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GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, November 1st
2021. – Guatemala scored a victory over El
Salvador 3-1 (25-15, 25-20, 23-25, 25-23) in the
closing match of day three at the XXI Men’s
Central American Cup at Guatemala’s City Dome.
Current champion and host Guatemala controlled
the first set with authority and in the second
had more resistance from El Salvador but still
remaining on top by two sets. With persistency,
El Salvador edged Guatemala always keeping the
scores really close to extend the match to a
thrilling fourth set that ended with an ace by
opposite hitter Andy Leonardo.
Guatemala held a 57-45 advantage in kills, a
Slim 12-11 in blocks and a comfortable 9-1
margin in serves. El Salvador committed fewer
errors than Guatemala
(20-26).
Andy Leonardo with 21 points, outside hitter
Gerardo González with 19 and captain Carlos
López with 16 led the hosts’ victory. Outside
hitter Franklin Flores of El Salvador scored a
match-high of 26 points; his teammate and
captain Rodrigo Chávez added 14 points in his
team’s loss.
On Tuesday, El Salvador (3-1) meets Costa Rica
(2-0) at 4:00pm and Guatemala (2-0) against
Nicaragua (2-0).
Reider Lucas, Head coach of Guatemala:
“El Salvador played really well and I
congratulate them. Guatemala failed in some
things that we can work on, this is our first
game, we would of liked to win the 5 points, but
we think we can recover. Our hands performance
was good and we will work on our blocking,
mostly on the ends of the net”.
Mario Nochez, Head coach of El Salvador:
“We fought up to the end, we´re coming with more
rhythm and we were forced to push. We took
advantage that this was Guatemala’s first match;
we were a bit lazy in the first two sets, but
our change in tactics worked out well. We are
satisfied, we are glad with our guys’
performance; they are the host (Guatemala) and
current champions”. |
