Guatemala defeats Honduras in four sets

BELIZE CITY, Belize, July 22, 2023.- In the second match of the last day of competition at the XIV AFECAVOL U19 Women's Central American Championship, Guatemala defeated Honduras 3-1 with scores of 25-20/16-25/25-15/25-21.

It was a back-and-forth battle, with Guatemala coming from their impressive performance against Belize the previous night, where they extended the match to five sets, and Honduras, determined not to leave without a win.

Guatemala slightly outperformed Honduras in attacks, 37-36, and the blocking was also closely matched, with a difference of only two points (6-4). In the serving category, Guatemala was superior, leading 11-4.

The top scorers of the match were Dulce Trigueño from Guatemala with 14 points (7 on attacks, 1 on blocks, and 6 on service), and her teammate and captain, Naomi Monney, secured 11 points, all from attacks.

On the Honduran side, Guilliana García scored 17 points from attacks, and their captain, Marynur Martínez, contributed with 8 points (6 on attacks and 2 on serves).

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INTERVIEWS

Julio Domínguez, coach of Guatemala: “Thanks to God for the entire tournament; we understand that it's a very good project and program that our federation is promoting. We started it last year by regionalizing the country, and from there, these girls emerged, and we are developing them competitively. We know that the process requires patience, but we believe this will be a very strong group in the future. We will seek more international exposure for them, and we will achieve great things as we have in the past. We thank the organizers; we leave content, but not satisfied because we didn't achieve all our objectives, but we are happy with the team and the group we have in Guatemala”.

Naomi Monney, captain of Guatemala: “We gave our all in this tournament, played our best against all the teams, especially in the intense match against Belize. It was a big challenge, and all the team members gave their best. Our coach was always there, supporting us, and I am very grateful for that. We had great team unity throughout the championship. Perhaps we didn't reach our goal, but as captain, I'm satisfied because I managed to keep the team together and maintain good friendships”.

Feiruz José, outside hitter of Honduras: “This experience was a lot of fun for me because it was my first Central American championship, and I think we all did well. Most of us are new players, and in this last match, we gave it our all. Despite not winning, we fought, cheered, and had fun, and that's what matters. I enjoyed being with my team; since we are all new and not used to playing together, we played incredibly well”.

Marco Sugiyama, coach of Honduras: “This week was very productive; it's a process we are undertaking. The process has advanced to U21 and U23, and we are starting with this U19 team, which was a necessary change. At the beginning of the month, we invited 230 players, and today we have 14 who are ready to execute our entire plan. As always, I thank AFECAVOL and Belize for their work, and we'll continue training to be even better next year”.