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Guatemala Sweeps Trinidad & Tobago
for 5th Place
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado USA (Oct. 1, 2017) –
Guatemala capped its NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship by
defeating Trinidad & Tobago 25-18, 25-10, 25-15 in the
fifth-place match on Sunday afternoon. By claiming fifth place,
Guatemala has earned a berth into NORCECA’s second-chance World
Championship qualification tournament that will take place later
this fall.
Guatemala, which finished the tournament with
three straight wins after finishing third in the three-team Pool
A, was led by Erik Flores and Andy Leonardo’s 13 points apiece,
Wagner Chacon contributed 12 points in the victory, while Carlos
Lopez recorded 10 points.
Trinidad & Tobago was led by Ryan Stewart and
Mikheil Hoyte, who each had seven points.
Guatemala’s serve netted a 7-0 advantage in aces
and they held an 8-5 margin in blocks.
The NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship is a
qualification tournament into the 2018 FIVB World Championship.
The top three teams in the 10-team field earn berths into the
World Championship, while the top two teams in a second NORCECA
qualifier held later this fall round out NORCECA’s five
vacancies into the world event.
Trinidad & Tobago Coach Sean Morrison: “First of
all, congratulations to Guatemala. They played a great match. We
didn’t play well. We didn’t attack, didn’t pass, didn’t block.
Didn’t play our volleyball. Guatemala kept slowing us down. They
touched all our attacks. They were always leading us. They were
not stuff blocking us, but soft touches to allow them to score.
We didn’t play any volleyball today. It is another great
experience for us. We should have been better. It is a hard loss
for us, but we got to work harder next time.”
Trinidad & Tobago Captain Ryan Stewart: “We are
disappointed that we loss. But yet, I am still proud of our
guys. We are a team, one unit. We win together, lose together.
We wanted to win together, but it didn’t happen. But we still
put everything out there. I am still proud of these guys. More
volleyball to look forward to in the future.”
Guatemala Coach Julio Dominguez: “Well from the
very first point, our attitude was the key. That was my first
command to the team. It was great since we reached our goal,
ending in fifth place to qualify for the next phase.”
Guatemala Captain Gerardo Gonzalez: “From the
very first point, our attitude was the key. And our service was
very good. It is great to win. Actually, when we lost to USA and
Dominican Republic, our goal was to still qualify for the World
Championship. Now that we can have that chance, we have to get
to the next phase with Cuba and Puerto Rico. That was what we
were reaching and we actually did it.” |
