Guatemala finishes Pan American Cup with victory over Peru

CORDOBA, Mexico, August 31, 2018. - Guatemala finished the Men’s Pan American Cup with victory over Peru 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-23, 25-19) at the Arena Cordoba in Cordoba, Mexico

Guatemala won the match for eleventh place of the event starting with a comfortable advantage in the first set; Peru’s reaction did not take too long, keeping Guatemala’s blockers and defense line busy the next three sets.

The Central American team only led in aces 4-2, while the South Americans held 51-50 advantage in attacks. Both teams scored on 9 blocks. The winners benefited by 35 error points, allowing Peru to score 21.

From Guatemala, opposite player Andy Leonardo scored a match-high of 25 points on 20 kills, 2 blocks and 3 aces, in addition to wing spikers Wagner Chacon and Carlos Lopez who collected 13 and 12 points accordingly. Peru’s top scorer was wing spiker Alvaro Hidalgo with 19 points on 14 kills, 4 blocks and one ace, followed by opposite Francis Mendoza with 14 points.

“We are happy with the result, we really wanted to win” said Guatemalan captain Carlos Lopez who also added “the entire team worked to their best because we wanted to leave the event on a high”.

Cuban Reider Lucas, head coach of Guatemala indicated “this was a big competition for us; we have never been in a competition with such high level. We had the chance of a good result today against Peru who is preparing really well. My guys executed our game plan well; we are aware of our defects and virtues, so we compensate one thing for another looking for a good result”.

El entrenador de Guatemala, el cubano Reider Lucas indicó “para nosotros este era un evento muy grande, no habíamos participado en una competencia con equipos de tan alta calidad. Se nos dio la oportunidad de un buen resultado ante un equipo de Perú que se está preparando muy bien. Mis muchachos lograron hacer el trabajo planeado; reconocemos nuestros defectos y virtudes, por lo que compensamos una cosa con otra y así buscar un buen resultado”.

Diego Recavarren, Peru’s captain expressed “we were too anxious to perform; we wanted to close the event by winning. Things did not turn out well and Guatemala was effective in their performance. We are clam because we looked well, we must continue to learn”.

Juan Carlos Gala coach of Peru said they are taking a load of knowledge “we understand us better, despite of the losses, this was a learning experience and we will continue to work. It was a victory coming here for the first time”.