Guatemala Opens Men’s U23 Pan American Cup

With Win Over El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, September 23, 2026.- Guatemala opened the Men’s U23 Pan American Cup with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-20) victory over host El Salvador. The tournament is being held at the Gimnasio del Palacio de los Deportes Carlos “El Famoso” Hernández in the Salvadoran capital.

Guatemala took the lead early in all three sets. El Salvador responded midway through each set and managed to level the score, but the Guatemalans answered in the key moments and were more effective in attack down the stretch to secure the straight-set victory.

The crowd supported the Salvadoran team until the final point, while a strong contingent of Guatemalan fans also made its presence felt in the stands.

Guatemala outperformed El Salvador in attacks 43-25 and blocks 15-7. El Salvador scored the only two aces of the match, while Guatemala capitalized on 30 unforced errors committed by the hosts.

Three Guatemalan players reached double figures in scoring. Captain Jerry Duran led the match with 17 points, followed by Saúl Álvarez with 15, including seven blocks, and José Luis Samayoa with 14.

For El Salvador, Abner Cano and Ricardo Alegría were the leading scorers with nine points each.

El Salvador closed pool play with a 1-1 record, while Guatemala opened at 1-0. Guatemala will close pool play on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. against Grenada, looking to finish first in Pool C and remain in contention for one of the direct berths to the semifinals.

Jerry Duran, Guatemala’s leading scorer: “As a team, we are very united and we were able to follow our coach’s instructions well. The competition is just beginning, and we are very happy with today’s victory. We hope to play better tomorrow.”

Reider Lucas, head coach of Guatemala: “It was necessary to win 3-0 today. El Salvador played much better than yesterday, and that made things quite difficult for us. It was our first match, and I hope that as the tournament progresses, we continue to improve.

“Tomorrow’s match is very important for us. Almost all the matches have ended 3-0, and that creates a very tight race among the teams that finish first in their pools for the direct berths to the semifinals,” he concluded.