández, coach of Nicaragua: “The team was enthusiastic in the first set, we fought hard but we are missing the last points to seal the set. In the second set, we lost concentration and we weren’t able to recover, while in the third the younger players did a good job in not finishing with a low score. We must motivate the players in acknowledging the importance of representing our flag, among a population of 5 million persons they are the twelve privileged ones to put our name up high”.